Honors Program

The mission of the University of Montevallo Honors Program is to enrich the academic experience of motivated, curious, and civic-minded students through unique courses and co-curricular activities.

The academic dimension is composed of two types of Honors classes. One type is designed to fulfill requirements in the General Education Program such as Honors Composition (ENG 103  and ENG 104 ), History of World Civilizations for Honors Students (HIST 103  and HIST 104 ), and Honors Foundations of Oral Communication (COMS 102 ). The other type of Honors class, intended to supplement the student’s course work, consists of seminars on topics best considered in an interdisciplinary context. Seminars often include guest speakers or involve travel to special events or places. Included in the seminar classes are HNRS 100 , an Introductory Honors Experience course for incoming students, and HNRS 400 , the Honors capstone class called Golson Seminar. Students must complete the Golson Seminar (HNRS 400) or an Honors thesis (HNRS 490) in order to graduate with the Honors diploma. Students may complete both.

Honors students must take at least one Honors course per year and maintain a 3.2 or above GPA to remain active in the Honors Program. Honors students are recognized for their achievements at special occasions during the academic year. Honors students will be awarded the Honors Certificate upon satisfactory completion of 18 hours of Honors credit. Upon satisfactory completion of 26 Honors credit hours, including either the Golson Seminar or an Honors thesis, students will graduate with “University Honors.” Satisfactory completion for the Honors Program is defined as earning an “A” or “B”. Students graduating with “University Honors” will be recognized at a recognition luncheon, will receive Honors cords for graduation, and will have notations on their transcripts recognizing their participation in the Honors Program for the purpose of alerting prospective employers and graduate schools to the quality and extent of Honors work.

For more information, contact the Honors Program Director at honors@montevallo.edu. The Honors director’s office, residence hall, and study lounge is in Ramsay Hall.

Honors courses are open to students in the Honors Program and to all other Montevallo students by permission of the Honors Program Director and on a space-available basis. Not all courses are offered every semester. Inquiries are encouraged.