Students, friends and relatives may have spotted familiar names on the recently released UW Honor Rolls for the 2018 fall semester.
UW’s honor rolls recognize students who complete semesters with a high GPA, from the Dean’s Honor Roll for students scoring 3.4 or better to the President’s Honor Roll for a 4.0 from among 12 or more graded credit hours. The Provost’s Honor Roll recognizes full-time students who may have fewer than 12 hours of graded courses, such as if they are taking pass/fail seminars, but still earn high marks.
Registrar Lane Buchanan said about thirty percent of all UW students were recognized on an honor roll, an amount consistent with most semesters. In total, 4,086 UW students among a total population of more than 12,000 scored a GPA of 3.4, with 1,062 students achieving a 4.0.
Buchanan said that the per-semester cutoffs of the honor rolls can be an opportunity for students with a checkered academic past to be recognized for their efforts in the present.
“Maybe they don’t do as well as they want—flash forward to the next semester, it’s theoretically possible that they could be on the President’s List and earn a 4.0 once they get their feet under them.”
Nikkole Schneider, a junior from Clark, Wyoming, said such recognition is a gratifying reflection of her work as a UW student. Her fall GPA of 4.0 landed her name on the President’s Honor Roll.
“I’m an Education major, so I take a lot of pride in my work,” Schneider said. “As a future teacher I’ll have high expectations for my students, so I think it’s only fair to have high expectations for myself. It feels really good to see hard work pay off.”
Emily Wood, a senior from Granite Canyon, Wyoming, also scored a 4.0 and regards her honor roll recognition as an incidental result of doing the best she can while pursuing her passions. Wood plans to apply for the Peace Corps and hopes to teach English in Mozambique following graduation.
“A lot of people will put importance on grades, but your mindset is really important,” Wood said. “Some people will have almost a negative mindset toward getting good grades, and they’ll be really hard on themselves if they don’t get that—that’s kind of all they focus on and they don’t leave other room in their life to enjoy anything or do their hobbies. I think it’s really important to find that balance.
While making an honor roll can hold a great deal of meaning for those who have worked hard and be indicative of a student’s strong performance in school, it’s not vital for a student’s prospects. Academic Advisor Ben Herdt says practical ability is ultimately what it all comes down to.
“As far as accolades on being on the president’s list and honor roll and things of that nature, employers don’t really care,” Herdt said. “They care more about your ability to problem solve and your ability to think critically and things like that. You could argue that grades and learning aren’t quite the same thing.”
As Herdt sees it, a 4.0 can be an impressive achievement but doesn’t always provide a full picture of a student’s potential.
“Your ability to be a student, I think, reflects on the amount of time and energy you have to put into being a student,” Herdt said. “Some students are maybe spread a little more thin—they’re still learning the material, but maybe they have a kid, or they take care of sick parents, or they have a job, they have other life commitments. The student that maybe gets a couple Bs, and a couple As, is still just as good of a person and would be as valuable as an employee, maybe more so.”
The most significant considerations for a student’s GPA are grad school and scholarships, said Herdt. In these cases, tenths of a point can make or break a student’s plans. Grades are “critically important” for a student’s funding, in particular.
“That’s where being on the honor roll, being on the president’s list, getting a 4.0 can really benefit a student in applying for scholarships, being awarded scholarships and funding their own education,” Herdt said.
Full honor roll lists can be found under the 2019 January news archives at uwyo.edu/uw/news/.
