Maintaining Your University Honors Program Scholarship

The “specific requirements” of your scholarship describes our expectations of you. You will find more details regarding the requirements in this Handbook. You must adhere to all of the requirements every semester in order to remain in good standing and avoid any penalties.

You should carefully review the specific requirements of your scholarship before you sign the form to accept the award. By signing the specific requirements form, you have acknowledged that you are aware of and agree to abide by these requirements. Since the University provides both a hard copy and an electronic version of your grade report to you and to us, both parties are aware of your academic performance. At the end of each academic semester, we mail you an Honors status letter so that you are aware of the status of your scholarship. We usually mail these letters within 30 days of the final date that all grades should have been submitted.

If you fail to meet all of the requirements of your award, we will cancel or reduce your scholarship or give it a warning status, depending on the nature of the specific requirements violation(s). Except in extremely rare circumstances, cancellation of your scholarship will be due to a violation of one or more of your academic requirements. Generally, one or more violations in an academic semester or session will result in a warning. However, the severity of a single violation could be grounds for us to cancel your scholarship. A second semester in which you incur a warning will result in a scholarship reduction, unless otherwise indicated by the award. A third semester with a violation will result in the immediate cancellation of your scholarship with no probability of being reinstated. You should carefully review all of the requirements of your scholarship in order to ensure your remaining in good standing. Associate’s, Regents’, and Chairman’s scholarship recipients that first matriculated at Morgan prior to the Fall 2002 semester are generally allowed two violation semesters before their funding award is cancelled.

If you violate the University’s academic or student code of conduct, you become subject to having your scholarship cancelled.

If we take any action against your scholarship (warning, reduction, or cancellation), you must submit a letter to the Honors Program, if you believe that we made a mistake while evaluating your grades, etc. We MUST receive your letter by July 21st for spring semester dismissals and by February 21st for fall semester dismissals. You should limit your discussions to discrepancies between your specific requirements (See Appendix IV) and our evaluation of your academic performance. While we truly regret having to cancel your scholarship, we must insist that your appeal discuss your academic performance relative to your specific requirements. If we made an error, we will quickly correct our decision base on your actual record. Unless we made a mistake during our review of your records, we base our appeal decisions on your academic records and the availability of funds.

Academic Requirements

Credit Hour Load
We require you to register for and maintain a minimum of fifteen (15) credit hours during an academic semester. However, we encourage you to register for the largest credit-hour load that you can successfully complete each semester while pursuing your degree. (See Satisfactory Academic Progress for FRESHMAN exceptions.)

If you do not meet the special freshman “exception” and you maintain a credit hour load of twelve (12) to fourteen (14) credits, you will receive a warning, unless the Honors Program director has granted you permission (in writing) to pursue the smaller credit load. Taking fewer than 12 credits constitutes a PART TIME status. We offer NO part-time awards. Therefore, if you maintain fewer than 12 credit hours, we will immediately cancel your Honors Program funding award. Moreover, you will be responsible for paying ALL of the costs of your education for that semester if you are a part-time student after the passing of the add date. Prior to the add date, we will reinstate your scholarship if you register for a FULL Honors-level credit load.

Special Freshman Stipulation:
If you are a freshman and your University Placement Test results require you to register for a developmental course such as Developmental Reading (DVRD 100 or DVRD 101) or Developmental Mathematics (MATH 106), you may register for 12-14 credits. If the University requires you to register for a developmental course, you must complete this requirement during your first semester at Morgan. By not doing this, you jeopardize your academic progress toward completing your degree in a timely manner; and therefore, you will receive a warning from the Honors Program.

When you register for a developmental course, the University restricts your credit hour load to a maximum of 13 or 14 credits. The Honors Program WILL NOT assess you an Honors “warning” due to the low-credit hour registration because this is a UNIVERSITY-levied registration restriction. Nevertheless, you still must complete a minimum of thirty (30) non-developmental credit hours at Morgan with Honors level passing grades BEFORE the beginning of your sophomore year. Credit hours that you accrue from transferred credits, advanced standing examination credits (e.g., AP or IB examinations), or courses in which you have received credit as the result of a diagnostic examination do NOT count toward the “30 earned credit hours” freshman requirement. If you fail to earn 30 non-developmental credit hours before the beginning of the sophomore year, you will receive a warning.

If your total SAT I: Reasoning Test score is at least 1100 (ACT composite score of at least 24), you are NOT required to register for any “Developmental” courses. You should register for the designated curriculum (according to your major) that is listed in the University catalog, unless you have earned advanced credit or “placed out” of a course as a result of a diagnostic test. In either case, you must consult with your academic advisor and the University catalog in order to create a challenging and stimulating schedule of classes.

Honors Courses
We require you to register for the HONORS section of all general education courses as well as any special courses required by your major program. It is YOUR responsibility to register on time and for these special Honors sections/ courses. If you do not register for an Honors course that is offered, you must either wait until the course is available or present compelling evidence to the Honors Program director or assistant director to justify your pursuing a non-Honors course. If you are granted approval to pursue a non-Honors course, you MUST obtain a permission slip from the Honors Program director or assistant director.

Satisfactory Academic Progress
Every semester, you must complete a minimum of 15 credit hours, achieve a minimum requisite semester GPA, and maintain a minimum cumulative GPA while earning an Honors-level passing grade in each course (including proficiency examinations) you pursue. You must achieve both the semester and the cumulative GPAs every semester. Appendix III lists the minimum required GPAs and credit hour loads for each scholarship.

Grades
We require you to earn an Honors-level passing grade (“A,” “B,” “C,” “WP,” “PS,” or “PT”) in each course or proficiency examination (including Comprehensive Examinations) listed on your schedule/ transcript. If you receive an Honors-level failing grade (“D,” “F,” “WF,” or “FL”) in ANY course (including proficiency exams), you will receive a warning.

If you receive an incomplete grade (grade of “I”) in a course, we will place your scholarship on a warning status until you complete the course requirements. We will evaluate your Honors-level satisfactory academic progress for that semester using the grades and credits from the courses that you completed. During the following academic semester, you must complete the required work in order to receive a grade from the professor. After you complete the course’s requirement(s), you should frequently check your transcript to ensure that the new grade appears on your record and the “I” grade does not become an “F” grade. We will expunge from your record the warning resulting from the “I” grade after the new grade appears on your transcript. We will re-evaluate your Honors-level satisfactory academic progress after the new grade posts.

If you receive an Honors-level failing grade while passing at least 14 credit hours with Honors-level passing grades and earning at least your minimum required semester GPA, you will receive a warning. If you receive an Honors-level failing grade while earning either less than 14 credit hours with Honors-level passing grades or at least your minimum required semester GPA, you will receive TWO warnings.

If you earn a semester or session GPA of less than 2.500 at the end of a semester or session for which you received an Honors Program scholarship, we will cancel your scholarship regardless of your cumulative GPA.

If you receive either a total of three or more Honors-level failing grades or an Honors-level failing grade during more than one academic semester or session during which you received an Honors Program scholarship, we will cancel your scholarship regardless of your semester, session, or cumulative GPA.

Other Requirements

Credential Verification
You MUST submit a final copy of your high school or community college transcript to verify that you are qualified for your award when you first enroll at Morgan. If you do not submit this information to us before the beginning of classes, we will place a hold on your funding until we receive this information. If we do not receive this information by the beginning of the fourth week of classes, we will cancel your scholarship.

Contact Information
You should submit your contact information (permanent address and phone number, local address and phone number, and a frequently checked e-mail address) to us by the 10th day of classes each semester. For speed and efficiency, you should do this via WebSIS.

• Log onto WebSIS.
• Go to the “Student Services” menu.
• Under “Personal Information,” click on “View Addresses.”
• Select “Permanent Address.”
• If the information shown is incorrect, enter the correct information by clicking on “Update Addresses.”
• Repeat steps 3 thru 5 for your “Local Address” and your “E-mail Address.”

If any of this information changes during the semester, you MUST notify us of these changes within seven days of the change AND make the change on WebSIS. If you fail to notify us of the changes, you will receive in a warning.

Academic Advising
To ensure that you remain on track for a timely graduation, we require you to meet with your Honors academic advisor before you register for, add or drop any course. If your advisor is not available, you should consult your department head, dean, or other officially designated person (e.g. other department faculty member). You and your advisor (or other designated person) should complete an Academic Advisement form that you must return to the Honors Program office. YOU are responsible for obtaining advisement. In general, you should consult your academic advisor whenever you

• want to register for, drop, or add a course
• need a referral to a dean or department chair so that you can be added to a non-Honors course that has been designated as “filled to capacity”
• are considering changing your major or adding an additional major or minor
• plan to withdraw from the University
• want any help with your course schedule
• are wondering about research opportunities
• are pondering career choices
• intend to study abroad or undertake an internship or co-op opportunity
• need a letter of recommendation

The Honors Program staff members are NOT academic advisors, and we are not responsible for delivering academic advisement. If you fail to obtain advisement with signatures, you will receive a warning.

Program Attendance
We require you to attend Honors or University designated seminars, colloquia, and convocations. A calendar of these events is posted outside on the Honors Program bulletin board. If you cannot attend a required event, you must get an “absentee form” from the Honors Program office and obtain the signature of the Program Director or Assistant Director. If you arrive more than 15 minutes after the designated start time, we will consider you as being absent unless you provide us with a valid excuse for your tardiness. We will evaluate your tardiness explanation and determine whether to excuse your tardiness and consider you as an attendee. We will reduce your scholarship by $100 for each unexcused absence, and you are responsible for reconciling your account with the Bursar’s Office. Normally, at the beginning of the next academic year, we will restore your scholarship funding to the pre-reduced level.

If we give you 21-days advance notice of a newly “required” event, we require you to be present at that event. Otherwise, we would like you to be present; but we will not require you to attend.

Filing of a FAFSA
If you are a US citizen or permanent resident, you are required to file and complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form regardless of whether you qualify for or wish to receive any federal financial aid. The University’s Office of Financial Aid must receive your electronic student aid report. The ISIR for returning students must be received by April 1 of the previous academic year. If you are required to file a FAFSA, we will not post any Honors Program funds to your account until you complete your FAFSA filing requirement.

Your Responsibilities

As an Honors Scholar or Scholarship Recipient, you have obligations and responsibilities resulting from your award “specific requirements,” as well as some other responsibilities to yourself, the Honors Program, and the University. As with everything else that you do, we expect you to strive for the highest levels of excellence as you fulfill your responsibilities.

Academic Progress
Your main responsibility is your own academic progress. Make sure you investigate the range of research opportunities, internships, etc., that may be available to you. We expect you to complete a college degree in 3.5 to 4.5 years (2 to 3 years for community college transfer students) at Morgan. You should seek and receive guidance on a regular basis from the many resources available on campus, attend all of your classes on a regular basis, be an active participant in your classes, and seek help (tutoring) on a timely basis if and when you need it. You represent the population of students that the University considers to be its best and brightest, and you should show the Honors Program, your professors, and the rest of the University that this is the correct designation for you based on your demonstrated talent and abilities.

During the FIRST month of your FIRST semester at Morgan, you should consult the University Catalog and construct an academic program that allows you to graduate in fours years or less. If your first semester academic schedule deviates from the curriculum in the Catalog, your constructed program should include registration in winter and/or summer courses so that you will complete the entire first-year curriculum in your major by the beginning of the fall semester of your sophomore year. You should always discuss your choice of courses with your academic advisor.

Administrative Duties
You are responsible for obtaining, completing, and submitting all administrative documents (e.g., housing applications, financial aid forms, Honors Program forms, internship applications, etc.) in a timely manner. When you do these things, you are being proactive and reduce the amount of time and energy that you spend being reactive.

Finances
You are responsible for actively pursuing outside (Institutional, public, and private) need, merit, and talent based funding awards. Honors Program awards DO NOT guarantee to pay all of the costs of your education. Therefore, you should obtain as much outside funding as possible. More importantly, many of these outside awards are quite lucrative and prestigious and your having been a recipient looks good on you resume.

Institutional Obligations
You should be a good citizen of the University. Being the recipient of a generous scholarship provided by the University is a PRIVILEGE that most students will not be given. Having received this privilege, the University expects you to “give back” to the internal and surrounding communities. The University is committed to the advancement and uplifting of its students, as well as the citizens and community in the northeast corridor of Baltimore. Community service and activism are crucial elements that allow the University to remain positioned as a vital entity in the city of Baltimore and the state of Maryland.

The University expects you to become a lifetime, active member of the Morgan State University Alumni Association. This carries the minor responsibility of paying your dues. More importantly, you have a major responsibility to provide financial donations so that the University will be able to continue providing financial assistance to students that might not normally be able to finance a college education. Morgan has provided you the opportunity to pursue a degree using University-provided funding; and therefore, we expect you to act graciously so that other students will have the same opportunity. Remember, the single most significant external factor at Morgan that influences whether a student is able to complete a degree is whether he/she receives financial assistance on a consistent basis.