Departmental Honors

Students seeking departmental honors at graduation will have to meet an earlier completion date, generally the second Monday in April. In addition to all the criteria regarding final projects, the final project must fulfill several other conditions necessary for a self-determined major to receive “Departmental Honors” at graduation:

1. The student must have earned a total GPA in all work taken at Skidmore of at least 3.0 and a GPA of 3.5 or higher in all work approved for the self-determined major core;
   
2. Both of the advisors must evaluate the final project as “excellent” and must also regard the project as worthy of Honors (their comments must be submitted in writing along with the final project to the SDMS by the established deadline);
   
3. The SDMS, based on the advisors' assessments and on its members' own judgments, deems the project worthy of honors. In instances when the SDMS is not sufficiently knowledgeable about the subject of a final project to assess it, the SDMS may, at its discretion, seek advice from a faculty member knowledgeable in the subject. Members of the SDMS, who together constitute the “department,” hold final authority in recommending Departmental Honors for self-determined major students.
   

When all these criteria have been satisfied, the SDMS will make its recommendation to the Office of the Registrar and through the Registrar to the faculty as a whole.