Wildlife Ecology and Conservation department

Requirements for the WEC Honors Program

All WEC students are eligible for the CALS Honor Scholar Certificate and the UF Honors Program

Admission Requirements for the CALS Honor Scholar Certificate:

A student in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences
Earned at least 60 credits toward graduation
Overall UF upper-division GPA 3.75 or greater

CALS Honor Scholar Certificate Graduation Requirements

Hours: 9 credits with minimum grades of C

Students earning the CALS honors scholar certificate must complete at least nine credit hours of honors coursework and an undergraduate honors thesis. The coursework, thesis topic and thesis adviser are unique to each student and are subject to approval by the CALS honors program director.

Maintain an upper division GPA (last 60 hours) of at least 3.75.
ALS 3923 Honors Orientation (1 credit).
WIS 4915 Honors Project (or similar independent study/research course to be completed as the student is working on their thesis research) (3-4 credits). In each department, there is a course designated for this purpose; register for this during the semester that you are performing or writing your honors project.
Additional Honors courses; see the Courses page for more information. Honors course work is identified as such on your transcript. These additional credits of honors coursework (4-6 credits) are taken as:

Existing 3000/4000-level honors courses, approved by the honors program director
Existing 3000/4000-level CALS courses taken as honors contract courses, approved by the honors program director
CALS graduate-level courses, approved by the honors program director

Complete an Honors Thesis, approved by the research mentor, department honors coordinator and honors program director. Turn in Honors Thesis to WEC Honors Coordinator (Dr. Nia Morales) via the WEC student service office at least 10 days before CALS deadline

Graduating with Honors from UF:

You do not have to participate in the CALS Honors Program to graduate from the University of Florida with Honors.

Graduating with Honors from UF requires only the following:

Cum laude (with honors) - a 3.5 minimum upper-division GPA
Magna cum laude (with high honors) - a 3.75 minimum upper-division GPA PLUS 3 credits from honors research PLUS an Honors Thesis
Summa cum laude (with highest honors) - a 3.85 minimum upper-division GPA PLUS 3 credits from honors research PLUS an Honors Thesis

However, students that complete the CALS Honors Program will graduate from UF magna cum laude or summa cum laude automatically, since the CALS Honors Program requirements exceed the UF and CALS requirements.

See the UF Honors website for more details on graduating with honors and honors theses at the University of Florida.

CHECKLIST FOR CALS HONORS PROGRAM

To graduate as a CALS Honors Scholar, you must 1) maintain a minimum 3.75 upperdivision GPA, and 2) complete five honors experiences listed below. See the CALS Honors Program website for details:

Experiences:

ALS 3923 - Honors Orientation (1 credit)
WIS 4915 - Honors Thesis Research (3 credits)
Two Upper-division honors courses, CALS Honors contract courses or graduate-level courses (You need to have a total of 4-6 credits of courses with an honors section component):
Honors thesis

See the CALS HONORS WEBSITE for the following forms and resources

Application to Join CALS Honors Program
Departmental Honors Coordinators - Find/contact the Honors Coordinator for your major
Honors Program Checklist - Use this form to track your Honors Program coursework and progress toward completing the program
Honors Contract Form - Use this form to develop an Honors Contract for an existing CALS course
Honors Contract Information - guidelines on how to compose an honors contract
Honors Mentor List - faculty in CALS departments willing to mentor students in thesis research
UF Undergraduate Research Database - A UF-wide, searchable database of UF faculty mentors
Honors Thesis Proposal Guidelines - Follow this format in developing your proposal
ALS 4915 Undergraduate Honors Project Contract - Students doing a thesis must sign up for ALS 4915
Honors Thesis Guide - Read this as you begin to formulate your Honors Thesis Project
CALS Honors Thesis Submission Form - Use this for final submission of your Honors Thesis to the CALS Dean's Office. The form must be TYPED. The university will not accept hand-written copies.
UF Honors Program website: Theses - for specifics on submitting your thesis to UF.
Submit the final version of your thesis after your advisor, honors coordinator and the CALS Dean's office has signed off on your thesis. You must upload the final revision of your thesis to the Honors Program by May 4 for spring semester graduates, August 10 for summer graduates and December 21 for fall semester graduates.
University Scholars Program - Apply to this program to receive funding for your Honors Thesis project
WebGURU - A web site that guides students and faculty on undergraduate research projects
Honors Scholarships - Apply to one or more of these prestigious programs