Graduation with Latin honors

Once your department has approved your project, you will register online. Please be sure to complete the online registriation by the indicated deadline for the semester you intend to defend.  For detailed information on the thesis process, how to get started, and how to schedule your timelines, download the Honors Thesis - Getting Started handout.

When completing the online registration, you will be asked to upload a prospectus, planned timeline of your work, and a preliminary bibliography containing some initial sources. The formats of these are set by your department.

Our online registration process is not an application – your Honors Council representative's agreement to serve on your committee is the approval for your project.  We may contact you to verify, modify, or correct aspects of your registration as needed.

If you need to make changes to your committee after you've submitted your registration form, please email honors@colorado.edu and let us know.

   Registration Form and Deadlines Schedule

 For our Fall 2023 Latin honors candidates, click here to view and download the Fall 2023 defense deadlines.

Registering for a Spring 2024 defense:

Please submit your online registration by 11:59pm on the day the registration period closes at the latest.  Early submissions are welcome!

• The registration period to defend in Spring 2024 is now open, and will close at 11:59pm on October 3, 2023. To register your project for a spring defense, please click here. As long as you use the same browser and do not clear your cache, you should be able to leave the form and go back to it without losing your place.  Once you submit your registration, you will receive an email confirmation at the email address you provided during the registration process.  There will be a link at the bottom of the email which will display your responses on a webpage if you'd like to review what you've submitted.  We recommend that you forward that email to your Honors Council Representative for their records.
• If you filled out an application within your major department to write and defend an Honors thesis, you will also need to register your project with the Honors Program - their internal application does not take the place of our regisstration process.
• Please contact us with any questions or feedback at honors@colorado.edu or by calling 303-492-6617.  We will not accept registration packets submitted via email; you must use the online submission form. 

Future defense deadlines:

• View and download Spring 2024 deadlines
• View and download Fall 2024 deadlines
• View and download Spring 2025 deadlines

Because there can be differences in department guidelines for scheduling and presenting a defense, your Honors Council Representative is the best source of information. That said, we have some notes:

• Your committee will need time to read your defense copy prior to your defense day.  Please allow yourself enough time to complete your paper and send it to them for review beforehand.  Typically, you will need to get the version of the paper you intend to defend to your committee members a week before your defense, although this can vary within different departments.  Please check with your Honors Council Representative if you have questions about the timing.
• You don't need to tell us when you're defending - that's between you and your committee.  Just make sure you've scheduled it on, or preferably before, the last day to defend.  Some departments require you to defend much earlier than the deadline defined by the Honors Program.  Be sure to check with your Honors Council Representative to see if that's the case for your major department.
• It is up to you to schedule a date, time and location for your defense.  Start this process early - it can be difficult to find a time when all committee members are available to meet.  For assistance in reserving a room, please reach out to your Honors Council Representative.
• Bring a current copy of your unofficial transcript to your defense.
• You must email your unmodified defense copy in PDF format to the Honors Program after defending.  Please see "The Defense Copy" tab for details.
• If you decide not to defend your thesis, or want to defer your defense to another semester, please let us know. There are no penalties, and you'll get fewer emails from us.  Don't forget to notify your committee members as well.

Your defense committee is forbidden from sharing their decision with you at your defense. You will learn about any honors you earn via email after the Honors Council meets to officially confer honors designations. For exact dates, consult the deadlines sheet for the semester you defend.

Still have questions?  Please don't hesitate to ask - we are happy to help!  You can stop by Norlin M400M, email honors@colorado.edu, or call 303-492-6617.

Your defense copy is the last version that you gave your committee members prior to or at your defense. Most departments require that you send out a defense copy a week before you defend so that committee members have time to read your paper before your defense date.  Please factor this into your timeline so that you can complete your paper with enough time to provide it to your committee members early.  Your paper should be saved in PDF format and the filename should use the format “Lastname Firstname Defense Copy.pdf”. This is the version of your thesis that we will use for consideration of Latin honors, so make sure it is a finished work and not a draft. 

Please note the following requirements for the title page:

Once you've defended, email the PDF version of your defense to honors@colorado.edu using the naming format of "Lastname Firstname Defense Copy.pdf".  If you submit a defense copy with a title that is in all caps, please include a regular upper-and-lower case version of your title in the body of the email when you send it to us.  If you defend prior to the last day, we prefer you send in your defense copy as soon as you defend.  As a reminder, your defense copy needs to be the last version that you gave your committee members prior to or at your defense.  Do not modify your defense copy after your defense.  If your committee suggests changes, you may make those changes if you wish and submit the updated version to CU Scholar as your final copy; however it is the defense copy that is used to determine Latin honors. 

Because the Honors Program coordinates Latin honors for so many departments and programs in the College of Arts and Sciences, we do not set thesis format requirements outside of the title page; we know that theses from Theatre, Biochemistry, History, Physics or Anthropology will probably all look very different. Students should use the style manual or guide appropriate to their discipline. If you don't know the style guide your discipline uses, ask your Honors Council representative. You can also look at the Undergraduate Honors Theses repository on CU Scholar for examples.

This is the archival copy of your thesis.  During your defense, your committee might suggest changes to your thesis. You have until the "Final Copy" due date to make any changes you wish (do not make changes to the defense copy you email to the Honors Program - see "The Defense Copy" tab for details). Any changes you make to your final copy will not be considered when determining your Latin honors designation.  The only piece that you cannot change on your final copy is your title page - that must be exactly the same as your defense copy's title page, unless the Honors Program has specifically asked you to make changes to the title page of your final copy. 

Once you've completed any changes, upload the final (archival) copy of your thesis to the Undergraduate Honors Theses Repository on CU Scholar by our final copy deadline.  If you are trying to publish your work and don't want your paper to be available until it's published elsewhere, you can set an embargo which prevents it from showing up in CU Scholar until the date you set.  For more information and step-by-step instructions on uploading your paper, please click on the "Undergraduate Honors Theses Repository on CU Scholar" link at the start of this paragraph.

CU Scholar has recently undergone a software upgrade.  Under the new system, If you need to make changes to your uploaded thesis, you either need to ask the CU Scholar administrator to make the changes, or resubmit your thesis.  In either case, please email honors@colorado.edu to facilitate it. Because of these changes, we suggest waiting to upload your thesis until you feel confident you've completed all changes.  Theses will be approved for posting to CU Scholar within four weeks after the deadline.  You will not receive a verification that the process is complete.  If there is an issue with your submission, we will contact you to get it resolved.

The Honors Council, a body of faculty within the College of Arts and Sciences, convenes for a two-day period in both April and November to confer honors designations. On the first day, theses and honors recommendations are discussed by a subcommittee of the Honors Council for the student's division (Humanities, Social Sciences, Natural Sciences, and General Honors). The second day involves further discussion, this time by the entire Honors Council, who then officially awards honors. Honors designations are later distributed to students via their CU Boulder email address. Any honors designations earned appear on a student's transcript and diploma. Please note that graduating with Latin honors is different than graduating with Distinction.  For more information, please see the "Academic Excellence" tab under the university's Undergraduate Policies and Requirements page.

Students who successfully complete the thesis process and earn Latin honors are recognized at our Honors Convocation ceremony. 

We hold two convocation ceremonies per year; one in the spring and one in the fall.  If you graduate in the summer or fall and plan to walk in the campus-wide Spring Commencement Ceremony, you are welcome to attend the Spring Honors Convocation ceremony that spring as well. 

Please be aware that some students experience scheduling conflicts between their major department events and our convocation ceremony, so keep that in mind when you're deciding which Honors ceremony you wish to attend.  You will be sent an invitation to RSVP about a week after you receive an email notifying you of your honors designation; please let us know at that time what your plans are.

If you choose not to attend any of the Honors convocation ceremonies, you are welcome to pick up your medal and certificate once that semester's convocation ceremony is complete.  Please contact the Honors Program office at 303-492-6617 or honors@colorado.edu for details.