Honors Advising
In general, honors students will consult with faculty honors advisers about the major area and the Honors Research and Thesis Project, and they will consult with an ASC Honors Program counselor in Enarson Hall for procedural matters, for information about degree requirements, for assistance with an Honors Contract, and for information about other special honors opportunities.
Students will find that honors advising means a challenge to excel. They also will find that faculty advisers and honors counselors are sensitive to the fact that students' abilities are diverse and that honors work is different for each individual. There is a further recognition that students may need time to adjust to the University and that a variety of factors may occasionally impair a student's capacity to perform at the normal level of expectation. In all such cases the counselors in the Honors Office will work with students to evaluate past performance and plan for the future.
Most often, however, advising will mean a partnership in learning. Honors counselors will assist students with constructing a degree that meets their needs and enhances their capacity for learning, while faculty will serve as intellectual mentors. Students should assume that faculty want to see them often, and they should not hesitate to seek assistance. Faculty honors advisers are selected by their departments both because of their own achievements and because of their desire to work with high-ability students. Honors students will recognize that these faculty mentors represent some of the finest researchers and teachers in the nation, and they will seek to take full advantage of the accessibility of these distinguished scholars.
The Honors Program staff and faculty assume that honors students will aspire to attend the best graduate and professional schools available, and that they will seek out the most rewarding careers in the private and public sectors. Consequently, students will meet with honors counselors who have received special training to help high-ability students both with undergraduate academic issues and with preparing dossiers for admission to medical and law schools, for fellowships, and for appropriate careers which begin immediately after completion of the undergraduate degree. In addition to reviewing appropriate course work on a periodic basis, this assistance will include discussions of time lines, extra-classroom experiences likely to enhance a student's competitive position, special internships, preparation for examinations and interviews, and construction of the actual application dossier.
