UNM Computer Science

Honors Programs

Departmental Honors

A Departmental Honors program is available to qualified Bachelors students in Computer Science. There are two sets of requirements:

• those common to all departmental honors programs within the School of Engineering, and
• additional requirements and rules particular to Computer Science.

Honors Program School of Engineering

A Departmental Honors program is available to qualified students in various departments within the School of Engineering. Students should inquire of the chairperson of their department as to the availability of the program.

The purposes of Departmental Honors programs are as follows:

• to intensify and deepen the students' knowledge in their major field;
• to put this specialized knowledge into better relationship with knowledge in related fields and in the larger general area of the students' specializations;
• to bring the students under closer guidance of, and into closer acquaintance with, teachers in their field.

The levels of Departmental Honors awarded are cum laude (3.5 to 3.74), magna cum laude (3.75 to 3.89), and summa cum laude (3.9 or higher). Students must apply for candidacy to their departments.

Normally, students enter a Departmental Honors program in their junior year. They should at least make their intention of graduating with Departmental Honors known to their chairperson early in their junior year. Admission to Departmental Honors candidacy cannot be granted later than the beginning of the student's last semester.

Minimal requirements for graduation with Departmental Honors are as follows:

• an overall grade-point average of 3.2;

• not less than 6 credit hours in independent study, senior thesis, or special courses open only to candidates for graduation with honors in the department.

Departments or colleges may have differing additional quantitative and qualitative requirements. The prospective Departmental Honors student should confer with the chairperson of the department regarding the requirements above the minimum requirements set forth just above.

Graduation with Departmental Honors will never be a matter solely of performance in standard courses or of grade-point averages in either the field of specialization or the entire program of the student. Continuance in the Departmental Honors program and the level of honors at which the candidates will be graduated are both at the discretion of the department.

Graduation with honors, either University Honors or departmental honors, is not automatic, and students are required to apply for candidacy. Information regarding University Honors is available from the University Honors Center, located on the ground floor of the University College Building, or the University Honors web site.