At UDST there are many opportunities for students to receive academic awards based on their academic achievement. Many of these are presented at our annual Academic Awards Ceremony which is held in the Fall semester for recipients from the previous academic year.
Academic Awards the University offers are:
Graduates of Excellence Awards:
- No award will be given to a candidate who holds an award of equal or greater value unless specifically required by the terms of the award. Certain conditions apply.
- There are different eligibility criteria for awarding academic awards. Full information about the eligibility criteria for each academic award is available at the Admissions and Registration Directorate.
Academic Awards FAQs
Awards administered by the University are decided upon the recommendations of the Awards Committee.
Most awards are awarded based on a calculated weighted average, while some are awarded based on nomination. Unless otherwise stated, applications are not required in order to be considered for academic awards.
If an application is required, it will be communicated to students, and application forms will be available at the Admissions & Registration Directorate.
To be eligible for an academic award, a student must be currently enrolled in a recognized university program and have completed at least two semesters (excluding Spring/Summer) in the previous academic year as a full-time student. Returning graduates are only eligible if they are currently enrolled and have completed at least two semesters (excluding Spring/Summer) in the previous academic year as a full-time student in the same program.
There are different eligibility criteria for each scholarship and award. Full information about the eligibility criteria for each academic award is available at the Admissions & Registration Directorate.
No award will be given to a candidate who holds an award of equal or greater value, unless specifically required by the terms of the award. Certain conditions apply.
Academic awards administered by the University will be recorded on the recipient’s academic transcript.
For awards based on weighted average, a minimum of 80% weighted average applies.
A student’s weighted average can be defined as the sum of a course grade multiplied by the course value (credit), divided by the sum of the course values (all credits).
For academic awards presented in the Fall semester during the annual Academic Awards Ceremony, only the courses from the previous academic year will be included in the weighted average calculation.
A student’s weighted average can be defined as the sum of a course grade multiplied by the course value (credit), divided by the sum of the course values (all credits).
For academic awards presented in the Fall semester during the annual Academic Awards Ceremony, only the courses from the previous academic year will be included in the weighted average calculation.
How to calculate weighted average?
Weighted average can be calculated as follows:
- Take the final grades achieved in all courses and multiply them by the credit values for each particular course. For example:
- Course grade of 90% multiplied by credit value of 4 equals 360
- Course grade of 80% multiplied by credit value of 3 equals 240
- Course grade of 70% multiplied by credit value of 2 equals 140
- Calculate the sum of course grades and course credit values. For example:
- The sum of course grades is 360+240+140=740.
- The sum of the course credit values is 4+3+2=9.
- Divide the sum of course grades by the total number of credits.
- For example, 740÷9=82.22.
Students must have attained a passing grade in ALL courses being considered in establishing weighted average.
When a course is repeated, the highest mark attained will be used in the calculation of the GPA.
Disclaimer: The academic awards listed in this section are subject to change.