THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT ASHEVILLE

                         FACULTY SENATE 


                                 Senate Document Number  0291F 

                                 Date of Senate Approval 11/14/91


 
Signature of Senate Chair __________________________ Date________

Action of Vice Chancellor: 

   Approval _______________________________  Date________________ 
              
     Denied _______________________________  Date________________
      
Reasons for denial and suggested modifications: 









 
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Statement of Faculty Senate Action:   


  APC Document #1:  Catalog Changes Regarding University Honors


Effective Date:     Fall '92 for Catalog and Summer '92 for
                    adoption of practice

Delete:             Page 54, fourth line under the heading
                    "Academic Honors":  "a student must have
                    earned at least 60 semester hours at UNCA to
                    be eligible for University-wide honors."

Replace With:       "a student must have earned at least 75
                    semester hours at UNCA to be eligible for
                    University-wide honors."

Impact:             --Fewer graduating seniors with 4.00 GPAs in
                    work done at UNCA (n.b.:  only UNCA grades
                    count in the GPA which determines University-
                    wide honors);



                    --A more equitable distribution of honors
                    between "transfer" and "non-transfer"
                    students.

Rationale:          Patterns of honors distribution since the
                    1987 revision of honors criteria seem to
                    favor transfer over non-transfer students
                    (according to studies by Institutional
                    Research and the Honors Committee).  With
                    disturbing frequency, transfer students
                    receiving cum laude, magna cum laude and even
                    summa cum laude honors have been found to
                    have grades in their transfer records which,
                    if counted, would have disqualified them from
                    any level of honors.  Some of those students
                    have been awarded honors on as few as 45
                    units of course work completed at UNCA
                    (grades for their final semester not being
                    available at the time of the Honors
                    Committee's deliberations).  

                    The Honors Committee conducted a poll at the
                    May 2, 1990 Faculty Meeting and found that
                    63.5% of the faculty present and voting (63)
                    were in favor of increasing from 60 to 75 the
                    number of UNCA hours required to qualify for
                    honors.

                    On the basis of that vote--and observed
                    inequities in the present system--the Honors
                    Committee recommends that University-wide
                    honors be considered only for students who
                    complete at least 75 credit hours at UNCA.