Honors College Programs

After completing the lower-division Honors courses in the University Honors Program, students will be able to

• Read critically
• Write with focus, clear purpose and the effective use of surface features (syntax, grammar, punctuation, and spelling)
• Respond to needs of different audiences and to different kinds of rhetorical situations
• Organize ideas for clarity and effectiveness
• Develop good arguments and learn to recognize fallacious arguments
• Analyze communication situations, audiences, and purposes
• Demonstrate strong presentation skills
• Become more artful producers and more conscientious consumers of public discourse
• Articulate clearly (orally and in writing) an understanding of issues, theories, events and ideas
• Apply communication and critical thinking skills in a variety of disciplinary contexts

After completing the upper-division Honors seminars in the University Honors Program, students will be able to:

• Analyze a broad range of information in order to determine which source is most credible, what evidence is used to make it credible and how it compares with other information
• Synthesize information from a variety of sources and disciplines in order to find common themes and/or contradictions
• Articulate clearly (orally and in writing) an understanding of issues, theories, events and ideas
• Apply these analysis, synthesis and articulation skills in small creative and/or research processes (research papers, critical essays, etc.)

After completing the upper-division Honors seminars as part of the Research and Creative Honors Program, students will be able to:

• Analyze a broad range of information in order to determine which source is most credible, what evidence is used to make it credible and how it compares with other information
• Synthesize information from a variety of sources and disciplines in order to find common themes and/or contradictions
• Articulate clearly (orally and in writing) an understanding of issues, theories, events and ideas
• Apply these analysis, synthesis and articulation skills in small creative and/or research processes (research papers, critical essays, etc.)

After completing the Honors Thesis (in collaboration with faculty advisors), students who conduct research projects will be able to:

• Formulate a plan of action for engaging in an intensive research experience: craft a research question, conduct a literature review, develop a hypothesis, determine the appropriate methodology to best address the research question
• Conduct research to determine whether the hypothesis is supported or not by analyzing data (quantitative or qualitative)
• Interpret the meaning and applicability of results

After completing the Honors Thesis (in collaboration with faculty advisors), students who complete creative projects will be able to:

• Formulate a plan of action for engaging in a creative experience: conducting a literature review, crafting a rationale, and determining the appropriate methodology to best explore the given topic through a creative project
• Produce an original creative work that is placed in a larger disciplinary framework and societal context

After completing the upper-division Honors seminars as part of the Service-Learning Honors Program, students will be able to:

• Analyze a broad range of information in order to determine which source is most credible, what evidence is used to make it credible and how it compares with other information
• Synthesize information from a variety of sources and disciplines in order to find common themes and/or contradictions
• Articulate clearly (orally and in writing) an understanding of issues, theories, events and ideas
• Apply these analysis, synthesis and articulation skills in small creative and/or research processes (research papers, critical essays, etc.)

After completing Honors Service-Learning (HON 496) students will be able to:

• Identify barriers that the community partner faces.
• Formulate a plan of action for engaging in an intensive service-learning experience: conduct a literature review to identify the root cause of the injustice, define the social problem to be addressed, develop a plan of action, determine the appropriate methodology to develop authentic relationships with the community partner
• Apply the concept of social justice
• Acquire and use workplace/career skills/standards based on engagement with the community partner 
• Develop career readiness skills in workplace environments including: professional workplace skills, problem-solving skills, communicating with colleagues, working collaboratively with others, acquiring and employing cultural competence