Honors Laureate Diploma - Fall 2023 and Later
Honors Academic Requirements
All Virginia Tech Honors College students who will enter the College in Fall 2023 or later will work toward the completion of the Honors Laureate Diploma (HLD), which requires satisfying the Honors academic requirements below. Please note: students pursuing the Honors Minor in Collaborative Discovery must complete all steps below; however, credit requirements will differ from the HLD.
Every prospective Honors College student must complete the Honors Gateway, a virtual orientation module in Canvas, in order to be admitted to Honors.
New Honors students must complete UH 1404 Principles of Collaborative Discovery with a passing grade by the end of their first two semesters in Honors.
UH 1404 is a three-credit course that counts toward the Collaborative Discovery Category of the Honors Laureate Diploma!
Students who fail to meet this requirement will be removed from the Honors College.
New Honors students must achieve a 3.4 cumulative GPA by the end of their first two semesters in Honors. After that, Honors does not check GPA again until graduation.
Students who fail to meet this requirement will be removed from the Honors College.
Students who complete UH 1404 but who are removed from the Honors College as a result of not meeting the GPA requirement may request reinstatement in a future term by contacting honors@vt.edu. Reinstatement requires a 3.4 or better cumulative GPA.
Students must earn at least 24 honors credits (by completing Honors Laureate Diploma requirements or the Honors Minor checksheet) and achieve at least a 3.4 final cumulative GPA.
Honors Laureate Diploma credit requirements
Collaborative Discovery
Students work together with faculty and their peers to discover and develop critical abilities such as transdisciplinary collaboration, complex systems thinking, and analysis of problem spaces. Complete at least 12 honors credits from the ways below:
Every incoming Honors College student has their first two semesters in Honors to complete our required introductory course, UH 1404 Principles of Collaborative Discovery. Completing this course earns students 3 honors credits.
Honors Reading Seminars are small, discussion-based classes in which students read about topics of interest; practice critical reading, thinking, and communication skills; and build community with other Honors students. Reading seminars are taught by Honors Peer Educators. Classes meet once a week and are 1 credit, P/F only. Repeatable up to 6 credits.
UH 3504 is an exploration of transdisciplinary issues and questions. Students analyze complex topics from multiple points of view and practice collaborative discussion and critique and ethical decision-making across disciplines. Course content varies. This 3-credit course is repeatable up to 6 credits.
UH 4504 will involve discovery and definition of critical, real-world problems. The focus is on transdisciplinary collaboration, design thinking, and experimentation. The course encourages reflective evaluation of individual and collective problem-solving efforts as well as learning to communicate solutions to diverse stakeholders. this 3-credit course is repeatable up to 12 credits.
Departmental Honors Courses are offered through Virginia Tech's many different academic departments. These course numbers end with an “H” and are found in the course registration system within disciplinary subjects. These courses are generally much smaller than non-honors sections of the same course and may be taught in unique ways.
A Faculty-Student Agreement (FSA) is a way to earn Honors credit for a non-honors course. An FSA is a contract between the course instructor and an honors student that stipulates that if a student completes additional coursework to the satisfaction of the instructor, the student will earn honors credit for the course equal to the course credit hours.
SuperStudio double-counts toward an HLD! Upon completing SuperStudio, students earn 4 honors course credits in Collaborative Discovery + 4 additional honors credits in Experiential Learning for a total of 8 honors credits. For more information, check out our SuperStudio page.
Experiential Learning
Students participate in hands-on experiences that bridge the gap between their academic experience and professional goals, including work with industry, nonprofit, and university partners. Complete at least 12 honors credits from the ways below:
In this two-part course, students work directly with community partners, reflect on service experiences, and complete readings that place the experience into a theoretical context. This 3-credit course is repeatable up to 6 credits.
UH 4104 is the mandatory training course for Honors Peer Educators (as they facilitate their section of UH 2124 Honors Reading Seminar) or Honors Peer Advisors (as they work in the Honors Peer Advising Center). This course emphasizes discussion-based teaching, building student communities, and development of personal teaching strengths. This 2-credit course is repeatable up to 8 credits. P/F only.
This collection of four Honors College courses focuses on an introduction to and intermediate research practices (UH 1604, UH 2604), designing research protocols (UH 3604), and data collection and analysis (UH 3614). Students do not have to take these courses in any particular order. See the Honors Credit Opportunities page for more information.
To count here, the University's standard independent study course numbers (2974 or 4974) or standard undergraduate research course numbers (2994 or 4994) must appear on the Virginia Tech transcript. Honors will match the transcript credit in honors credit (max 12 credits combined from this way).
If you perform undergraduate research that does not appear on your Virginia Tech transcript as 2994 or 4994 or does not appear on your transcript at all, see your Canvas Honors Credit Tracker for more information.
Examples of eligible professional work experiences include an internship, externship, co-op, shadowing, or field study/practicum. Ineligible work experiences include jobs that are unrelated to professional or academic goals or work done for student-led organizations. If the experience appears on the VT transcript (for example, through the University’s 3900 course number), Honors will match any academic credit in honors credit.
See your Canvas Honors Credit Tracker for more details (max 6 honors credits from this way).
The study abroad experience must appear on the VT transcript (for example, the University’s 3900 course number).
Each instance of study abroad that appears on your VT transcript is worth 3 honors credits. Otherwise, a full traditional semester = 6 honors credits and a full academic year (two semesters) = 12.
SuperStudio double-counts toward an HLD! Upon completing SuperStudio, students earn 4 honors course credits in Collaborative Discovery + 4 additional honors credits in Experiential Learning for a total of 8 honors credits. For more information, check out our SuperStudio page.
Canvas Honors Credit Tracker
The Credit Tracker is the system used by the Honors College to award and keep track of honors credit earned by individual honors students. All Honors College students are required to use the Canvas Honors Credit Tracker to record their honors credit once they have completed it. Once students complete Step #1 above, the Honors Gateway, they fully matriculate to the Honors College and gain access to the Canvas Honors Credit Tracker.
The Credit Tracker is only effective in helping students track their honors credit when students are diligent in updating it. Review the Canvas Honors Credit Tracker Guide for more information.