What are the rules for Departmental Honors?
MEALAC Departmental Honors are available only to Columbia College and General Studies MEALAC majors, and only on the following conditions: First: Normally no more than ten percent of graduating majors (or a minimum of one major) may receive honors in any given academic year. This is a Columbia College requirement. This means that even writing a very good honors thesis does not guarantee that you will receive departmental honors; though of course the experience of thesis-writing is often very valuable in itself. The School of General Studies, being a smaller school, does not follow the ten percent guideline. Second: You must have a grade-point average of at least 3.5 in courses taken for the major. Third: You must prepare a substantial research paper or project, the length, nature, and format of which must be agreed upon in advance in consultation with the Director of Undergraduate Studies. A normal length for papers of this kind is about forty to forty-five pages. This paper may be wri
