SPC HONORS PROGRAM
The goal of the Honors Program is to provide undergraduate students with an enriched academic and intellectual experience
both inside and beyond the classroom. In pursuing that goal, we seek to select qualified
students who will thrive in the Honors Program.Honors courses move beyond simply learning
the content of a regular course and are not simply more difficult versions of their
non-honors counterpart. Rather, an Honors course provides creative avenues for students
to investigate, question, and discuss academic topics in greater depth and context.
An Honors course is an immersive introduction to students to the scholarly approaches,
practices, and methods of the associated discipline. For example, the course could
help students not only understand how new questions for investigation are formed in
a discipline, but also give students practice forming their own new questions for
investigation. Clearly, students would need a base understanding of content knowledge
to effectively complete such a project. Some courses might then help students either
understand how investigations are carried out, carry out their own investigations,
analyze results or literature, and generate conclusions. Ideally, at the end of an
Honors course, students should have learned how to “think” as a person in that discipline
would—think like a biologist, think like a historian, think like someone who analyzes
literature. Moreover, students should be encouraged to reflect upon the process of
academic reasoning and critical thinking. An Honors course should help students to
connect knowledge from the classroom to real-world events, issues, problems, and
contexts. In order to accomplish this, not only should flexibility of faculty teaching
styles and approaches be encouraged, but the learning processes of students should
be highlighted and challenged.
Honors credits are normally limited to SPC courses designated as Honors. However,
with approval, students may complete Honors Course Contracts for other courses or
complete an Honors Independent Study for undergraduate credit.
HONORS ELIGIBILITY
For incoming freshmen, Honors Program membership requires a high school record demonstrating
motivation, leadership, involvement, academic accomplishment, and must meet at least
one of the following requirements:
• A score of at least 1240 on the SAT
• A score of at least 26 on the ACT
• Rank in the top 10 percent of the high school graduating class
• A cumulative GPA of at least 3.25 (on a 4.00 scale) or 90% or higher
"Honors education is characterized by in-class and extracurricular activities that are measurably broader, deeper, or more complex than comparable learning experiences typically found at institutions of higher education. Honors experiences include a distinctive learner-directed environment and philosophy, provide opportunities that are appropriately tailored to fit the institution's culture and mission, and frequently occur within a close community of students and faculty." NATIONAL COLLEGIATE HONORS COUNCIL (NCHC)
APPLY NOW
Still Have Questions? [email protected]
Dr. Jonathan Martin Honors Program Co-Director Instructor of Government [email protected] Office - AD 121 806-716-2198 |
Dr. Nimi Finnigan Honors Program Co-Director Associate Professor of English [email protected] Lubbock Downtown Center-2024 806-716-2733 |