Honors Council: Rachel Coleman (Director), Maria Parmley, Rachel Ramsey, Thomas Wheatland, Michael Matraia, Heather Briere, Margaret Matthew, Jeremy Geddert.
Students in the Assumption University Honors Program are passionate about ideas and learning, eager to grow by taking on challenges, and committed to the common good of their communities. For that reason, Honors students take courses that aim for higher-level thinking and depth of understanding, collaborate with faculty members, and design independent projects that reflect their interests. Students selected for the Honors Program become members of a lively community that supports academic and co-curricular activities, the chance to build life-long relationships, and the opportunity to develop as persons. The Honors Program reflects the mission of the University by providing a curriculum that offers a high-quality liberal education, in-depth disciplinary and professional training, opportunities to contribute to the community, and a basis for a meaningful personal, professional, spiritual, family, and civic life. It presents opportunities for students to explore connections among their courses, and also between their courses and life. The program promotes intellectual friendship and discourse while providing a common, intensive learning experience inside and outside the classroom.
The program commences in the first year with a Foundations Program learning community, meaning two linked Honors courses from within the Foundations Program curriculum that have the same students These are small, liberal arts courses in Literature, Philosophy, or Theology, linked with another discipline, such as Art, Politics, History, or Psychology. Students take one or two more Honors courses in the spring of the first year, many of which count in the Foundations Program. In the sophomore year, honors students take one or two Honors electives chosen from a range of courses, including, for example, the discussion-centered Honors Roundtable. Other Honors electives include Honors Physics I and II, Honors Calculus I and II, or any course in the Core Texts and Enduring Questions Program. In the junior year, students join a workshop, guided by a professor, as they identify a topic for their senior year thesis or capstone project, a significant piece of independent work usually in the student’s major field of study. Going well beyond second-hand learning, students in the Honors Program experience a direct-engagement education by learning from primary texts, concrete experiences, faculty mentors, and personally driven scholarly projects.
Honors Program Goals
Honors Program students will:
- Cultivate independent thinking and learning
- Learn to interpret and evaluate information from a variety of perspectives
- Engage actively with various academic disciplines
- Develop and refine the qualities and responsibilities of honor, leadership, and service
- Carry out in-depth independent study in a self-designed project
Required Courses (7 Courses)
First Year Foundations Program linkage comprising two courses in fall. One or two Honors courses are taken in spring.
Sophomore Year One or two Honors Electives, depending on the number taken in the first year. Electives are any course with an Honors designation (H) including the one credit HON 299 Honors Roundtable and courses in the Core Texts and Enduring Questions Program. HON 299 may be taken repeatedly when topics differ but may count only once toward the seven-course requirement of the Honors Certificate.
Junior Year HON 300: Honors Workshop. With approval of the Honors director and consultation with the instructor, NUR 310 Evidence-Based Nursing Practice may substitute for HON 300. In such a case, the student must still present and defend a capstone proposal with HON 300.
Senior Year HON 444: Honors Capstone
Certificate Requirements
To earn an Honors Program Certificate a student must complete seven courses as part of the Honors Program, one of which may be the one-credit HON 299 Honors Roundtable, totaling 19-21 Honors credits. Students are required to maintain a minimum GPA in those courses of 3.25 and a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.25. In addition, students are required to defend their honors thesis to a committee of at least three faculty members. First-year students earning a grade point average of 3.50 or higher in the fall semester are invited to apply to the Honors Program and may join the program during their sophomore year.
Program Benefits
Co-curricular Opportunities
To complement the academic experience offered in the Honors Program, Assumption University sponsors such co-curricular activities as academic lectures, trips to historic sites and cultural events, concerts, attendance at academic conferences, dinner discussions, and study abroad.
Honors Fellowships
Honors Students are encouraged to apply for summer fellowships through the Assumption University Summer Scholars Program. Several summer positions are specifically funded by the Honors Program and preferenced to current Honors students who have proposed to engage in serious scholarly inquiry with a faculty partner.
Honors Housing
Honors housing is available for first-year students. This cohort housing option provides students with a living and learning community that fully supports and understands the attainment of academic excellence. The mission of Honors housing is to provide students with an educational environment in a smaller dorm setting. Programming will create many opportunities for less formal interactions between students, faculty, and the administration. Honors housing is highly recommended for members of the University Honors Program, but is not required. Honors housing is also open to a limited number of students outside the Honors Program who are interested in being part of a friendly, relaxed, supportive, and intellectually stimulating living-learning community.
Honors Suite
An Honors Suite is available in Tsotsis 247 for members of the Honors community. This space is available for study, consultation, and conversation by all Honors Students. Receptions between faculty, students, and campus speakers and performers will be scheduled in the Honors Suite periodically throughout the semester. The space contains a reading room and lounge, computer facilities, meeting space, and advisory offices.
Recognition
Honors Capstone Projects are bound and archived in the d’Alzon Library. Recipients of Summer Fellowships are recognized campus-wide. Graduates of the Honors Program receive a certificate at commencement, are marked as such in the Commencement Program, and have Honors denoted on their official transcript.