Students shall declare a concentration before they register for the 4th semester prior to graduation (typically this will occur in the spring of the sophomore year). Transfer students who transfer to the Honors College fewer than four semesters prior to graduation should declare their concentrations when they arrive.

This is done by submitting a Declaration of Concentration/Minor form to a faculty member who is on the Advisory Board of the concentration you wish to declare. The faculty on each Concentration Advisory Board is listed on the web in the descriptions of each concentration. The declaration is subject to approval by the Advisory Board. The Advisory Board for each concentration shall assign each student to a concentration advisor, based on the needs and desires of the student and with the approval of the advisor. If students have a preference for a particular advisor, they can either submit the form to that faculty member, or make their preference known to the faculty member to whom they submit the form. Once the form is approved by the Advisory Board, students will receive a copy for their own records.

At any time, a student may change advisors, with the consent of the new advisor. The new advisor will notify the old advisor of the change. A student may also change their concentration at any time, by submitting a new Declaration of Concentration/Minor form which is approved by the Advisory Board of the new concentration. The Declaration of Concentration forms will be kept in the student's advising file. In addition, the Associate Dean will maintain a list of students with their concentrations and advisors, which will be updated whenever a change is made.

Minor concentrations: Students who wish to minor in an area in which a minor concentration is offered should fill out the Declaration of Concentration/Minor form and obtain the signature of a member of the concentration advisory board. A list of available minor concentrations is online.

Individually Designed Concentrations

Students may choose to design their own concentration. The student must show why their needs cannot be met by any of the standard concentrations, and complete an Individually Designed Concentration Proposal Form which is submitted to the Associate Dean, who forwards it to the curriculum committee for approval. Proposals must meet the following guidelines.

Individual Concentration Guidelines (approved 3/30/07):

a. Courses selected for the concentration should constitute a coherent course of study culminating in a thesis that brings together those studies.
b. The proposal must include course work, thesis committee and thesis topic, describe how the proposed concentration concerns a coherent plan of study that is not addressed by existing concentrations, and explain how the thesis is relevant to the coherent course of study.
c. The proposed concentration must have a minimum of 36 credits, 30 of which cannot be courses that the student is also counting as core courses.
d. Proposals must be submitted by the end of the fall semester of the student's junior year, or three semesters before the student plans to graduate.
e. Any necessary modifications to coursework after approval by the Curriculum Committee and the Faculty Assembly will need approval of the thesis advisor, Associate Dean and one Curriculum Committee member.
f. Any exceptions to the above guidelines for current juniors and seniors will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Students are reminded that they need at least 45 credits of upper level coursework to graduate.

[The prior approval process was as follows: The Concentration Proposal must be approved by a Concentration Committee of at least two faculty members who are willing to advise the student and oversee their program. Typically, the Concentration Proposal will be written in consultation with the Concentration Committee. The Concentration Proposal must also be approved by a third faculty member, not on the Concentration Committee, who is a member of the Curriculum Committee. This duty shall be rotated among the members of the Curriculum Committee on a schedule determined by that Committee. Any proposed concentration must include at least 15 credits of upper-division courses which directly contribute to the central goals of the concentration, in addition to a senior thesis.]