Graduating with Honors from ISE 

Three honors distinctions are available at the University of Florida: 

• cum laude (with honors) 

• magna cum laude (with high honors) 

• summa cum laude (with highest honors) 

Each college/school/department has its own standards for graduating with honors.  For the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering, the requirements for the three graduation honors designations are as follow: 

• cum laude: 3.3 GPA in all upper-division courses 

• magna cum laude: 3.5 GPA in all upper-division courses and completion of an Honors Thesis 

• summa cum laude: 3.8 GPA in all upper-division courses and completion of an Honors Thesis 

The upper division GPA is based on all courses taken at UF after you become a 3-EG (i.e. after 60 hours). 

Honors Thesis 

An undergraduate Honors Thesis is completed in order to graduate magna cum laude or summa cum laude. Students interested in completing an Honors Thesis should follow these steps: 

• Identify an ISE professor to serve as your Honors Thesis Advisor and Chair. This must be an ISE faculty member. This should be done the semester before you plan to conduct the research and begin your thesis. 

• Work with your Honors Thesis Advisor to form a 3-person supervisory committee comprised of your Chair (Honors Thesis Advisor), an ISE faculty member, and a faculty member external to the ISE department. Once you confirm all members of your committee, please fill out the Appointment of Supervisory Committee Form.
• Make a formal oral presentation and complete a written thesis of your results to your supervisory committee. This should be scheduled before the last day of your final semester.
• The ISE faculty Chair of your honors thesis committee should then submit the final oral exam forms to our advising office via email undergradadvising@ise.ufl.edu. This is due to the ISE advising office by the last day of your final semester.

Students may be enrolled in up to 3 credit hours of research (EGN4912) to earn academic credit while working on their Honors Thesis. This is not required, but if you would like to be enrolled, follow these steps. The application must be signed by the faculty member and student to be enrolled in the course. Up to 3 research credits can count as a technical elective credit toward the ISE degree. While the Honors Thesis may contain work with a design emphasis, students are not allowed to submit work done primarily as a part of a senior design course(s) to count as their Honors Thesis.