Information:
Scholarship Office
207 Third Street, Suite B
916-752-3153
By mail:
Scholarship Office
University of California
Davis, CA 95616-8696
Students with outstanding academic records who show promise of continued scholarly achievement are encouraged to apply for scholarship recognition and awards. Awards are accompanied by a financial honorarium or stipend.
According to Davis campus regulations, the quarterly Dean's Honors List includes names of students who have completed, for a letter grade, a minimum of 12 units in a specific quarter with a grade point average equal to or higher than the minimum grade point average attained by the upper 16 percent of those registered in the same class level and college during that quarter. Honors lists will be posted quarterly outside deans' offices, and a notation of these honors will be placed on each student's permanent record by the Office of the Registrar.
Honors at graduation are awarded to students who have a grade point average in the top percent of their college as shown in the table below. (The College of Letters and Science requires that additional criteria be met for high and highest honors--see explanation below.)
| Total Quarter Units Completed at UC | Highest Honors | High Honors | Honors | Total |
| 45-89 | 2% | 2% | 4% | 8% |
| 90-134 | 3% | 3% | 6% | 12% |
| 135+ | 4% | 4% | 8% | 16% |
Grade point averages from the winter quarter previous to graduation are used to determine the averages that will earn an honors designation. Following are the averages for winter quarter 1997. These averages will be used through winter 1998.
| Percent Determining Cut-Off Point | Agricultural and Environmental Sciences | Engineering | Letters and Science |
| 2% | 3.872 | 3.898 | 3.890 |
| 3% | 3.831 | 3.840 | 3.838 |
| 4% | 3.792 | 3.802 | 3.802 |
| 6% | 3.711 | 3.728 | 3.736 |
| 8% | 3.646 | 3.656 | 3.675 |
| 12% | 3.525 | 3.537 | 3.583 |
| 16% | 3.428 | 3.434 | 3.500 |
An honors notation is made on students' diplomas and on their permanent records in the Office of the Registrar.
College of Letters and Science. Graduation with honors requires that a student meet the appropriate grade point requirement described in the above table for all UC courses completed. Students who meet the grade point requirement for graduation with honors and who complete the Honors Program of the College of Letters and Science may be recommended by their departments for graduation with high honors or highest honors on the basis of an evaluation of their academic achievements in the major and in the honors project in particular. A notation shall appear on the student's official transcript indicating that the 194H Honors Thesis was completed. Graduating students will not be awarded honors with the bachelor's degree if more than eight units of grade I (Incomplete) appear on their transcripts. The College Committee on Honors may consider exceptions to this condition. Petitions for this purpose should be submitted to the dean's office.
The Honors Program in the College of Letters and Science permits students to pursue a program of study in their major at a level significantly beyond that defined by the normal curriculum. It represents an opportunity for the qualified student to experience aspects of the major that are representative of advanced study in the field. Successful completion of the College Honors Program is a necessary prerequisite to consideration for the awarding of high or highest honors at graduation.
Entrance into the honors program requires that a student have completed at least 135 units with a minimum grade point average of 3.5 in courses counted toward the major. Other prerequisites for entrance into the program are defined by the major. The program consists of a project whose specific nature is determined by consultation with the student's major adviser. It may involve completion of a research project, a scholarly paper, a senior thesis, or some comparable assignment depending on the major. The project will have a minimum duration of two quarters and will be noted on the student's record by a variable unit course number or special honors course designation. Successful completion of the honors program requires that a minimum of six units of credit be earned in course work for the project.
Information:
916-752-9797
The Davis Honors Challenge (DHC) is a campuswide program for highly motivated students interested in enhancing their education through special courses, closer contact with faculty and dynamic interaction with academic peers.
DHC participants take two honors courses and one problem-oriented interdisciplinary seminar per academic year. Eighteen seminars are offered each year. The seminars are designed to foster critical thinking and analytical interpretation, improve oral and written communication skills, enhance research skills, provide experience with group dynamics and collaborative exploration of problems, and develop familiarity with electronic communication and visual presentations.
DHC seminars are limited in size so that participants receive substantial individual attention from faculty. In return, students are expected to participate actively in analyzing real-world problems that require the best intellectual efforts of us all. Honors courses and small honors sections of regular courses also encourage individual student participation and self-challenge. Students satisfactorily completing the Davis Honors Challenge will receive transcript notation for each academic year of participation.
First-year students filing a "Statement of Intent to Register" at UC Davis will receive an application for one of the 120 places in the program. Students interested in applying for one of the 240 places available for second-year students should contact DHC. In addition, 60 third-year students will be admitted to a new, upper division pilot program.
Information:
916-752-9797
Integrated Studies is a campuswide invitational first-year residential honors program associated with the Davis Honors Challenge. Integrated Studies offers theme-oriented, specially designed, interdisciplinary honors courses that satisfy General Education requirements. Approximately 70 students live in an Academic Residential Community on campus and take three limited-enrollment honors courses open only to Integrated Studies students.
Holders of Regents Scholarships, the university's most prestigious scholarship awards, are guaranteed places in Integrated Studies. Other highly qualified scholarship holders are also invited to participate and are selected to create a balanced community of students from all three undergraduate colleges and the Division of Biological Sciences.
The University Medal is the highest campus honor awarded to a graduating senior in recognition of superior scholarship and achievement. In addition, a College or School Medal is given to the outstanding graduating student in each of the colleges and professional schools.
Departmental citations, special awards and prizes are also awarded to students for superior achievement and scholarship.
College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. Each year the outstanding graduating senior in the College is awarded a silver medal, known as the "Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Medal." Scholastic excellence (in a minimum of six quarters at UC Davis) is the primary basis for choosing the recipient. The Mary Regan Meyer Prize is awarded to an outstanding graduate who has demonstrated expertise and an interest in serving humanity. The Kinsella Memorial Prize, in honor of John E. Kinsella, is awarded annually to an outstanding individual who submits his or her Ph.D. dissertation during the spring, fall or winter quarter immediately preceding the due date for nomination.
College of Engineering. Each year outstanding senior students in engineering are recommended by the faculty of the College as nominees for the M.S. Ghausi Medal. Academic excellence is the primary basis for selecting the recipient of the award.
College of Letters and Science. Graduating seniors with a distinguished academic record may be recommended by the faculty as nominees for the College's Herbert A. Young Medal. Each June, one medalist is selected from among the graduates of the current academic year. The Leon H. Mayhew Award is conferred upon the outstanding graduate from a disciplinary area other than that of the College medalist. Academic excellence is the primary basis for selecting the recipients of these awards. The Lawrence J. Andrews prize is awarded to a student entering the senior year who not only has achieved academic excellence but who also has demonstrated interests outside of pure scholarship.
This award recognizes students who have distinguished themselves through their excellence in and contribution to undergraduate research and encourages others to become involved in these types of efforts. Recipients of the award receive a certificate of commendation and inscribed plaque from the president of the university.
In conjuction with the Chancellor's Award, Professor Dean Simonton of UC Davis' Department of Psychology established an endowment for funding a cash prize of $500 for each year's student recipient.
Election to an honorary society is one of the most prestigious awards a student can receive. At UC Davis, the following honorary societies are represented:
UC Davis 1997-98 Online General Catalog. Posted August 1, 1997.
catalog-comment@ucdavis.edu
Keitha Hunter and Barbara Anderson, Editors
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