Program Requirements
To complete the Honors Program, you must fulfill requirements in the following areas:
To earn distinction as an Honors Program graduate, you must maintain an overall 3.2+ GPA, earn the minimum number of Honors credit hours for their degree level, and complete a successful defense of your Honors Thesis or Capstone Project.
Regardless of degree level, you are encouraged to enroll in as many Honors courses as you feel comfortable taking.
Bachelor's Degree Requirements
You must complete a minimum of 21 Honors credits. At least three of these upper-division credits can be an Honors Thesis or Capstone project (approved by the Honors Program Director) related to your major. In addition, all incoming students with 30 hours or less are required to complete the HNRS 1000 course within their first 30 hours at ǧÃŬAV, unless they receive exemption permission from their campus director. (Students who enter the program with 60 credits or more are exempt from taking HNRS 1000.) Throughout your time in the Honors program, you will be enrolled in HNRS 1100, a zero credit tracking course that ensures that you remain in good standing.
Good Standing
The Honors program strongly encourages you to become involved in service and leadership activities to support your long-term professional, academic, and personal goals. Each semester, you will turn in the to help chart this course. The form consists of three parts, each with its own deadline: Goals, Reflection, and Results. By the end of each year, students will use this form to update their CV and Honors portfolio.
To maintain good standing in the Honors program and benefit from early registration times, students should ensure they submit each part of the form to their campus director by the following deadlines:
- Fall 2024: September 16
- Spring 2025: Monday, January 27
- Results: Tuesday, April 15
Community Service
Part of being an Honors student is learning to be a responsible, community-conscious adult. One way the Honors Program encourages its members to develop is by getting them involved in community service.
As part of their community service activities, Honors students can:
- tutor local public school students
- host blood drives (in conjunction with LifeSouth)
- make frequent visits to the local animal shelter
- participate in Sweep the Hooch to clean up the Chattahoochee River
- sponsor a Relay For Life team
- support the Family Promise donation drive
- help the local affiliate of Habitat for Humanity
- serve the elderly and impoverished through Action, Inc.
- assist with academic and spelling competitions held on campus
Institutional Service
In addition to working in the surrounding community, Honors students have opportunities to serve their campus community by volunteering.
As part of their institutional service activities, honors students can:
- help with student activities
- plan and host academic conferences
- represent the Honors Program at ǧÃŬAV Open Houses
- speak with students at NSO
- assist new students with registration
- manage various tasks that are crucial to running the Honors Program itself
ǧÃŬAV is recognized as both The Military College of Georgia and a State Leadership Institution. Not only does the Honors Program require leadership activity for completion of the program at the bachelor’s level, but the program mission “emphasizes scholarship as a foundation for leadership and service.”
Here are just a few of the ways that you can develop as leaders during your time at ǧÃŬAV:
Serve as a formal Honors Program Mentor
This opportunity is open to you after completion of your freshman year. As mentors, you will advise and guide a first-year Honors Program student. For more information about this opportunity, please see your Honors Program Director.
Interdisciplinary Leadership Minor
Complete the Interdisciplinary Leadership Minor as part of the your academic Plan of Study.
ǧÃŬAV's L3 Summit
Participate in ǧÃŬAV’s L3 Summit, an annual four-day leadership camp held each May for college student leaders across the state.
Serve in the ǧÃŬAV Corps of Cadets
Learn more about serving in the Corps of Cadets.
ǧÃŬAV's Student Conference on Leadership
Participate in ǧÃŬAV’s Student Conference on Leadership, a free one-day event offered by Student Involvement annually (usually in October) for all ǧÃŬAV students.
President's Leadership Program
Apply for selection as a participant in the Building Outstanding Leadership Development (BOLD) Program. This program, which comes with a scholarship for those selected, is available to entering associate’s level students at ǧÃŬAV.
Faculty Contacts
Tyler Harrison, Ph.D. Profile page
Associate Professor of Psychological Science
Director of Honors, Dahlonega Campus
Office locationBarnes Hall, 227,
Thomas Greene, Ph.D.Profile page
Associate Professor, History
Assistant Director, Honors Dahlonega Campus
Office locationBarnes Hall, 305,
Area(s) of Expertise: Early medieval Europe, history of religion, sensory history, history of emotions, medievalism, world history
Brynna QuarlesProfile page
Assistant Professor in Chemistry
Director of Honors, Gainesville Campus
Office locationScience, Engineering, Tech, 210,
Valerie SurrettProfile page
Associate Professor
Assisant Director of Honors, Gainesville Campus
Office locationNesbitt Academic Building, 4156,