Undergraduate Departamental Distinction

Majors in the Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures are urged to consult the departmental honors advisor by the second semester of their junior year for information pertaining to senior honors work and honors awards in the department. Majors whose university grade point average is 3.5 or higher should enroll in German 293, "Senior Thesis and Honors Course," for a total of four hours of credit in their last year of study. These hours are not to be included in the total number of hours necessary for fulfilling the minimum departmental major requirements. Students may be awarded departmental distinction if the prescribed honors work is successfully completed. This can be done for "Highest Distinction" by students with at least a 3.67 university average and a 4.0 average in departmental courses who write a thesis of superior quality; for "High Distinction" by students with at least a 3.5 university average and a 3.67 average in departmental courses who write a distinguished thesis; or for "Distinction" by students with at least a 3.3 university average and a 3.5 average in departmental courses who write a paper of merit. Final determination of the merit of the thesis will be made by a committee of three faculty members appointed for each student. Students enrolled in the Curriculum Preparatory to the Teaching of German may be awarded departmental "Distinction," "High Distinction," or "Highest Distinction" on the basis of the same grade point average as stated above plus enrollment in two hours of German 293, "Senior Thesis and Honors Course," and on the basis of their grade (an obligatory "A" in "Educational Practice in Secondary Education"). Letters of recommendation are solicited from the supervising and the cooperating teachers in this work for evidence of exceptional teaching.