What is the University Honors Program?
The University Honors Program (UHP) at Al Akhawayn University is an academic program unique to Morocco that follows a Liberal Arts tradition at a university-wide level. It is an academic unit under the Vice President of Academic Affairs Office. Designed for students who want to satisfy their intellectual curiosity, the Program attracts highly ethical, academically qualified, and self-motivated and proactive students who seek an enriched undergraduate education and serve as models to their peers. The Program offers an innovative, interdisciplinary arts and sciences curriculum taught by faculty open to engaging with students’ learning on a deeper level. Without delaying progress toward a degree, the UHP provides students an opportunity to participate in a community of committed scholars and fosters intellectual partnerships among students and their professors.
What are the UHP benefits?
UHP students receive a more intensive and innovative education without spending additional time on degree completion. Students who complete all the requirements receive special certificates noting this accomplishment and are publicly recognized at AUI’s commencement ceremony. UHP students are given priority registration for courses. They are welcome to meet distinguished visitors to AUI, check out more books from the AUI library, and use the honors learning space. Finally, UHP students benefit from travel opportunities in Morocco and abroad, co-curricular events and lectures, and help with publishing opportunities for undergraduate research magazines. Graduation from the UHP, with its broad interdisciplinary arts and sciences curriculum, gives students a distinct advantage when applying for national awards and scholarships as well as graduate or professional schools.
Who can apply?
- Freshmen 1 & 2 (Second Half of First and Second Semesters)
- Exemption from the Language Center (LC) or Pass with an A (P/A) in all LC courses
- High School Diploma with a CGPA of 16.5+
- Sophomore 1 (Second Half of First Semester)
- High School Diploma with a CGPA of 16.5+
- AUI CGPA of 3.4+
- Sophomore 2 (Second Half of Second Semester)
- AUI CGPA of 3.4+
How to apply?
- Submission of Documents: During the second half of the fall and spring semesters, and during the summer semester, applicants email their documents to uhp@aui.ma, indicating their availability for an interview.
- Essay Topic Preparation: Each applicant is informed about the essay topic of another applicant so they can both prepare comments and questions for the interview.
- Group Interview/Discussion: Applicants participate in a group interview/discussion with one or two other applicants in the presence of the UHP Coordinator (or a UHPC member) and a current UHP student.
- Personal Mission and UHP Degree Plan: Within one week after the interview, the applicant meets with the UHP Coordinator or UHP School Advisor to complete the applicant’s Personal Mission and UHP Degree Plan Form.
- Admission Notification: The UHP Coordinator will provide applicants with admission notifications within one week of submitting the Personal Mission and UHP Degree Plan.
- Registration Office Confirmation: The Registration Office confirms the admission.
Note: At the discretion of the UHP Coordinator and after consulting with the UHPC, the applicant might be invited to an additional interview with the UHPC.
Honors Courses :
There are four categories of Honors Courses:
- Regular Course Contracted for Honors Credit (CHC), 3 SCH
- Interdisciplinary Honors Seminar (HS), 3 SCH
- Internship with Honors Component (IntHC), 3 SCH
- Capstone Project with Honors Component (CapHC), 3 or 4 SCH (students in SSE earn 4
credits because SSE Capstone Project includes a laboratory component and counts 4 credits)
Transcript information: Honors Courses (except Honors Seminars) are denoted by the letters ‘HC’ appended to the course code on a student’s official transcript.
The sequence of taking Honors Courses is decided individually by honors students according to their degree plan. However, there are two restrictions. First, students may not take more than two Honors Courses per semester; an exception can be made after approval of the Committee. Second, students can take Honors Seminars after completing 40 SCH.
UHP Certificates :
Students can choose between two UHP certificates:
- University Honors Program Certificate (UHPC), 18 SCH
- University Honors Program with Distinction Certificate (UHPDC), 24 SCH
Credit Requirements :
- To qualify for an Honors Program Certificate, students must complete a minimum of 18 SCH in designated courses and related academic projects with honors components. Students are required to earn 9 SCH in
One HS (3 SCH)
One CHC (3 SCH)
One IntHC (3 SCH)
Exit Research Report & Poster Presentation (UHP credit)
The other 9 SCH can be taken as any combination of CHC, HS, and CapHC.
Note If an SSE student chooses CapHC, the total of credits is 19 because SSE Capstone Project includes a laboratory component and counts 4 credits
- To qualify for an Honors Program with Distinction Certificate, students must complete a minimum of 24 SCH in designated courses and related academic projects with honors components. Students are required to earn 15 SCH in
Two HS (6 SCH)
Two CHC (6 SCH)
One IntHC (3 SCH)
Exit Research Report & Poster Presentation (UHP credit)
The other 9 SCH can be taken as any combination of CHC, HS, and CapHC
Note If an SSE student chooses CapHC, the total of credits is 25 because SSE Capstone Project includes a laboratory component and counts 4 credits
Standing in the UHP :
- Cumulative GPA requirement
- To maintain official registration in the Program, a student must have minimum CGPA 3.4
each semester.
- Student’s CGPA can drop below 3.4 once. In this case, the student remains enrolled in
the Program, but is not allowed to take Honors course(s) during the following semester. After a second dropping of the student’s CGPA below 3.4, the student is dismissed from the Program.
- Grade requirements
- In Courses Contracted for Honors Credit and in Honors Seminars, a student must receive
a minimum grade of B+.
- A student may receive only one grade below B+ and continue to be officially enrolled in
the UHP. A second grade below B+ will disqualify a student from continued membership in the Program. A student may repeat once a Course Contracted for Honors Credit or an Honors Seminar if and only if that request is approved by the UHP Committee in consultation with the relevant course faculty member and the VPAA.
- To be admitted to a defense of Internship and Capstone with Honors Components, a
student must receive a minimum grade of A- of their school Internship and Capstone, in addition to being evaluated as having covered the requirements to remain in and complete the UHP.
- A student who is involved in any form of plagiarism or academic dishonesty in any AUI class
will be expelled from the UHP.
Completion policies :
To qualify for receiving one of the formal certificates signifying their engagement in the UHP, students must fulfill the following:
- Successfully accomplish all modules relevant to the desired certificate
- Participate through presentation or leadership in a minimum of one (1) co- or extra-curricular activity during their tenure in the UHP
- Attend a minimum of two (2) co- and extracurricular activities per academic year, except in cases of study abroad or other institutionally approved reasons.
- Prepare and present a research report on the investigations conducted in the field of the Research Project (See Appendix for Guidelines)
- This research report should be finalized and presented during the semester before graduation. It will be formally showcased to peers and UHPC representatives.
Honors (and non-Honors) students who take only some of the Honors modules receive upon request a letter recognizing the extent of their participation.
An UHP student who does not receive credit toward one of the UHP certificates, but who receives what would normally be considered a passing grade at AUI, will be considered to have earned a passing grade toward the ordinary AUI graduation requirements.