Awards and Honors

Honors at Entrance

Honors at Entrance are awarded at the discretion of the Admissions Committee to incoming students who show evidence of outstanding academic ability.

Dean’s List

The Dean's List honors students who have a minimum semester GPA of 3.6 or above based on a minimum of 12 computable (graded) units taken at Dominican. Students with grades of 'I' (incomplete) or 'UF' (unofficial failure) are not eligible for the Dean's List. Pass/fail units are not computable and are not included. Students will not be retroactively placed on the Dean's List as the result of a grade change.

The Dean's List is posted on February 15 for the Fall Semester and July 15 for the Spring Semester. Students who attain the Dean's List for at least two semesters in a calendar year are invited to the Honors Ceremony held annually in late April or early May.

Gamma Sigma

To be eligible for membership in Gamma Sigma, the University Honor Society, the student must have junior standing and a cumulative, combined GPA of 3.6 (includes all transfer coursework). The student must also earn this minimum average at Dominican and must have taken at least 12 computable units at the University.

Early in the Spring Semester, the Registrar’s Office notifies students who are eligible. Each candidate informs the Moderator whether or not he/she wishes to be a member. The list of members is then sent to the Registrar.

National Honors Societies at Dominican University

Alpha Chi

Alpha Chi is a coeducational national honor society whose purpose is to promote academic excellence and exemplary character among college and university students and to honor those who achieve such distinction. Alpha Chi admits membership to students from all academic disciplines who are juniors and seniors, have a minimum 3.5 grade point average, and are in the top 10 percent of their class. As a phrase from its constitution suggests, Alpha Chi seeks to find ways to assist students in “making scholarship effective for good.”

Alpha Sigma Lambda

Alpha Sigma Lambda is a national honor society for non-traditional adult students. Its purpose is to acknowledge adult students who achieve academic excellence while facing the competing interests of family, community, and work. To be eligible students must have a minimum of 24 graded semester hours taken at Dominican, half of which must be outside the chosen major. At least twelve units of the total credits should have been earned in liberal arts/sciences, not including applied arts/sciences courses. Students must have a minimum 3.5 grade point average and be in the top 10 percent of the class.

Alpha Lambda Delta

Alpha Lambda Delta honors excellent academic achievement by students in their first year of study in higher education. Its purpose is “…to encourage superior academic achievement…to promote intelligent living and a continued high standard of learning and to assist students in recognizing and developing meaningful goals for their roles in society.” Eligible students must have a 3.5 grade point average for the first total year of college while carrying a full-time academic load, and must rank in the top 20 percent of their class.

Departmental Honors

Dominican University of California recognizes students who demonstrate superior performance in their major. Students will be granted Departmental Honors when the following criteria are fulfilled:

1. Minimum overall GPA of 3.6 (based on Dominican coursework only) in all upper division courses in the major. Does not include prerequisite or corequisite courses to prepare for major (e.g. only biology courses for biological science majors, nursing courses for nursing majors);
2. Minimum of half of the upper division units in the major must be taken at Dominican;
3. Minimum of 18 upper division units in the major must be graded; and
4. Senior project must be designated as superior quality by faculty in student’s major.

Departmental Honors are designated on the Dominican transcript and are announced at the Hood Ceremony during Commencement each spring (based on the prior fall’s GPA). Departmental Honors are a separate category from the Honors Program and from Graduation Honors.

Graduation Honors

In order to be considered for Graduation Honors, undergraduate students must have earned a minimum cumulative, combined grade point average in all undergraduate coursework—including transferable coursework—and must have completed at least 30 letter-graded units offered for the degree in resident study at Dominican University. Graduation Honors are based on all coursework completed toward the degree, and are posted to the student's record when the degree is conferred. For the purposes of announcing Graduation Honors at Commencement in May, a preliminary calculation including only coursework completed through the prior fall semester is made (students must have completed 30 letter-graded units by the end of the fall semester) including all fall grades submitted through January 31st.   Graduation honors will be recalculated at the time of degree conferral to include the student’s final semester of coursework and will be posted on the student’s final transcript.

Students are awarded the bachelor's degree:

• cum laude for a cumulative, combined GPA of 3.5
• magna cum laude for a cumulative, combined GPA of 3.75
• summa cum laude for a cumulative, combined GPA of 3.85 or above