Honors program benefits individuals, university
The Honors Program has more than 900 students with an average
GPA of 4.06, a 29.5 ACT score and a 1293 SAT score.
It is a program that provides a small community where students
can get connected to other students and faculty, said Robert
Keller, the program director.
Housed in Newsom Hall, the Honors Program provides its members
with a variety of social events, leadership and service
opportunities.
Members of the Honors Program have priority access to Newsom and
roughly 50 percent of first-year students choose to live there.
Those who choose not to live in Newsom still have access to all the
programs and services offered by the Honors Program.
Tim McCoy, a senior mathematics major in his second year in the
Honors Program, chose to live in Newsom for a second year in a
row.
“It’s nice that people are a little more academically focused,”
McCoy said. “There are more quiet places to study.”
Cori Knudten, a sophomore history major, also chose to live in
Newsom for a second year because it is “a better study
environment.”
Along with the benefits of its living community, the Honors
Program provides a “distinct, higher level of learning” Keller
said.
Students in the program are required to take four honors
seminars, two honors courses in their major and write a senior
honors thesis.
Keller said a major aspect of the learning environment is the
“true seminar.”
“In a true Socratic seminar the class is small, it’s not a
lecture base,” Keller said. “Students will do the reading and come
into class prepared to discuss. It’s a student-centered active
learning.”
For Knudten, these types of seminars are a reason she applied to
the Honors Program.
“It lets you practice your writing and speaking skills,” Knudten
said.
Another aspect that drew Knudten in was the smaller class sizes.
In most Honors classes, the number of students is 15 to 25.
Honors courses also go more in-depth into a certain topic. McCoy
said they are not necessarily harder, but they have a little extra
work.
Not only does the Honors Program help the students directly
involved, but it also improves the learning environment at CSU as a
whole.
“I am convinced you elevate the entire quality of the
undergraduate program,” Keller said.
Through the Honors Program CSU is able to competitively recruit
top students, he said.
“If we don’t offer the best, we don’t recruit the best,” Keller
said. “And we’re serious about that.”
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