by Felicia LawrenceNorth Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University's Honors Program is springing into excellence with its new Honors College initiative.
The University Honors Program's Interim Director, Dr. Ray J. Davis, recognizes the potential of the program and continues to plan for its elevation into an Honors College.
"We must increase our qualitative expectations for our students to make sure that we have a solid, healthy program to be developed into a college," says Dr. Davis.
Q: How many people are currently enrolled in the Honors Program?
A: 542 students
Q: What are the admission requirements?
A: -cumulative unweighted high school GPA of 3.5
-SAT Score of 1050 or ACT Score of 23-or be a salutatorian/ valedictorian, National Merit/ Achievement Scholarship fiinalist, North
Carolina Teaching Fellows, USDA Scholars, or a student from the North Carolina School of
Science and Mathematics
-see http://www.ncat.edu/~honors for more info.
Q: What makes A&T's Honor's Program so unique?
A: I believe that the uniqueness of our program is the shared sense of community. Our Honors Program is fortunate in having a warm and friendly staff whose strength is its rapport with students. This has enabled Honors to better foster community. Another vehicle for promoting community is our Mentors Program. Strong mentoring and student-friendly staff are the strength and uniqueness of Honors. http://www.ncat.edu/~honors/assets/Documents/Newsletter_web.pdf
Q: What is the future of the Honors Program?
A: Although we have a very good program, there is yet room for improvement. This year we will begin a strategic planning initiative that focuses on strengthening the program, based upon recommendations from an external review. An established planning community will reach consensus on the following: vision and mission; values that make us unique; and what we want an honors graduate to look like. These factors will facilitate the development of a four- year Honors curriculum; a general core, major courses, seminars, and a capstone experience. We will also reevaluate admission requirements.
By improving the existing Honors Program, our students and the campus community will be better served. Additionally, this must be the precursor for the program obtaining its ultimate goal: to transition from an honors program to an honors college.
Q: How long do you think that it will take?
A: The goal is to complete this plan by the end of the 2009-2010 academic school year. We expect to share and promote the strategic planning document to the university community during the 2010-2011 academic school year. Budgetary constraints and the climate of the university will effect the approval and permission to move forward with the Honors College.
Q: What are the major benefits of an honor's college?
A: An Honors College has the following benefits (among others):
- Raises the program's profile
- Improves the ability to recruit outstanding students
- Enables the program to be more competitive with peer institutions
-Provides a more challenging, individualized education for talented students within the
established university structure.
Q: What can students and falculty do now in order to improve the Honors Program?
A: As we move forward, student and falculty involvement in our strategic planning are crucial. We encourage students to articulate their ideas for improvement and how Honors can best meet their needs. Current standing commitees include: Honors Student Advisory Board and the University Honors Council. Likewise, we welcome feedback from faculty. Already several faculty members serve on honors-related commitees. We strongly encourage collaboration from all academic units to help shape the future of honors.
Dr. Davis stresses the benefits of a college. According to the program's vision, he wants to design a college that will: "attract, prepare, and engage academically talented students to become successful professionals, scholars, and global citizens."
Dr. Ray J. Davis
Interim Honors Program Director
Office: 308 & 310 Gibbs Hall
North Carolina A&T State University
1601 East Market Street Greensboro, NC 27411
Phone: (336) 285- 2030
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