Benefits

• Smaller class sizes with excellent professors
• Priority registration
• Special Honors housing for first-year students in Mackin or Bischoff Hall
• 24/7 access to the Honors Lounge, featuring computers/bar, printer, refrigerator, microwave, and television
• Experience completing graduate-level research
• Additional scholarship opportunities
• All-expenses paid Honors conferences and field trips
• Honors designation on diplomas and transcripts

Requirements

Students accepted in the College Honors Program shall fulfill the following requirements:

GPA Requirements

The GPA for Honors students is a minimum of 3.0 at the end of each semester. The director will review the GPA of continuing students in January and May of each year. Students who fall below this requirement will receive a notification that they will be placed on a probationary period for one semester. Those who do not bring their GPA above a 3.0 after this period may not continue with the Honors Program.

Courses

Successful completion of the Honors Curriculum. See our course listing here.

Senior Project

The Honors Senior Project is a two-semester project that integrates the major or majors and minors of each student. The topic is selected by the student who then selects one Faculty Sponsor and one Faculty Reader to assist them in researching and completing the project. The project is completed through HNRS Independent Study courses. Seniors and Juniors in joint degree programs are required to present their thesis projects at the annual Symposium.

Engaged Citizenship

General Meetings: Each student is required to attend the General Meetings at the beginning of the Fall and Spring semesters.  These are not just vital for their information, but are a chance for us to convene as a community.

Academic Events: These events emphasize the principles of the Honors Program and develop and express the intellectual lives of the students associated with them.

• • Minimum 3 per year
    • Lunch with a Professor
    • Fall Honors Trip
    • Brown Bag Lunch Discussions
    • Honors Networking Dinner
    • National Collegiate Honors Council Conference
    • Northeast Regional Honors Council Conference
    • Others will be announced regularly

Civic Engagement

The goal of civic engagement within our program is not just to reach a certain number of hours of participation or dollars raised. We aim to dig deeper and target systemic problems within our community to change them at their root cause. Freshmen and sophomores will complete 10 hours of community service per year. These events facilitate collaboration between the Honors Program and the outside world, including the surrounding community. We will communicate and coordinate service opportunities on and off campus throughout the year.

Honors Mentoring Team (First-Year Honors Students Only)

An Honors Mentoring Team is made up of six-nine Honors freshmen with junior/senior leaders that meet on a weekly basis. Their purpose is simple: to make the transition into college and/or into the Honors Program as seamless as possible through supportive peers and opportunities to get involved. Students in each new cohort are assigned to an HMT based on the availability within their class schedule.

International Study

Honors students are not required to study abroad but are greatly encouraged through a distinctive and diverse curriculum to pursue intercultural, international, and experiential learning in their field of study. Honors study abroad scholarships are available on a competitive basis. Visit the Roukema Center Study Abroad page.