Academic Honors
Dean’s List
Superior academic achievement is recognized by appointment to the Dean’s List for undergraduate matriculated students. Each student awarded Dean’s List honors receives a personal letter of congratulations; this academic achievement is also noted on the student’s transcript.
Designation to the Dean’s List is available to both full-time and part-time undergraduate matriculated students, according to the criteria given below.
Full-time students: The Dean’s List is announced twice a year for full-time students, at the end of each fall and spring semester. To qualify, the student must be matriculated and must have earned a semester grade point average of 3.45 or better for at least 12 credit hours (not including courses taken on the pass/fail option). All courses completed in the semester must have been passed for earned credit. Any student with a grade of “Incomplete” cannot be considered eligible for the Dean’s List.
Part-time students: The Dean’s list is announced once a year for part-time students, at the end of each spring semester. To qualify, the student must be matriculated and must have earned a grade point average of 3.45 or better for the regular academic year (combination of fall and spring semesters only) for at least 12 credit hours (not including courses taken on the pass/fail option). All courses completed in the regular academic year must have been passed for earned credit. Any student with a grade of “Incomplete” cannot be considered eligible for the Dean’s list.
Graduation with Honors
Students graduating with a cumulative grade point average of 3.45 or better, and who have completed a minimum of 45 semester hours at Kean (excluding credits earned on a Pass/Fail or a Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory basis) by the end of the first semester of their senior year are recognized with anticipated honors. Any candidate with a grade of “Incomplete” cannot be considered eligible for honors until the grade has been changed. The actual honors designation will appear on both the diploma and the final transcript. Designations are as follows:
Average of 3.85-4.00 Summa cum laude
Average of 3.65-3.84 Magna cum laude
Average of 3.45-3.64 Cum laude
Students enrolled in Kean Ocean programs that do not offer the full 45 credits (which cannot include credits earned on a Pass/Fail or a Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory basis) at the Ocean County College location may request to substitute transfer courses with permission from their faculty advisor and as approved by the College Dean. Grades earned for the substituted courses will be used to determine honors eligibility (to satisfy the 45-credit requirement), but will not be included in the final cumulative grade point average or final honors designation. The final cumulative grade point average will be determined by credits and grades earned at Kean University (Kean Ocean) only.
Academic honors are awarded based upon completion of the final semester. In order to participate in the Commencement Ceremony with honors and be eligible to receive a gold tassel, the above requirements must be met by the end of the first semester of senior year (usually fall semester or end of winter break semester following fall semester).
Honor Societies
Academic achievement is also recognized by election during the junior or senior year to one of the honor societies established at Kean. The qualified candidate will receive notification of eligibility and an invitation to membership directly from the local chapter of the sponsoring honor society.
Epsilon Epsilon Omega is a University honor society in all academic fields open to qualified EOC-EEO/EOF juniors and seniors and to a limited number of graduate students. Its purpose is to recognize and promote outstanding academic achievement. (The Chapter was established in 1979; Paula Muindi is the Advisor.)
Lambda Alpha Sigma is a university wide honors recognition open to qualified juniors and seniors of all majors (Faculty Advisor – Craig Donovan).
Kappa Delta Pi is a national collegiate honor society in the field of education open to qualified members of the junior and senior classes and to a limited number of graduate students. Its purpose is to recognize sound scholarship, worthy educational ideals, commendable personal qualities and outstanding contributions to education. (The Chapter was established in 1938; Donna Strigari is the Advisor.)
Phi Kappa Phi is a national collegiate honor society in all academic fields open to qualified members of the senior class, and, to a limited extent, members of the junior class and graduate students. Its purpose is to emphasize scholarship and to stimulate achievement by the prize of membership. (The Chapter was established in 1977; Dr. Xurong Kong, President; Dr. Kristine Mirrer, Past President.)
Departmental (Field of Study) Honor Societies
Alpha Kappa Delta - The International Sociology Honor Society (Melodie Toby – Faculty Advisor)
Alpha Phi Sigma-Criminal Justice (Alexis Hayton – Faculty Advisor)
Alpha Psi Omega-Theatre (Teresa Choate – Faculty Advisor)
Beta Beta Beta-Biological Sciences (Maria Shumskaya at Kean Union; Nancy LaFleur – Faculty Advisor at Kean Ocean)
Chi Sigma Iota-Counseling (Barry Mascari/Rebekah Pender – Faculty Co-Advisors)
Iota Tau Alpha-Athletic Training (Gwen Cleaves – Faculty Advisor)
Kappa Kappa Psi – Music/Band (Thomas Connors – Faculty Advisor)
Lamda Pi Eta-Communication (Bill Kolbenschlag – Faculty Advisor)
Mu Kappa Tau- Marketing (Shweta Singh – Faculty Advisor)
Omicron Delta Epsilon-Economics (Benito Sanchez – Faculty Advisor)
Phi Alpha Theta-History (Elizabeth Hyde – Faculty Advisor)
Pi Alpha Alpha-Public Administration (Craig Donovan – Faculty Advisor)
Pi Sigma Alpha-Political Science (Larry Chang – Faculty Advisor)
Psi Chi-Psychology (Verneda Hamm Baugh – Faculty Advisor)
Sigma Beta Delta-Business, Management, and Administration (Janine Black – Faculty Advisor)
Sigma Delta Pi-Spanish (Gregory Shephard – Faculty Advisor)
Sigma Tau Delta-English (Nira Gupta-Casale – Faculty Advisor at Kean Union; Ruth Griffith – Faculty Advisor at Kean Ocean)
Sigma Theta Tau-Nursing (Kathleen Neville – Faculty Advisor)