CASNR Honors Program

The CASNR Honors Program provides you the opportunity to challenge yourself in the classroom and to work one-on-one with a faculty member on a thesis. You get to develop further your problem solving and critical thinking skills by applying them to the thesis topic. Therefore, the overall purposes of the CASNR Honors Program are:

• for you to be challenged academically
• to enrich your college experience
• to stimulate your interest in advanced education, research and creative achievement.

CASNR Honors is achieved by

• Maintaining a minimum grade point average of 3.50 in the major and a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.25 (with not grades of D+. D, D- or F in any course completed at UT*)
• Completing 12 credit hours of
• courses numbered 300 or higher in the major by enrolling in the honors section or via honors-by-contract and earning a minimum grade of a 3.00 in each course or
s numbered at the 500-level, taken for undergraduate credit, and earning a minimum grade of 3.00 in each course or
• a combination of 300- or 400-level honors courses, honors-by-contract courses or 500-level courses taken for undergraduate credit and earning a minimum grade of 3.00 in each course

Internship and independent study courses are excluded from these 12 credit hours of coursework.

In addition to the above 12 credit hours, you are required to earn a minimum of 3 credit hours in Agriculture and Natural Resources 497 Honors Research and one (1) credit hour of Agriculture and Natural Resources 498 Honors Thesis.

To receive this distinction, you must complete the College Honors application before the end of your fifth semester.

CASNR Honors Thesis is a substantial written report that represents some aspect of

• research (i.e., laboratory or field experimentation, survey research or qualitative research),
• scholarship (i.e., a comprehensive literature review of the original research reports related to a specific aspect of agriculture and natural resources that leads to educational materials for teaching or Extension programs) or
• creative achievement (i.e., a comprehensive analysis of an ecosystem or landscape and plan for preservation, conservation, restoration, or utilization).

The thesis is completed under the supervision of a faculty mentor with an appointment in the University of Tennessee, Institute of Agriculture.

• enroll in Agriculture and Natural Resources 497 Honors Research when you are working on the project
• enroll in Agriculture and Natural Resources 498 Honors Thesis the semester you are writing the thesis and make the thesis presentation
• enter the thesis work in the Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement held during the spring semester

 

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* Academic Second Opportunity (ASO) students may be considered for College Honors once their ASO-application is approved by the ASO Committee.