The Chemistry Department's Honor in Major program follows the requirements established by the Honors Program at UNH. Sixteen credits of Honors courses within the Chemistry department (CHEM prefix) are required for completion of the Honors in Major. A minimum cumulative GPA of 3.2 is required for awarding Honor-in-Major.
Eight of those sixteen credits must be CHEM 699H (Senior Thesis), which involves research in collaboration with a faculty member, the writing of a thesis, and a public presentation of the results.
The remaining credits required for an Honors in Major degree will come through arrangements with Chemistry faculty members to offer an Honor's designation (CHEM ###H) to the Advanced Chemistry courses or laboratories. A total of eight credits must be taken through this process, which will require honors designations on three lecture courses or two lecture courses and one laboratory course. Courses for which the Honors designation could be sought include Chem 755, 756, 762, 763, 774, 775 and 776.
The arrangements for designating any Chemistry course as an Honors course should be made prior to the beginning of the semester. The following steps are required.
- The course for which an Honors designation is sought must be identified.
- A discussion should be held with the Instructor of the course to identify assignments/expectations that would earn the Honors credit. These assignments are to be completed in addition to the assignments required for the students taking the course without the Honors designation. Examples of the additional assignments could include, but are not limited to, extra reading, problem sets, papers, laboratories. All of these assignments should require the Honors student to engage the material in greater depth and rigor than that which is required of the non-Honors student.
- Once an Honors designation is assigned, the student is committed to the completion of the Honors assignments. The student may not choose to return to the non-Honors option. If the student does not complete the Honors assignments, an Incomplete or a reduced grade will be assigned.
- Completion of the Honors Designation Form, which is available at the UNH Honors program website and at the Registrar's website.
University Honors in Major
The University Honors in Major requires the completion of sixteen credits of Honors courses, including an Inquiry 444H course, as part of the General Education requirements, in addition to the completion of the Honors in Major requirements described above. An overall GPA of 3.4 or better (3.2 or better for students admitted prior to Fall 2008) is required for all students completing University Honors-in-Major.
