To achieve honors, a student must display academic excellence beyond the classroom by successfully completing substantial research or creative project, beyond regular classwork, in any area of study offered by the College. A project worthy of honors should be well researched and well crafted and should make an identifiable contribution to its field; these standards will be determined and verified by faculty in the project's area of study. In addition, the student should be able to communicate, by written and oral means, the details, rationale, and value of the project to specialists and nonspecialists alike. Consequently, students awarded honors at W&J fulfill in a highly advanced way the goals of the College's liberal-arts mission.

To qualify for honors, students should have an overall grade point average of 3.20 or above. Students interested in pursuing honors should discuss potential projects with their chosen faculty directors no later than the spring of their junior year. In the fall of their honors-project year, students working toward honors will submit an Intent to Complete an Honors Project form along with a description of their goals and specific plans for the project; the student will file both documents with the Academic Status Committee, which will review all proposals. When the honors project is complete, usually by the middle of the spring term, the student's work will be judged by faculty in the area of study; the student's effectiveness of communication to a college-wide audience will be judged by faculty both inside and outside the area of study. Successful completion of these requirements will earn the student honors, to be awarded by the College in the student's area of study.