University Honors Students
University Honors Program Advising Contact Information:
· Etscorn Honors Center (Threlkeld Hall) main office (502) 852-6293
· John Richardson, Director, John.Richardson@louisville.edu or 852-8088.
· Melissa Stordeur, Academic Counselor, Melissa.Stordeur@louisville.edu , or 852-0025.
· Luke Buckman, Academic Counselor, Luke.Buckman@louisville.edu , or 852-4666.
· Tony Robinson, Academic Counselor, tony.robinson@louisville.edu or 852-1536
Eligibility requirements:
· Prospective high school student: 3.5 GPA and Composite ACT of 28 or equivalent combined score on SAT of 1240 (Verbal & Quantitative).
· Transfer student or current U of L student: 3.35 cumulative GPA.
· Applications for current and transfer students (not incoming freshmen!) are available on the honors' website at under “FAQ” or at the Etscorn Honors Center front desk.
Maintaining active status:
· 3.35 cumulative GPA.
· Students must complete a minimum of three (3 credit) Honors courses in their first four semesters at the University and then one (3 credit) course per academic year until graduation.
Honors Milestone (Priority Registration Privilege):
· Freshmen admitted by May 1st automatically receive “Milestone” upon application to program. Students who do not complete one three-credit hour course in their first academic year will be placed in “inactive status” whereupon they lose priority registration privileges. Students are welcome to reactivate their status upon the completion of one three-credit hour Honors course.
· Freshmen who do not meet the May 1st deadline cannot take Honors courses in the Fall, but may apply to the program during the first week of the Fall term.
Honors scheduling information:
· Permission from an Honors counselor is required to enroll in each Honors course.
· Honors advisors maintain waiting lists for each Honors course for interest beyond the maximum course capacity.
· The University Honors Program does not over-enroll students in Honors courses.
· Students are given two days to register for Honors courses (orientation deadline is the end of Day 2 registration). If a student does not register by the deadline, his/her space is given to the first person on the waiting list.
· The online Schedule of Courses does not take the waiting list into consideration when enrollment is listed. Therefore, Honors courses may appear available when there are a number of students on the waiting list.
· Students are limited to three Honors courses per semester (students can take a maximum of two Honors seminars per semester).
· Are Honors courses harder? Honors courses emphasize oral and written communication, close relationships with other students and faculty, and the opportunity to explore topics more fully than in classes with larger enrollments. These characteristics make Honors courses challenging, but not more difficult than other college courses.
Courses to recommend:
· Encourage students to review the Honors course offerings listed on the honors' website under “Honors Courses.”
· Students can complete General Education requirements, major requirements, programmatic/supporting course requirements, A&S Electives, 300+ level requirements, and/or elective hour requirements through Honors.
· HON 21X courses count for two or more General Education requirements. Caution: these courses are not offered every semester. Be sure to check the schedule of courses for availability.
Graduation with Honors:
· Students do not have to participate in the University Honors Program to graduate with Honors—many students do not believe they qualify because have not ever participated in Honors or go inactive.
· Graduation with Honors is a college requirement that typically encompasses a GPA requirement and possibly a thesis component but it varies by college (A&S required, COB does not).
· A&S uses expanded GPA for consideration of Honors upon graduation (repeats, transfer work, bankrupted hours).
· Expanded GPA minimum is 3.65 for students interested in pursuing a senior thesis in the College of Arts and Sciences.
· Encourage students to visit www.louisville.edu/a-s/honors under Academic Opportunities and then Senior Thesis for additional information.
