The Honors Program is accepting applications for the spring semester.
The program is open to freshmen and sophomores with a 3.5 GPA or higher, and current students must have at least 12 credit hours.
Juniors and seniors may not apply for this program because there is not enough time to complete all the credit hours required.
“We hope the students who are completing the program are better prepared for their next step professionally or better prepared for beginning graduate school, law school or med school,” said Dr. Karen Youmans, honors program director. “Experience in professional development and undergraduate research experience are the two main areas of the program. There are no cons to being in the honors program.”
The program offers a variety of special classes for all schools. Most of the time there is an honors option for a required course, such as honors intro to psychology or honors composition.
Students may also contract for honors credit in other courses of their choice. This can allow the student to explore their specific craft more deeply and get an honors credit for a class that was originally not honors.
“The courses are seminar-styled, so they tend to emphasize student discussion. They often emphasize project-based learning.” Youmans said. “The classes themselves tend to use primary monographs rather than textbooks.”
The honors program regularly hosts Friday forums where students, teachers or faculty give presentations on different topics. They also go to different conferences and conventions, where some students get the opportunity to present. They even have holiday parties to celebrate the program and their achievements.
Emily Wollenberg, acting freshman, says she enjoys being an honors student.
“I very much enjoy it because my classes not only challenge me to learn about the subject matter, but to expand my view and understanding of the world,” she said. “I’m more aware of different types of people and cultures.”
Students who are interested in joining the honors program may fill out an application, which are located in the front of the Honors Hall on the first floor of the Goldstar Memorial Building. The application includes an essay portion where students must write two brief essays.
There has not been a deadline date set, but Youmans said the applications will be due sometime in the middle of February.
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