Senate approves more stringent qualifications for President’s Honour Roll

Making it onto the President’s Honour Roll became a little more of an honour as Senate approved toughening the criteria at its meeting April 13.

Under the new policy, the honour will be restricted to students in first-entry undergraduate programs who have completed a minimum of 10 courses with a cumulative grade-point average of 12.0 or higher.

Current eligibility requirements call for a cumulative average of 11.5, attained by 1,036 students over the past year. The report of the Senate Student Committee noted, “So many students are receiving this honour that the prestige factor could be an issue.” It recommended the high standard to ensure the President’s Honour Roll is perceived as one of the highest designations.

The existing criteria will apply until the end of the 2012 summer session.

Senate also approved revisions to its policies on the deletion of programs and the repetition of courses and calculation of averages. It heard reports on the 2012/13 University budget, the Office of Faculty Recruitment and Retention, comprehensive student discipline, and international student recruitment.