The Undergraduate Curriculum Committee voted during its March 3 meeting to approve a proposal that would raise the standards for students graduating with Latin honors beginning with the Class of 2016, Dean of Arts and Sciences Adam Jaffe said in an interview with the Justice.The proposal would not affect any students currently enrolled at the University, Dean of Academic Services Kim Godsoe said in an interview with the Justice.

According to Jaffe, the proposal states that the top 30 percent of the graduating senior class would receive Latin honors as opposed to the current system, which is based on gradepoint average. Within that 30 percent, students must be in the top 5 percent of their class to be considered for summa cum laude, though only students who also qualify for departmental honors (less than 5 percent) would graduate summa cum laude. The next 10 percent would be awarded magna cum laude in addition to students who are in the top five percent but who do not qualify for departmental honors, and the remaining 15 percent of students would graduate cum laude.

According to Godsoe, the proposal must be voted on twice before it can be approved. The first vote will be during the next faculty meeting, which is on April 14, and the second vote will be held the meeting after. The proposal must be approved both times in order to be implemented. If the proposal is not passed in a vote, the UCC will analyze feedback from the faculty to determine whether to revise the proposal or not.

"If it is pretty unanimous among the faculty that they believe that [the UCC] shouldn't change [Latin] honors, then it's probably something that will not go back to the committee," said Godsoe. However, Godsoe added that if the faculty presents recommendations for the proposal, it would be reviewed by the UCC.

According to Jaffe, current Latin honors at the University are awarded to members of the graduating class based on GPA. He further explained that students with a GPA of at least 3.5 graduate cum laude. To graduate magna cum laude, students must have a GPA of at least 3.7, and they need a 3.8 GPA and departmental honors to be awarded summa cum laude.

Last year, 59 percent of graduating seniors were awarded some type of Latin honors, according to Jaffe. Out of that 59 percent, 25 percent of the graduating class was awarded cum laude, 23 percent was awarded magna cum laude and 11 percent was awarded summa cum laude, according to Jaffe in a follow-up e-mail to the Justice.

Jaffe stated that the percentage of the graduating class receiving Latin honors has been increasing since 2006. Among the members of the Class of 2006, 49 percent of students received Latin honors. That ratio remained the same for the Class of 2007 and rose to 51 percent for the Class of 2008, and then to 52 percent for the Class of 2009.

Jaffe said that for the past academic year, the UCC had been discussing the possibility of raising the standards but declined to list which specific members drafted the actual proposal.

Godsoe said that the UCC found that the University had been distributing Latin honors at a higher rate compared to what Godsoe referred to as "other highly selective universities" in the United States. Jaffe said that the current distribution method is not an "appropriate way of using Latin honors" because the Latin honors are "supposed to be a recognition of extraordinary academic accomplishment" and would be better demonstrated with the UCC's new proposal.