Departmental Honors Program

​Majors who elect to follow the Honors track must complete at least four CSER elective courses within their area of specialization, and maintain a 3.6 GPA in the major. In lieu of a fifth elective, Honors majors are required to enroll in the following course in the spring semester of their senior year, during which they are required to write a thesis:

CSER UN3990 Senior Project Seminar (4 points)

Honors majors are required to present their senior essays at the annual undergraduate symposium in April. Students may fulfill this option in one of the following two ways:

1. By matriculating in the Senior Thesis course and writing the thesis under the supervision of the course faculty.
2. By taking an additional 4-point seminar where a major paper is required and further developing the paper into a thesis length work (minimum of 30 pages) under the supervision of a CSER faculty member.

CSER Senior Awards

In addition to departmental honors, CSER also confers the following awards to two graduating seniors:

CSER Award for Outstanding Thesis

• A CSER faculty committee will review all senior projects and will select one for the Outstanding Thesis award.
• As part of its deliberation process, the committee reviews recommendations made by CSER faculty, the Modes of Inquiry course instructor and the CSER preceptor. In order to receive this award, the student must keep aGPA of 3.6 or above in the major courses.

CSER Award for Academic Excellence

• CSER confers this award to a student who has consistently demonstrated her/his intellectual capacity in and outside the classroom. In order to receive this award, the student must keep a GPA of 3.6 or above in the major courses.