New UF Honors Program Initiatives

by Dr. Melissa L. Johnson

The UF Honors Program has experienced tremendous growth in opportunities for our students over the past couple of years. Honors students can participate in our three sponsored student organizations: the Student Honors Organization and Honors Ambassadors which have a long-standing tradition of providing programming for our students, as well as our newest organization, Honors Without Borders which is a community outreach-based group.

First year honors students can participate in H-Camp, our new retreat for incoming honors students held in both August (regular admits) and January (lateral admits). Last spring, our students developed a new magazine called Prism, which highlights areas of interest to honors students. Over the past few years we have sponsored students to participate in Partners in the Parks, a week-long experiential learning program in partnership with the National Collegiate Honors Council and the National Park Service. And this year honors students have organized our first Dance Marathon team.

 

UF Honors Camp, August 2012

With these opportunities in mind, we recently revamped our program completion requirements to better focus on the holistic development of honors students. Under our former requirements, students had to take four honors courses, as well as demonstrate involvement in one of the following areas: research, internship, study abroad, leadership, or service. Students typically applied for their Certificate of Completion after two years in the program. Students who met these requirements received a certificate and a notation on their transcript.We found that our students were entering UF with more credits from high school and therefore had very few general education requirements to fulfill. They also had less room in their schedules to take elective honors courses, as they developed intricate plans for double majors, dual degrees, and combined degrees. Coupled with fewer faculty available to teach honors courses each semester, we opted to change our requirements to focus less on completing honors courses, and more on involvement in a variety of areas of interest.

The new requirements, which are available on our website, have two major components: Students must graduate with honors in their major at the cum laude level which pushes program completion to a four year process. They must also earn at least 14 honors points, including eight academic points and six enrichment points. Academic points can be earned by taking honors courses, completing a double major/dual degree or minor, participating in research with a faculty member, writing a thesis, and other similar activities. Enrichment points can be earned by participating in study abroad experiences, internships, and a variety of leadership and service-oriented activities. Students who meet these requirements will receive a notation on their transcript, as well as a medallion to wear at commencement.

Students who entered the Honors Program starting in Summer B 2012 are required to follow the new requirements. Students who entered prior to Summer B 2012 may elect to follow the new requirements if interested. We are very excited about these changes to the Honors Program and look forward to developing more initiatives for our students. Please let us know if you ever have any questions about the Honors Program! We also maintain an active presence on social media, so please feel free to connect with us on Facebook or Twitter @UFHonors.