Irvin D. Reid Honors College Dean John Corvino announced this week, in an email sent to Honors students, two significant changes to the University Honors Program - the reduction of the number of required credit hours needed for completion and the expansion of the HON 3000 requirement.

Details of the changes are below.

Credit-Hour Requirement: University Honors has traditionally required a minimum of 36 Honors credits among the 120 needed for graduation. Starting this term (Spring/Summer 2019), that number has been reduced to a minimum of 28 Honors credits. The new, lower minimum puts us more in line with the requirements at other institutions and should make it easier for students to complete University Honors while pursuing their other-often varied and demanding-interests.

Honors Advisors will be working through the summer to update students' DegreeWorks to reflect this credit-hour requirement change. If students have any questions, or they do not see this change reflected in their DegreeWorks by the start of Fall 2019, please email honors@wayne.edu for assistance.

Expansion of HON 3000 Requirement: University Honors has included an HON 3000 "Service Learning" requirement. Effective immediately, that requirement has been expanded to allow students the option of either service learning, undergraduate research, study abroad, or an internship/co-op/practicum. The new, more flexible requirement will now be called the "Field Learning" requirement. The idea behind the change was to acknowledge that there are several high-impact practices beyond service learning that allow students to deepen their education outside the traditional classroom; we wanted to give students a choice among them.

If students have already completed their HON 3000 with a service learning class, that credit will still count towards graduation. If students have completed other Field Learning courses or experiences that clearly fall within the new parameters, they may petition (honors@wayne.edu) to have those counted toward the Honors 3000 requirement. Generally, only experiences that were part of an approved WSU class or program will qualify.

For students still looking to complete their requirement, visit https://honors.wayne.edu/students/graduating to see the parameters for your range of options: either service learning, undergraduate research, study abroad, or an internship/co-op/practicum. Note that there are explicit guidelines for each of these options: not just any class or related experience will count.

Students are strongly urged to consult with Honors Advisors when preparing to satisfy their HON 3000 requirement.