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Green Sheet: CEPC 05/06-09
To: St. Olaf College Faculty
Fr: CEPC
Re: Proposed revision: Catalog policy concerning honors
At the April 6, 2006 Faculty Meeting, CEPC will move the adoption of a revision of the catalog policy on Honors:
Current Policy, from the 2004-2006 St. Olaf Academic Catalog:
HONORS
Honors are determined by the cumulative grade point average. They are recognized at Honors Day, conferred at Commencement and recorded on the final transcript and the diploma as:
3.30 — cum laude
3.60 — magna cum laude
3.85 — summa cum laude
In determining honors, a grade point average is never rounded up or down.
Honor designations are not recorded on student transcripts prior to graduation from the college.
Proposed Revision:
HONORS
Honors are determined by the cumulative grade point average. They are recognized at Honors Day, conferred at Commencement and recorded on the final transcript and the diploma as:
3.30 — cum laude
3.60 — magna cum laude
3.85 — summa cum laude
(for students graduating in the years up to and including 2009)
Effective with the class of 2010, honors requirements will be as follows:
3.60 — cum laude
3.75 — magna cum laude
3.90 — summa cum laude
In determining honors, a grade point average is never rounded up or down.
Honor designations are not recorded on student transcripts prior to graduation from the college.
Rationale:
The faculty last revised the honors requirements for the class of 1981. Before that, the minimum honors requirements were as follows: cum laude: 3.2; magna cum laude: 3.5; summa cum laude: 3.8.
For the class of 2006 (720 students total), under the current GPA stipulations for graduation honors, if honors were calculated as of March 16, 2006 (without semester II, 05-06 grades), the number and percentage of students for each type of honors would be as follows:
Summa cum laude: 64 students; 9%
Magna cum laude: 157 students; 22%
Cum laude: 212 students; 29%
Percentage of the class eligible for honors: 60%
For the class of 2006, if the proposed motion were in effect for the current year, the number and percentage of students for each type of honors would be as follows:
Summa cum laude: 38 students; 5.3%
Magna cum laude: 91 students; 12.6%
Cum laude: 91 students; 12.6%
Percentage of the class eligible for honors: 30.5%
Raising the GPA cut-offs to the proposed levels brings St. Olaf’s honors more into line with those of reporting institutions in a 2004 American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO) survey. It makes the GPA cut-off for magna cum laude consistent with the St. Olaf College Dean’s List (3.75 GPA for a given term). Finally, it seems fitting that the eligibility for summa cum laude be even higher than that for Phi Beta Kappa (10% of the class, based on GPA and other factors).
(See Additional Data in Support of the Rationale, CEPC 05/06-09 on the Dean of the College page, Faculty Meeting agenda section.)
Implementation:
If approved, this revision will appear in the St. Olaf Academic Catalog for 2006-2008. It will be effective beginning with the class of 2010 (students who enter as new first-year students in the fall of 2006).
