Students looking to add a few extra points to their grade point average or who are anxious to take more challenging, stimulating classes will get the opportunity to do just that by applying for the honors program.
“Oklahoma City University established the University Honors Program to meet the special interests and needs of intellectually gifted students,” said Karen Youmans, director of the Honors Program.
To be eligible the University Honors Program, students must earn a 3.5 grade point average in a minimum of 12 credit hours at OCU, including a minimum of six credit hours in general education courses. Once accepted into the program, students can enroll in honors courses, which have a limited enrollment of only 18 students per class. The smaller class size allows professors to give personalized attention to students.
“They feature unique learning opportunities with more student interaction and self-direction,” Youmans said.
This is Youmans’ first year with the OCU honors program.
She has participated in the National Collegiate Honors Council for many years and was a professor of English at Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee.
Honors courses are weighted an extra .25 on the 4.0 grading scale.
Honors students also are able to enroll in classes the day before the rest of the student body.
“That’s one of my favorite parts of the honors program, everyone else has to get up early but we can sleep in and get the classes before they fill up,” said Kenzie Williams, dance performance sophomore and honors student. “I also really love the sense of community and small classes.”
To graduate cum honore, with honors, students must complete 24 hours of honors coursework and maintain a 3.5 grade point average.
Because of the amount of work required, the application is only open to sophomores and juniors.
Qualified juniors and seniors may be eligible to enroll with special permission derived from the Honors Committee.
There are 150 students involved in the Honors Program.
Youmans said the application deadline has not been decided, but expects it to be in March.
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