Honors and Extramural Education

Modified: 2015-09-01 (4:10 pm CDST)

The NCHC recommends that honors education should include "opportunities for students to participate in regional and national conferences, Honors Semesters, international programs, community service, internships, undergraduate research, and other types of experiential education." Let's examine these types of experiences.

Regional and National Conferences

• NCHC
• SRHC
• Other Honors Regionals
• Discipline-specific meetings

Honors Semesters

• Deana Hughes attended the Grand Canyon Honors semester in the Fall of 2012
  • Announcement
  • Description and YouTube

International Programs and SAU

• Here is an area we are striving to improve for Honors College and SAU in general
• In the past SAU has had programs to exchange students with Russia and China
  • Carter Jones in Russia
• SAU has also sponsored shorter trips to various locales including Greece, Switzerland, France, Belgium, and Britain. Watch for announcements on your e-mail or for posters on campus. These trips take place during break between the Spring and First Summer semesters.
• SAU and Cuba?
  • SAU is at the beginning of a project to set up faculty and student exchange with one or more universities in Cuba
  • In the summer of 2015 I traveled to Cuba to begin the necessary discussions to set up such a program
  • A committee is now putting together SAU's plans of how that program might look
  • A delegation will visit Havana in February 2016 as the next step
  • Show Cuba PowerPoint

Community Service and Honors

• Is "required" community service really community service?
• Also, if a little community service is a good thing, why is longer community service used as a punishment?
• Honors College and Community Service
  • We believe that honors students should engage in community service
  • However, it should truly be service and not something designed to fulfill a requirement
  • Honors students should seek out projects and carry them out on their own
  • What projects might you come up with?
• Reasons to engage in community service
• Community service as punishment (Time Magazine)
• Sensible Justice (New York Times)

Internships

I was once told, "there are two types of students, those that go on internships and those who wish they had." How true.

• Internships can be paid or voluntary
• They provide students with hands on experience in their field
• They provide early connections for networking
• They make students more likely to secure paying jobs after graduation
• Wikipedia on internships
• Search for interships
• HC's Internship Page (needs updating)

Undergraduate Research

Research and other scholarly activity are necessary components of the academic experience. Honors students, especially, will have chances to closely interact with faculty as they engage in such activity.

• Undergraduate research:
  • Can be fun
  • Can lead to excellent letters of recommendation
  • Can teach things not possible in the classroom
  • Can make you stand out as an applicant for graduate or professional school
  • Is the natural outcome of many contract courses
  • Is something you should think about
• NSF REUs

Other Types

Can you think about other ways to extend your education outside of classroom walls?

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