Skip UM navigation Skip to Main Navigation

UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES

The Schools of Nursing and Pharmacy operate on both the Oxford and Jackson campuses. The Schools of Dentistry, Health Related Professionals and Medicine, and the Health Sciences Graduate School, are based in Jackson only. (Additional healthcare programs are available through the School of Applied Sciences on the Oxford campus.) Other than these exceptions, the schools above are on the Oxford campus.

Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College

Admission Policies

Four-Year Program: Students from all majors and schools may participate in the program. Admission is competitive, based on a combination of considerations: grade-point average; SAT and/or ACT scores; writing ability; commitment to public service; and recommendations of teachers and counselor. Students must apply to the SMBHC through the university’s Special Programs and Scholarships Application after applying to the university.

Honors Scholars Program: Students who did not enter the college as freshmen—either current UM students or transfers—are invited to join the SMBHC through the Honors Scholars Program. Through the Honors Scholars Program, students will become involved in research in their majors, take honors courses, and contribute to the larger society through community action. To be admitted into the Honors Scholars program, a student must have a minimum 3.50 undergraduate GPA in at least 45 earned hours, must obtain approval of the student’s major department, and submit an application for admission. Honors Scholars students must complete the Honors Practicum, the Honors Thesis, or an Honors Project; take at least one other 3-hour honors course; and complete the community action challenge for each semester in which they are a member of the Honors College. A student who fulfills the Honors Scholars Program will graduate as an Honors Scholar in his or her major.

Academic Regulations

Program Completion Requirements

Students entering the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College during their freshman year are admitted to a four-year program designed to enrich and embolden the coursework of their undergraduate degrees. The program accommodates every major on campus. The SMBHC curriculum offers courses that apply to the general education requirements for all Schools and Colleges, as well as special courses available only to Honors students seeking extraordinary classroom or field experiences.

To graduate as SMBHC Scholars, students must complete an approved Capstone project (either the Honors Thesis, the Honors Practicum, or the Honors Project), earn at least 30 hours in Honors coursework (including HON 101/102) and attain at least a 3.5 cumulative GPA with at least 18hours by the end of the sophomore year. Toward the end of their sophomore years, all students must declare their strategies for going forward with the SMBHC, pursuing either an Honors Thesis, an Honors Practicum, an Honors Project, or the status of Honors Associate. Students who do not declare an intention, or who show no or little progress in earning sufficient Honors hours or going forward with an Honors Thesis or an Honors Practicum, or an Honors Project will be assumed to have ended their Honors careers and will be released from the SMBHC. Students admitted to the four-year program who prefer an Honors route that emphasizes coursework but does not include advanced independent work may opt to complete their Honors experience after they have earned 60 hours, including at least 18 in Honors coursework (including HON 101/102) with at least a 3.25. Students who declare their intention to complete their Honors experience at that point are recognized as Honors Associates.

Students admitted to the four-year program who prefer an Honors route that emphasizes coursework but does not include advanced independent work may opt to complete their Honors experience after they have earned 60 hours, including at least 18 in Honors coursework (including HON 101/102) with at least a 3.25. Students who declare their intention to complete their Honors experience at that point are recognized as Honors Associates.

Students must have a minimum of a 3.50 grade-point average in order to graduate as a Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors Scholar. In the service of accomplishing this goal, honors students must attain a minimum GPA of 3.20 at the end of the freshman year, a 3.40 at the end of the sophomore year, and a 3.50 by the end of the junior year. During the senior year, students should have at least a 3.50 cumulative GPA.

Honors students are required to participate in the Community Action Challenge each semester. The college accepts a wide variety of experiences from churches, clubs, and campus organizations as fulfilling this requirement

Although not a requirement, studying abroad and other field experiences are an important emphasis of the program. When students do study abroad for at least a semester, they are excused from the community action requirement for each semester abroad.

The SMBHC provides a second entry point for students who did not enter the SMBHC as freshmen but who apply when they have earned at least 45 hours in college credits, either at the University of Mississippi or elsewhere. Students in the Honors Scholars program are commissioned as Honors Scholars in their majors after they have taken at least one 3-credit Honors course, completed the Thesis or Honors Practicum or Honors Project, and hold at least a 3.5 cumulative GPA.

General Education Core Curriculum

In addition to satisfying specific degree requirements of both an undergraduate program of study and the Honors College, a student must also satisfy the general education/core curriculum requirements of the undergraduate program being pursued. Honors 101 and 102 can be used to satisfy the 6-hour freshman composition requirement that is common to all degree programs. Alternatively, a student may apply the credits toward humanities or social science hours, especially if the student has AP, IB or dual-enrollment credit for composition. As humanities and social science credit, Honors 101 and 102 function differently in the various colleges and schools. In the schools of Business, Accountancy, and Pharmacy, Honors 101-102 can satisfy 6 hours of humanities. In the Schools of Engineering and in the Multi-Disciplinary Studies major, Honors 101-102 can satisfy 3 hours of humanities and 3 hours of social science. In the schools of Education, Applied Sciences, and Journalism, Honors 101-102 can satisfy 3 hours of humanities and 3 hours of electives. In the College of Liberal Arts, Honors 101-102 can satisfy 3 hours of humanities and 3 hours of social science for the B.A. For the B.S. degree, students may use Honors 101-102 to satisfy 6 hours of the required 12 hours of social sciences/humanities.

Advising

An academic counselor at the SMBHC works with the freshmen and sophomore honors students. The academic counselor is available to help reconcile students’ field(s) of study and the honors curriculum, discuss research opportunities, internships and study abroad, or to help with other issues that they are having difficulty addressing. The SMBHC academic counselor does not take the place of their academic advisers in their majors, nor is the academic counselor able to lift advising holds. After students’ sophomore year, the Associate Dean for the Capstone will work with them as they complete their undergraduate studies.

Honor Code Policy

The Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College employs an Honor Code centered on honesty, sincerity, and justice. The purpose of this Honor Code is to strengthen the sense of community in which the Honors College takes great pride. Its strength depends on the personal honor and integrity of each Honors College member. Honors students are required to write the following statement on any assignment submitted for grading in Honors classes, thereby reinforcing the atmosphere of trust within the Honors College community: “On my honor, I pledge that I have neither given, received, nor witnessed any unauthorized help on this ___________”

Signature: ______________

In addition to this pledge, the Honors College has instituted the following policy that is in effect in all honors classes:

Academic integrity is essential to all the values upon which the university is founded. Honors students must therefore embody academic honesty in all aspects of their work. A student with a documented case of plagiarism or academic cheating in an honors course will face the possibility of receiving the grade of F for the course and being dismissed from the Honors College. Specific consequences of such behavior will be determined by the administration and individual faculty member.

The University Creed—All students should uphold the University Creed and the regulations in the University’s M-Book.

The policies and regulations contained in this online University of Mississippi Catalog are in effect for the current or selected semester. The catalog is not a contract, but rather a guide for the convenience of students. The University of Mississippi reserves the right to 1) change or withdraw courses; 2) change the fees, rules, and schedules for admission, registration, instruction, and graduation; and 3) change other regulations affecting the student body at any time. Implicit in each student’s enrollment with the university is an agreement to comply with university rules and regulations, which the university may modify to exercise properly its educational responsibility.