Northland College presents awards and honors to students in recognition of academic merit and achievement. Many of these accomplishments are announced at the Honors Day Convocation held the first Thursday of April. Awards and honors are listed below.
Dean’s List
The Dean’s List is computed at the conclusion of the fall and winter sessions. Full-time students (students who complete 12 or more credits during each of the fall and winter sessions) with letter grades in at least 12 credits and who earn a 3.5 grade point average with no grade less than C and no incomplete grades earn this honor.
Major Merit Awards
Major merit awards, such as the Elementary Education Program Award and Native American Studies Award for Academic Excellence, are awarded to seniors upon nomination by the program faculty members of the major. Eligibility for nomination is based on a minimum grade point average of 3.0 and significant contributions made to the major above and beyond academic contributions.
Graduating with Honors
To be eligible to graduate with honors, students must earn a minimum of 48 letter-graded credits at Northland and have been enrolled at Northland College during their junior and senior years. The minimum requirements for the Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree must be successfully fulfilled as stated in the student’s assigned program catalog. Students will graduate with honors if they have attained an overall grade point average of 3.50 or higher. Students who earn a cumulative grade point average from 3.50 to 3.69 will graduate Cum Laude (with honor); students who earn a grade point average from 3.70 to 3.89 will graduate Magna Cum Laude (with great honor); and students who earn a grade point average of 3.9 or higher will graduate Summa Cum Laude (with highest honor). For purposes of the commencement program, honors are determined at the end of the winter session. For purposes of the final transcript, honors are determined at degree completion.
Honor Societies
Alpha Chi Honor Society
Alpha Chi is a co-educational society whose purpose is to promote academic excellence and exemplary character among college and university students and to honor those who achieve such distinction. Its name derives from the initial letters of the Greek words “aletheia”, meaning truth, and “xarakter”, meaning character. As a general honor society, Alpha Chi admits to membership students from all academic disciplines.
Membership in Alpha Chi recognizes previous accomplishments and provides opportunity for continued growth and service. It seeks above all else to serve the needs of the students who comprise its membership. As a phrase from its constitution suggests, Alpha Chi seeks to find ways to assist its members in making scholarship effective for good.
Alpha Chi is opposed to bigotry, narrowness, and distinctions between people on any basis. Alpha Chi seeks to promote the genuine personal worth of each individual.
Psi Chi Honor Society in Psychology
Psi Chi, the National Honor Society in Psychology, was founded in 1929 for the purposes of encouraging, stimulating, and maintaining excellence in scholarship and advancing the science of psychology. These aims are summarized in the two Greek words “psyche”, meaning the mind and its enrichment, and “cheires”, meaning research and fellowship. Membership is open to undergraduate men and women who are making the study of psychology one of their major interests and who meet the society’s qualifications of leadership and excellence in their scientific studies.
Other Awards
Several other awards are conferred upon students on the basis of academic merit Monetary awards often accompany these recognitions. In some cases, a check is presented at the Honors Day Convocation. In other instances, the award is applied to the following year’s tuition. |
