Dean’s List
Dean’s List honors are awarded annually in the summer to BA-seeking students based on academic performance for the previous academic year. Students are eligible for the Dean’s List if their grade point average for the year puts them in the top 15% of all undergraduate degree-seeking students enrolled at The College for that year. Students who have studied abroad for one semester on an approved CMC program or who enter The College by transfer mid-year are eligible for inclusion. To be eligible, students must have completed 4 full courses for 4 letter grades in each semester enrolled at CMC. Students whose grades include an I, F, or NC on June 15th of the academic year, or who have committed academic dishonesty, are not eligible for inclusion. Students may be included on the Dean’s List up to 4 times.
Phi Beta Kappa
A chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, Tau of California, a national honor society honoring academic excellence primarily for undergraduates, is chartered at CMC. The chapter annually nominates and elects qualified students (and a small number of alumni) to membership. Students must have completed the fourth college semester of one foreign language and CMC’s mathematics requirement before they are eligible for nomination. Normally the chapter will elect no more than 10% of a graduating class. When considering candidates for membership, the chapter weighs the quality of work completed in the major, as well as the number, variety, and balance of liberal arts courses taken outside the major. For further information, contact Elizabeth Morgan.
Other Honor Societies
For information on other academic honor societies, see the departmental listings in Majors & Sequences .
Academic Honors at Graduation
Valedictorian
The BA graduate with the highest cumulative grade point average is named class valedictorian. To be named valedictorian, a student must have taken at least 24 courses while enrolled at Claremont McKenna College, not counting CR-NC courses. The class valedictorian is set at the spring semester-end faculty meeting at which the faculty recommends to the Board of Trustees approval of the May graduates. Grade changes submitted to the Registrar after this spring faculty meeting will not affect the determination of the valedictorian, unless the Academic Standards Committee determines that the grade change represents the correction of a gross clerical error on the part of the instructor.
Latin Honors at Graduation
Degrees with distinction, Cum Laude, Magna Cum Laude, or Summa Cum Laude, are awarded in recognition of an excellent academic record, based on the student’s cumulative grade point average, in work done while enrolled at CMC during the regular academic year. Latin honors may be awarded to up to 30% of the graduating BA class: Cum Laude honors may be granted to 22% percent of the graduates, Magna Cum Laude to 6%, and Summa Cum Laude to 2%. The Dean of Faculty will make appropriate recommendations to the faculty.
Honors in the Major
Students may be recommended for graduation with honors in the major on the basis of requirements set by each department or advisory group for the major, providing they have maintained a minimum grade point average of B+ (10.00) in all courses in the area of their major.
Students with a dual major are eligible for honors if they meet all requirements for honors in both academic disciplines of their major, except for the number of courses required for full majors (e.g. a dual major in economics and psychology is eligible for honors if the student is awarded honors in both economics and psychology). They may also be eligible for honors in one discipline of the major if they have completed all requirements, including the required number of courses, for a full major in that discipline.
CMC students with off-campus majors may be granted honors by the college in Claremont where they are completing the major. To be eligible, CMC students must meet the minimum requirements for honors in the major set by CMC. Students with off-campus dual majors must be eligible in both areas of their major in order to earn honors, or complete a full major in one area and receive honors in that area. Awards granted by the other Claremont Colleges are not recognized in the CMC commencement program or at the CMC awards banquet. They may be recognized at the college granting the honors.
Students with intercollegiate majors are in most cases not eligible for honors in the major. For further information, check appropriate catalog listings for each major. CMC does not grant honors in the major to students with individualized majors.
Departmental Awards
Every year, departments have the option to nominate students for awards. Departmental recognition for Best Overall Performance and for the Best Senior Thesis is bestowed at the annual awards and honors banquet in May.
Other Student Awards
A number of academic and non-academic honors are awarded to students each year at CMC’s annual awards banquet.
Faculty Awards
The College grants three faculty awards:
- The Roy P. Crocker Award for Merit is given to a professor selected by the faculty for outstanding service to The College;
- The Glenn R. Huntoon Award for Superior Teaching is given to the faculty member voted by the student body as the most effective teacher; and
- The G. David Huntoon Senior Teaching Award is given annually to a full professor selected by a Huntoon Senior Committee.
Other faculty awards may be granted by The College.
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