Honors Program

Shawnee State University has designed its Honors Program for students with exceptional academic ability and curiosity. The program brings these students together in a challenging but supportive environment which nourishes their intellectual, social, and creative growth.

Students who complete the honors program at Shawnee State University:

• Know how to instrumentalize advanced academic research skills in order to solve real-world problems.
• Know how to apply interdisciplinary skills to analyze social issues and solve problems.
• Describe and analyze their roles as global citizens, demonstrating deep awareness of the differences—often invisible—between cultures and individuals, as well as knowledge of the processes of global interconnectedness and subsequent opportunities and tensions.
• Engage in civic participation through service-learning opportunities around their immediate local communities as well as abroad.
   

Honors Program Admission Requirements

The Honors program is a selective program. Students who meet the admission criteria are invited to apply to the program. More information about how to apply may be found on the Honors Program’s page of the SSU website. Prospective students may also contact the Honors Program Director for more information.

• First-Time Freshmen: Incoming first-time freshmen in a Bachelor’s degree program are invited to apply to the Honors program if they have an ACT composite score of 26 or higher, an SAT combined score of 1240 or higher, or a high school GPA of 3.5 or higher. 
• Current students: Current SSU students in a Bachelor’s degree program with a GPA of 3.3 or higher may apply to the Honors program, provided that they plan to be enrolled as undergraduate students at SSU for at least three academic years.
• Transfer students: Transfer students may qualify for admission into the Honors Program based on their prior academic achievement at their previous college or university. Students who have maintained a minimum GPA of 3.3 at another institution of higher education may be offered admission into the Honors Program. Transfer students who have taken relevant Honors courses at other institutions may request that up to nine semester hours of appropriate classes be applied to the Honors Program at the discretion of the program director or the provost. At least six hours of Honors conferences must be completed at Shawnee State.

Honors Graduation Requirements

Students who are admitted to the Honors program must maintain a GPA of at least 3.3 in order to remain in the program. In order to graduate from the Honors program, they are expected to complete the following requirements:

• HONR 1101: Introduction to Honors. Students admitted to the Honors program as first-time freshmen take HONR 1101: Introduction to Honors, which fulfills the first-year experience requirement.
• Honors Conferences. An Honors conference is an independent study course in which the student works with a faculty member to develop and complete a project related to the faculty member’s area of expertise. Each Honors conference can be paired with a course the student is already taking or can be taken as a standalone course.
  • Students should enroll in HONR 1110, 2220, 3330, or 4440 prior to the start date of the semester in which the conference will be completed. The Honors Program Director will provide a link to the appropriate online form when registration for the upcoming semester opens.
  • Each Honors conference earns 1-3 credit hours depending on the amount of time students expect to invest in the project over the course of the semester.
  • The results of each Honors conference will be presented at the Honors Symposium at the end of the semester. 
  • Each Honors student needs to complete 9-12 credits of Honors conferences prior to graduation in order to complete the Honors program.
• Honors Symposium. Each semester, students share the results of their Honors conference projects with their fellow students and with faculty at each Honors symposium, which takes place at the end of autumn and spring semesters. Students who enroll in an Honors conference over the summer may present at the autumn symposium or present in an alternative format at the discretion of the Honors director. 
• Experiential learning. Each Honors student completes an Experiential Learning endeavor, such as a study abroad program, community service project, internship, or research project beyond the scope of an Honors conference. The Honors Program offers up to $1,000 in financial support per student to help you complete your experiential learning requirement. The Honors Program Director will provide information about how to apply for experiential learning funds.