last modified:2009-07-16 14:49:44
Honors College Scholars Program
| Legal Scholars | Community Leadership Scholars | Global Health Scholars | Social Justice Scholars |
The Honors College Scholars Cohort Program creates collaborative, interested based learning communities for students with a strong sense of their academic or life paths. It seeks to accomplish the following goals:
- Promote academic excellence foster integrity and development of interdisciplinary knowledge, skills and perspectives.
- Foster the development of a supportive and inclusive community of diverse students, faculty and staff.
- Enhance the students' intellectual and personal development through service, experiential learning, and innovative curricular and co-curricular activities both on and off campus.
- Create an environment that enhances student development as life-long leaders, citizens and scholars.
- Encourage social responsibility through meaningful community based research, service and interaction.
Why? We believe that learning in the context of interest cohorts enhances the learning experience. This "learning community" approach offers a number of positive benefits:
- The experiences, ideas and perspectives of the other cohort members will enhance the students' learning.
- Members form networks of relationships and an environment in which they feel comfortable to express their thoughts and ideas. Their individual and collective knowledge and experiences are combined to contribute to the learning process.
- Participation in an Honors College Scholars Program provides clear program structuring and course sequencing.
- Students become members of a supportive peer group based on interests.
- Students will have increased contact with faculty mentors; student interaction and interdependence and integration with the greater university community.
- Honors cohort learning communities will improve critical thinking skills, build teamwork and collaborative and multi-disciplinary learning.
Who? The Honors College Scholars Program is not for everyone, but it is designed to serve the needs of students with strong and distinctive special interests.
- Students participate in groups of 20 or fewer.
- Students in Scholars cohorts will participate during three years at the university in a series of classes, research projects and community engagement.
- This team creates relationships, personal and professional, that last beyond graduation.
Basic Policies
- Each will include its own academic focus and will explore a variety of related topics.
- Each cohort will offer at least one exclusive course or cohort experience each year.
- Each cohort will be led by a faculty mentor who will guide the group through the four years they are at the university.
- Emphasis will be placed on engaged or active learning.
- Cohort experiences will be both in and outside the classroom.
The Honors College Scholars Cohort Program will create communities that provide a small college experience for students in the context of the large public research university. Participants will have access to faculty, to a community of bright and talented students and distinctive opportunities tailored to their unique needs and interests.
Possible themes for future Honors College Scholars Cohorts include:
- Religious Studies
- Environmental Studies
- Pre-med
- Ethics
- American Studies