University Honors Program, Honors College

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The University Honors Program (UHP) in the Honors College offers a unique, interdisciplinary undergraduate experience. The program centers around honors coursework and High Impact Practices (HIP). In addition to academic and professional development, the UHP offers a supportive community of students and faculty who mutually invest to help members develop to their fullest potential as scholar citizens. Students are encouraged to participate in varied enrichment activities, community engagement, leadership opportunities, internships, inquiry, and study abroad programs with the goal of broadening perspectives.

The UHP curriculum requires successful completion of HONR 1700 , CTCM 2530 (honors sections only, unless entering UHP students already took CTCM 2530), 12 credit hours of honors electives, and completion of an honors capstone project. An Advanced Entry option is available for incoming, transfer, or continuing students with substantial early college, AP, transfer, or completed credit. Students in the UHP also may apply to a disciplinary honors program during their time at UNC Charlotte. The Honors College website maintains a current listing of all honors programs available at UNC Charlotte. Credit for certain honors courses in disciplinary honors programs may count toward the UHP requirements. As their culminating honors curricular requirement, UHP students complete a capstone project in the UHP or in their disciplinary honors program.

Admission Requirements

Students who may apply to the UHP include entering freshmen, transfer and continuing students in any major who: expect to be at UNC Charlotte for at least two years to complete their degree program, have a strong record of academic success, and feel they are a good fit with the UHP mission. Entering freshman must have an unweighted high school GPA of 3.2. Continuing students must have a GPA of 3.4 to apply. All members of UHP must maintain a 3.0 overall GPA, a 3.2 GPA in honors courses, and meet co-curricular expectations each semester.

Course Requirements

To graduate with University Honors Program distinction noted on the transcript, students must satisfy the following course requirements:

Required Courses

Students who enter UHP with existing credit for CTCM 2530 can be exempt from the required honors section.

CTCM 2530 - Interdisciplinary Critical Thinking and Communication (3) (honors sections only unless students already took this course prior to joining UHP) (typically taken in the sophomore year)
HONR 1700 - University Honors Program Colloquium (1) (with a grade of B or above)

Required Elective Courses

Select 12 credit hours of lower and/or upper division honors electives. At least 6 credit hours of honors elective courses must be at the upper division level (i.e., 3000 level or higher). No more than 6 credit hours of honors elective courses may be at the lower division level (i.e., 1000 or 2000 level). Lower division electives can include (a) honors sections of fundamental themes general education courses such as xxxx 1501-H, xxxx 1502-H, xxxx 1511-H, xxxx 1512-H, AMDM 1575 -H, HIST 1575 -H, POLS 1575 -H, and/or CAPI 1575 -H, or (b) 1000 or 2000 level honors sections offered through other departments such as, but not limited to, BINF 1101 -H, ECON 2101 -H, ECON 2102 -H, and WRDS 2101 -H. Note that students can count either ECON 2101 -H or ECON 2102 -H towards the UHP credit, but not both.

Students accepted as Advanced Entry may be exempted from 6 credit hours of lower division honors coursework if they enter with 60+ credit hours, and may be exempted from 3 credit hours of lower division honors coursework if they enter with 30-59 credit hours.

Required Capstone Courses

Students in the UHP must complete an honors capstone project. Students can satisfy this requirement by either applying to a disciplinary honors program and completing their capstone proposal and capstone thesis/project in their discipline (possibly leading to graduating with dual honors; see below), or they can complete their capstone project in the UHP by completing HONR 3790 and HONR 3791 . Both the capstone proposal and capstone thesis/project must receive a grade of A for graduation with honors.

Other Requirements

Complete the Application to Candidacy process for graduating with honors, as directed by the Honors College
Maintain a minimum overall GPA of 3.0, and a 3.2 GPA in honors coursework
Maintain good standing by enrolling in an average of 2 honors courses per year
Maintain good standing by participating in required co-curricular engagement opportunities in the UHP (e.g., Community service for year 1 students, Honors Core Experiences [HCE] for years 2-4+ students)

Dual Honors

Students may graduate with dual honors by completing all departmental/college honors program requirements, in addition to the UHP requirements. In this case, the departmental/college capstone thesis/project coursework will satisfy the UHP capstone requirement. Students interested in this option should consult with the departmental/college honors program director about how to apply to their program and/or receive permission to complete their capstone course(s) and/or assignments.

UHP students in departmental/college honors programs with curricular requirements beyond a 2-course capstone sequence may also count one 3000- or 4000-level honors course toward their the UHP honors electives.

Study Abroad

The UHP students participating in a faculty-led, study abroad course (i.e., summer, fall, spring courses) may request up to 3 credit hours as an honors elective course at the 3000- or 4000-level through the UHP Canvas page.

Residence

UHP students are encouraged to live in the Honors College residence, Levine Hall, which provides an environment especially conducive to community-building, academic study and cooperative learning. Per UNC Charlotte policy, first-year students are required to live on campus, so they have first preference for living in Levine Hall. The Honors College office suite and seminar rooms are conveniently located in Levine Hall.

The Dubois Center

The Honors College offers some honors classes, an honors student lounge (5th floor), and several honors activities each semester at The Dubois Center campus in Uptown Charlotte. The UHP students are particularly encouraged to make use of honors spaces at The Dubois Center, easily accessible via light rail.

Student Association

All students in the UHP are members of the University Honors Program Student Association (UHPSA). This student-led organization facilitates the UHP student body meetings, social events, special discussions, student mentoring, and community service projects. All UHP students are required to attend the meetings and complete co-curricular experiences to remain in good standing.

Merit Scholars Programs

The Albert Engineering Leadership Scholars Program, Freeman Scholars, Johnson Scholars, and the Martin Scholars Program are housed in the Honors College; Albert Scholars are members of the UHP; Freeman, Johnson, and Martin Scholars must be members of Arts and Architecture Honors Program (AAHP), Business Honors Program (BHP), or the UHP.