The Baccalaureate Degree

The Batten Honors College

The Batten Honors College at Virginia Wesleyan spans all majors and explores diverse disciplines in a thematic curriculum that educates and graduates lifelong learners interested in shaping the future and taking action to improve the world. The College was founded on the three pillars of environment, leadership, and global awareness and the curriculum and college experience is based around these tenets.

Student experiences in the Honors curriculum will range from small, seminar-style courses to a faculty-led intensive, immersive global experience. The interdisciplinary seminars will include lectures and group discussions on topics such as sustainable development, globalization, human rights and humanitarian intervention, and the implications of the United States’ presence around the world. Students will develop analytical, leadership, collaboration, and communication skills within their learning community through the Honors courses and experiential learning opportunities that include study away, research or internship, and service projects locally or around the globe.

Virginia Wesleyan University Global Campus

The newest unit of Academic Affairs, Virginia Wesleyan University Global Campus serves evening, weekend, online, early enrollment/advanced scholars, our students at our Japan campus and non-degree-seeking and non-credit learners. Fully integrated with Virginia Wesleyan’s excellent curriculum, Global Campus coordinates recruitment, enrollment, support services, and course and program delivery across the University in order to promote the following opportunities for nontraditional students: (1) Lakeland University Japan and Virginia Wesleyan University Global; (2) Evening and Weekend Program; (3) VWU Online; (4) Continuing Education; (5) Westminster/Wesleyan Lifelong Learning Institute; and (6) Robert F. Boyd Institute (which, in partnership with the Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Church, hosts an annual workshop for UMC pastors that yields continuing education units).

The Baccalaureate Degree

The liberal arts program at Virginia Wesleyan University offers a Bachelor of Arts degree, a Bachelor of Science degree, a Bachelor of Musical Arts degree, a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree (joint program with Sentara College of Health Sciences) and a Bachelor of Social Work degree with numerous options for majors in the humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences. Students carrying the normal course load of 16 semester hours can expect to graduate after eight semesters. The specific requirements for graduation are described in this section of the catalog.

Additional Baccalaureate Degree

Students may earn a maximum of one B.A., one B.S., one B.M.A., one B.S.N., and one B.S.W. at Virginia Wesleyan by fulfilling the requirements for each degree, either separately or concurrently. Students who have completed one degree and wish to complete a second degree must earn a minimum of 32 additional semester hours beyond the first degree. These 32 hours must be in traditionally graded courses. At least 24 of the 32 hours must be at the 300/400 level, and at least 20 must be in the major field. The grade point average for the second degree is separate from the grade point average for the initial degree unless completed concurrently.

A student pursuing two degrees concurrently at Virginia Wesleyan must earn a minimum of 160 semester hours. A student pursuing three degrees concurrently at Virginia Wesleyan must earn a minimum of 192 semester hours.

A degree may not be earned by combining partial requirements for a B.A. with partial requirements for a B.S., a B.M.A., a B.S.N., or a B.S.W., nor may a second degree be awarded with a major in the same academic field as the first degree. Graduation requirements and limitations, in addition to specific requirements for the major and minor, are the same for B.A., B.S., B.M.A., B.S.N., and B.S.W. degrees and may serve to fulfill the requirements of both degrees.

Once a baccalaureate degree has been awarded, the GPA for the degree is frozen. Subsequent coursework and grades are not calculated into the initial GPA for the degree. Coursework completed as part of the initial degree may be repeated, but the subsequent grade does not replace the initial grade. All courses and grades from Virginia Wesleyan are included in the academic record, and grades earned in courses for both degrees are calculated into the overall Virginia Wesleyan GPA. Coursework that repeats credit applied toward an initial degree does not count toward the 32 additional hours in residence that are required for a subsequent degree.