Academic Honors and Honorary Societies

Quarterly Dean's List

The quarterly high scholarship list includes the names of matriculated students who have attained a quarterly grade point average of 3.50 for at least 12 graded credits. Notation of high scholarship is made on the student's permanent academic record. More information about the Dean's list is available in the UWT Catalog.

Graduating with Honors

Baccalaureate honors (cum laude, summa cum laude, and magna cum laude) are awarded only to the recipients of a first baccalaureate degree. These honors are earned by those students who have completed no fewer than 90 residence credits at this institution. At least 60 of the 90 credits must have been acquired on a graded basis. The University's Honors Committee determines annually the grade-point requirement for each baccalaureate honor. In recent years, approximately 10 percent of the students have been awarded baccalaureate honors. Credits earned by extension courses are not counted toward honors eligibility. For further information on honors thresholds, check with your IAS adviser. Students with baccalaureate honors wear golden cords at commencement.

Faculty honors are awarded to those students who have met the GPA criteria for baccalaureate honors (cum laude or higher), but who have fewer than 90 credits in residence at UWT. Students with faculty honors wear purple cords at commencement.

IAS Honors Thesis/Project

The Honors Thesis/Project is available to IAS seniors who would like to graduate "with honors" in IAS. To qualify to graduate with honors, a student must: 1) have earned a 3.7 cummulative GPA at the time of application and at the time of graduation; 2) submit a formal application to the IAS office; 3) meet all program and concentration requirements; and 4) write a graded senior honors thesis (10 credits, typically over 2 quarters - research in the first and writing in the second). Students must register for the Honors Thesis/Project using this Independent Study Form.

All work on an honors thesis/project must be arranged between the student and a full-time faculty member.

Honorary Societies at UWT

UWT is the home of the Alpha Theta Gamma chapter of Phi Alpha Theta, the National History Honor Society. Students eligible for Phi Alpha Theta must have completed 5 college level history courses (including those taken at other institutions) in which they earned a 3.3, and carry a cumulative GPA of 3.3. Contact faculty advisers Mike Allen or Mary Hanneman for more information.

The Golden Key International Honor Society on the Seattle campus welcomes Tacoma students. Criteria for joining Golden Key are the completion of 35 credits with a cumulative GPA of 3.58. Golden Key sends out invitations in the winter quarter to eligible UWT students.

Both Phi Alpha Theta and Golden Key have induction ceremonies every spring at UWT. Members of these honor societies wear colored cords with their academic regalia at UWT commencement ceremonies.

All UWT students are welcome at meetings and service projects sponsored by these student organizations.

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