The Honors College strives to provide advanced levels of research, scholarship, cultural enrichment and leadership activities to enhance the educational programs housed in the six academic Schools that offer the baccalaureate degree. The program goals are:
- To provide well-motivated and highly talented students additional academic challenges and appropriate rewards for meeting the challenges.
- To improve the University’s ability to attract scholar students.
- To enrich the Saint Augustine’s University academic community.
The mission of the Honors College is to provide a venue that assists and allows high achieving, dedicated and highly motivated students to enhance their leadership capacity as they strive to become prominent leaders in today’s global society. The honors curriculum consists of four core series: intellectual inquiry, global awareness, student engagement, and experiential learning. The program is designed to provide the venue for individual growth and development of student attributes that are necessary for ever-growing and culturally diverse workforce environments.
Benefits to Students Include:
- The joy of discovering new ideas and experiential learning that goes far beyond the boundaries of the classroom and the college.
- An opportunity for advanced work in areas of special interest to the honors scholar.
- Accelerate your academic degree credits through the College Level Examination Program (CLEP) examination.
- Work closely with outstanding instructors and guest scholars in special courses, seminars and independent study projects.
Admission to the Honors College
Talented high school seniors with a 3.5 and above grade point average and a minimum 950 SAT will be invited to participate in the Honors College or be accepted to Saint Augustine’s University as a Presidential Scholar.
Second-semester freshmen and first-semester sophomores with a 3.3 GPA will then be formally invited to apply for admission into the program. Formal entry into the program includes submission of an application, an essay, two letters of recommendation and interview.
For all students (Honors College Scholars) admitted to the Honors College, continuation in the program is dependent on maintaining a GPA of 3.4 or above and fulfilling the requirements of the program at each applicable level. If the GPA falls below 3.4, students will have a one semester probationary period in which to satisfy the requirement of 3.4 GPA.
Honors College Requirements
Honors College Policy: All Honors College Students are required to enroll in a scheduled honors course each semester of the academic year (fall and spring semesters). Honors Program Students must take a minimum of 18 hours (six honors courses with section H designation) for certificate recognition and 24 hours (eight honors courses with section H designation) for scholar recognition.
Students who are not enrolled in a scheduled honors course must designate one course as an honors course through the Honors Course Contract. The Honors courses are only offered during the fall and spring semesters. Credits transferred from another institution count toward “University” academic requirements but DO NOT count as Honors credits.
Honors College Policy: Students must enroll in Honors Freshman Studies Seminar. The college requires all freshmen and transfer students with less than twenty-four hours of transfer credit to complete the Freshman Studies course. Students MUST actively participate in activities sponsored by the Honors College. Failure to do so will result in suspension from other Honors College and related functions.
Honors College students are expected to attend at least one conference and take the appropriate exam for graduate study by the end of their junior year.
Community Service
A major component of the Honors College is service to the community. Honors College students are required to perform a minimum of 36 hours of community service per year. Students must enroll in the Honors course HON 107-108, 207-208, 307-308, 407-408 each year of their participation in the program to document their service.
Leadership Lab
Leadership is one of the hallmarks of the Honors College program. Honors students are expected to develop their leadership skills and potential throughout their matriculation at Saint Augustine’s University. Freshmen are expected to perform at least one leadership role in their first year and upperclassmen are required to perform at least three leadership activities each year. In order to document their leadership students enroll in HON 109-110, 209-210, 309-310, 409-410.
Programs
