The faculty responsible for the various majors at Centenary may invite students of outstanding ability to pursue Honors in their major field of study, traditionally called Departmental Honors. The requirements to earn Departmental Honors have been designed by the faculty and approved by the Academic Policy Committee. Honors programs include opportunities for independent study with an accompanying paper, a substantial research report, or, in the case of the arts, a project to be decided by the individual program. The research or project may in some cases be done during the summer. All students working toward honors are required to present their independent study paper, research paper, or project at the Student Research Forum or at some other program-approved forum.

To be eligible for Departmental Honors, a student must have attained a grade point average of 3.25 in both major course work and overall course work. In order to be invited to pursue honors, a student must have attained junior standing and must have completed at least thirty-two hours of graded course work at Centenary. Some departments may have additional eligibility requirements. A student must have participated in the program for at least two semesters and the department must certify that all work required by the program has been completed satisfactorily before honors are awarded at commencement. Some departments may accept research carried out at another institution under the direction of a research supervisor not otherwise affiliated with Centenary College in lieu of completing a project at Centenary. Consult individual departments for details.

Students pursuing honors must collaborate with a faculty supervisor. The student and the supervisor will select one or more other faculty members who will join with the supervisor in a committee to oversee the student’s project. One committee member must be from outside the student’s major field of study. When the committee is formed, the application/eligibility form must be filed in duplicate with the Registrar. Upon completion of the project, all committee members must again sign the application form reporting the results.

Attainment of Departmental Honors does not supplant traditional graduation honors (see above). Thus a student may graduate “Bachelor of Science with Honors in Mathematics” magna cum laude, or “Bachelor of Arts with Honors in English,” or “Bachelor of Science in Biology” summa cum laude.

Interested students should consult the chairperson of their major department or the department in which major field of study is located for specific information.