Honors Program - Philosophy, Goals, and Features

Philosophy
The purpose of the Honors Program at Wayne State College is to identify the most motivated and talented students at Wayne State College, and to offer a challenging and highly rewarding curriculum. The intent of the curriculum is to provide students an in-depth learning environment, where discussion, exploration and experimentation is encouraged. In order to facilitate students ultimately becoming contributors and caretakers of our society, an innovative General Education core is offered, one that offers Honors students an opportunity to understand the world around them, and the impact their actions have on that world. These specialized General Education courses are small and are taught by faculty who are especially interested in working with honors students, providing a highly conducive learning environment.

Goals
The Honors Program at Wayne State College seeks to attract motivated, talented students, and provide a stimulating educational program; develop a close working relationship between Honors students and faculty from all disciplines; provide a curriculum that reaches across all disciplines, thus providing the students a broad perspective outside their major area of study; provide opportunities for Honors independent study projects; promote and highlight the mission of Wayne State College as a student oriented, high quality academic institution; and to provide opportunities for faculty to challenge their own teaching styles and to improve their instruction in an environment of talented and motivated students.

The goals of the Honors Program at Wayne State College are:

• to create lifelong learners
• to develop the ability to integrate knowledge from different sources
• to develop the ability to adapt to new environments
• to develop active participants in a democratic society
• to develop professional skills in formal writing, oral presentations, collaborative exchanges and intellectual dialogue
• to develop the ability to understand and work with complex topics and situations
• to develop intellectual agility and honesty

Advantages
In addition to the very practical advantage of the Honors student having demonstrated initiative and genuine intellectual strength during their college career, our Honors program provides a novel approach to learning which is stimulating to the most motivated and ambitious students, rather than simply increasing the volume of material covered.

Active students in the Honors program also have the benefit of registering early for their following semester’s classes, increasing the level of control Honors students have over their class schedules. We strongly believe that this privilege helps to support the Honors Program by providing each Honors student the opportunity to enhance and maximize their planning skills, inside of the classroom and out.

The Wayne State College Program is an institutional member of the National Collegiate Honors Council, which annually provides interested Honors students and their faculty the opportunity to attend and present their work in a national Honors forum. NCHC conventions are held annually in major metropolitan areas throughout the U.S. such as Philadelphia, Boston, Washington D.C., Denver, and San Francisco.

Honors students at Wayne State College also receive special recognition at commencement, and on their academic transcripts, as having completed the Honors Program.