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Students admitted as Honors Scholars plan their academic programs with the help of faculty advisors in their major areas of interest. Some of the usual graduation requirements are modified so that students have the opportunity to explore a number of areas of interest or to study more intensively an area of concentration. Students may choose courses in diverse areas, thereby obtaining a broad education.
As a rule, freshman-level students who have been admitted to the University and who have a grade point average of at least 3.5 (4.0 scale) are eligible to apply. Letters of recommendation are required from at least three instructors who are familiar with the student's high school or university work. High-ranking high school seniors are encouraged to apply for admission to the Honors Scholars program upon matriculation at SIUE.
Selection of Honors Scholars is based on candidates' previous academic work and letters of recommendation from instructors. Candidates complete the admission requirements by filing a program responsibility form with their advisor showing courses they already have taken and those they plan to take.
To fulfill the General Education requirement, Honors Scholars students will take at least 33 semester hours. Of these, a minimum of 3 courses to total at least 9 credits must be in each of the three General Education areas — fine arts and humanities; natural science and mathematics (1 of these courses to emphasize scientific inquiry); and social sciences. No more than 9 hours may be taken at the 111 level. Questions as to whether certain courses count toward the fulfillment of area requirements will be resolved by the Honors Scholars Director in consultation with the student's advisor. Included in social sciences are the disciplines of anthropology, history, economics, geography, political science, psychology, and sociology. Students majoring in these academic areas will be able to fulfill 3 hours of the requirements of one General Education area with courses from their academic major.
To complete their 33 hours, Honors Scholars will be required to take 3 semester hours of a Honors Scholars Seminar (HONS 120), which includes work on composition and oral communication and is required of all entering Honors Scholars freshmen. Honors Scholars also will be required to take 3 semester hours of an interdisciplinary seminar — either HONS 320 or an IS course offered as a seminar.
Honors Scholars must complete one course exploring intergroup relations and one course exploring international issues or international culture. These courses will be allowed to fulfill the appropriate General Education area requirements.
The above requirements cannot be satisfied by skills courses.
The IS Seminar is required of all students accepted as Honors Scholars.
Transfer students accepted as Honors Scholars must meet the requirements outlined above through courses accepted for transfer or through University courses approved by the College or School Honors Program Coordinator or the Honors Program Director. This stipulation also applies to SIUE students accepted as Honors Scholars after their first semester at SIUE.
Retention as an Honors Scholar requires that a student maintain at least a 3.0 cumulative GPA. If the GPA of an Honors Scholar falls below 3.0 during any semester, he or she is placed on probation. If the average is not raised to the required minimum at the end of the next semester, the student is dropped from the program. The student's records will not show that he or she was admitted then dropped from the program. However, the student will have to complete all general education requirements, as prescribed by the University curriculum.
