Membership Policy

Admission to the Forum: First-Year Students

The Honors Council will admit first-year students over the course of an academic year. The Council will admit incoming first-year students in consultation with the Admissions Office during the spring semester Skidmore application process.

In addition, at the beginning of the spring term, the Council invites currently enrolled first-year students who attained a GPA of 3.50 or above in the fall semester to apply for membership. Each applicant must submit a statement addressing his or her academic achievement and participation in the College's co-curricular program, and must seek a letter of recommendation from a member of the faculty. The Honors Council reviews these applications. The Council will look for high academic achievement, potential for active participation in the classroom, and leadership qualities. The Council will also consider the balance among different disciplines represented among the membership.

Admission to the Forum: All Students
As attrition from Forum membership in each class occurs, the Council will accept applications from all other students each May. Any student who has a cumulative GPA of 3.50 may apply for admission to the Forum. The Council, Admissions and other support staff will endeavor to keep the size of the membership of the Honors Forum to 10% of the total Skidmore enrollment. Students must maintain their membership on a yearly basis by doing the following:

• Maintain a term GPA of 3.50 or better as a full-time student. Honors Forum students who fail to maintain a 3.50 GPA for two semesters lose Honors Forum membership.

• Maintain exemplary academic and social integrity.

• Complete a minimum of 3 Honors Forum courses, not including HF101- Honors Forum Colloquium by the end of the third year of Honors Forum membership and a capstone in the major in the senior year or other senior capstone experience (capstone course, thesis, project, performance, or other advanced project defined by the student's major department, or by the student and a faculty advisor, and approved in advance by the Honors Council as an appropriate culmination of the Honors Forum program). Certain courses will be eligible automatically (e.g., all department/program-based experiences that make a student eligible for honors in the major). The capstone will typically earn three or four honors credits during the senior year. With departmental support, students may petition the Honors Council for 1-4 honors credits for an off-campus academic experience such as might occur during study abroad.

• Engage in Forum events during the academic year (students submit a reapplication form to the Honors Council and Executive Committee at the end of each academic year; the Honor Code applies).

Students may drop out of the Honors Forum at any point in time without jeopardizing their progress toward the degree or their eligibility for other academic opportunities and distinctions. Students who drop out of the program or who do not maintain continuing standards may apply for readmission. Application for readmission is available each May under the guidelines outlined above under Admission to the Forum: All Students. Students who apply for readmission will compete with other students applying for the openings due to attrition for each class. Students who take personal or academic leaves of absence retain their membership in the Forum.