HONORS PROGRAM

 Kent Neuerburg, Director

 

The Honors Program at Southeastern is designed to prepare students to know and understand the most significant ideas, deeds, and events that have shaped our world and will shape the future; to have confidence in their abilities to think independently, write clearly, and speak effectively; and to be leaders in their communities and professions. It aims to prepare responsible individuals to be perpetual learners who realize their potential for a fully human, ethical, and prosperous life.

 

The Honors experience at Southeastern, as many of our alumni have testified, can make a profound difference in the value and effect of one's undergraduate education by broadening perspectives on the world and strengthening credentials for graduate, law, and medical schools and careers in education, government, business, research, and the health fields.

 

The Program provides highly motivated students a strong foundation in education and career preparation. In small classes, students enjoy conditions for learning at the peak of their abilities. Two Honors curriculum paths, distinguished by comprehensive and in-depth coverage of the material in a learning community environment, facilitate discussion, debate, and intellectual friendship among students and with their professors. Rounding out the benefits of honors education at Southeastern are priority registration, travel opportunities, extracurricular events and lectures, honors residential accommodations, membership in the Honors Club, honors academic credit shown on the transcript, and the opportunity to earn a Sophomore Honors Distinction Award.

 

Admission Process: A composite score of 24 on the ACT and a 3.0 high school GPA qualify an entering freshman to join; a cumulative GPA of 3.0 in 12 or more hours of university credit qualifies an advanced student to join. For advising regarding Honors Program requirements, a transfer student should meet with the Honors Director.

 

Freshman Honors Program students whose GPA at the end of their first semester is between 2.73 and 3.0 are allowed one probation semester in which they must establish a minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA to continue in the Program. Honors active status is not granted automatically but depends on the student's submitting an application to the Honors Program office, which serves as an advising center for students pursuing an honors diploma. Each college may have special criteria for accepting students into its upper-division honors curricula.

 

Honors Courses

 

Required Honors Courses: This learning-community experience is centered in five honors courses taught by professors recognized for their excellence in the classroom. The five courses, each satisfying a General Education requirement, lay a foundation in Art, History, Literature, Science and Rhetoric shared by all Honors students at Southeastern. This shared academic experience helps to create a vital academic community among honors students. They share their ideas beyond the classroom, whether over coffee or in the dorm, and extend their intellectual friendships from semester to semester.

 

Other Freshman and Sophomore Honors Courses: Students can satisfy additional General Education requirements by taking Honors versions of introductory courses in Biology, Economics, History, and English. Interested students should check with the Honors Program office or with the individual academic departments for opportunities.

 

The Ideas in Issues Sequence: This sequence of four courses offers students an opportunity to study topics outside the standard curriculum. The courses are designed to deepen a student's knowledge about particular intellectual issues and to demonstrate the interconnectedness of academic disciplines. Topics are considered from the perspectives of the pure and applied sciences, the social and behavioral sciences, the arts and humanities, and business and finance.

 

Honors Options: By completing an Honors Option contract (H-Option) in a course, a student earns Honors credit that can be used to partially satisfy the requirements for the University Scholars Diploma.

 

Senior Thesis

 

Under the direction of a faculty member from their major, each honors student selects a topic in the major, plans and completes a research project or creative endeavor, and presents the results in the form of a senior thesis. Credit for a senior thesis is approved by the Director of the Honors Program.

 

Each honors path requires a senior thesis be done in the college in which a student majors. If a college or department does not designate a particular numbered course in which to do the senior thesis project, its students may select an appropriate 300-400 level course in the student's major.

 

The Honors Program

 

University Honors Diploma
The University Honors path is designed to provide the exceptional student with a broad, multi-disciplinary Honors experience. To earn the University Honors Diploma a student must successfully complete the following three requirements:

1. Required core honors courses:

Arts HONR 191                        3 hours
History HIST 101H, 102H, 201H, or 202H                          3 hours
Literature ENGL 210H, 291H, or 292H 3 hours
Rhetoric COMM 211H 3 hours
Science GBIO 151H or 153H 3 hours

 

2. Select three of the following:

HONR 301 - Ideas and Issues in Pure and Applied Science 3 hours
HNOR 302 - Ideas and Issues in Social and Behavioral Sciences 3 hours
HONR 401 - Ideas and Issues in Arts and Humanities 3 hours
HONR 402 - Ideas and Issues in Business and Finance 3 hours
H-Option in a 300- or 400-level course 3 hours
Study Abroad Elective(s)1 3 hours

 

 3. Senior Thesis2 (May be completed as part of the H-Option.)

 

University Scholars Diploma
The University Scholars path is designed to provide the exceptional student with a focused, discipline-specific Honors experience. To earn the University Scholars Diploma a student must successfully complete the following three requirements. 

1. Required core honors courses:

Arts HONR 191 3 hours
History HIST 101H, 102H, 201H, or 202H           3 hours
Literature ENGL 210H, 291H, or 292H                           3 hours
Rhetoric COMM 211H 3 hours
Science GBIO 151H or 153H 3 hours

 

2. Honors in the discipline (H-Option) courses                  3 hours

 

 3. Senior Thesis2 (May be completed as part of the H-Option.)

____________________________________________________________________________________

1Any course(s) taken as part of the university-sponsored study abroad program.

2Thesis criteria available in the Honors Office. Students will present the thesis as part of the Honors Forum. 


Honors Research Scholars and Honors Creative Scholars

 

Honors Research Scholars or Honors Creative Scholars will complete a research/creative experience of at least two-semesters under the supervision of a faculty mentor in their discipline. The research/creative experience should culminate in a written thesis, publication, or other scholarly/creative product. The objective of the program is to involve highly motivated undergraduate students in an in-depth research/creative project that simulates the "graduate student" experience, to expose the student to the discipline appropriate academic research and publication environment or creative process, and to introduce the student to the scholarly/creative community.

Eligibility:

    • Students must have completed at least 30 hours of undergraduate course work.
    • Have at least two semesters remaining before graduation.
    • Have at least a 3.0 GPA.
    • Have identified a faculty member who is willing to mentor the student in his/her research/creative experience.
    • Submit an application for the Honors Research or Creative Scholars program to the Honors Office.

 

Once accepted into the program, students must:

    • Actively participate in an independent research/creative project under the guidance of their faculty mentor. The research/creative experience should last at least two semesters and must consist of work not required for the undergraduate degree.
    • Produce an undergraduate thesis, refereed publication, exhibit, performance, or other scholarly product approved by the faculty mentor with the Honors Office. Students are strongly encouraged to submit written work for publication in an appropriate academic journal.
    • Publicly present their results to the campus community at a department forum or public symposium such as the annual College Honors Convocations.

 

Interested students should contact the Honors Office for more information.