The Honors Academy offers enhanced educational opportunities both to serve select students and to raise the intellectual and cultural climate of the total college. The Academy coordinates all honors related activities. Honors at Southwest Tennessee Community College includes curricular offerings, special recognition programs, travel/study, and interdisciplinary and extracurricular activities to:
Challenge students to perform at the upper limits of their abilities
Engage the creative and intellectual talents of students and faculty
Make service an integral part of academics
Highlight
academic achievement
Our Mission: The Honors Academy is for students who want more out of college than mere
grades. Using eclectic, student-centered approaches to learning, students
and faculty explore significant issues in the context of scholarly
activities both on and off campus. Students learn to think critically,
make informed inquiries, and become leaders. Using original documents and
following interdisciplinary themes and inquiry assignments, Honors courses
meet requirements for general education, areas of concentration, or
elective credit. It also furthers the institutional goal of serving
diverse students at all Southwest locations. Students are selected for their
abilities and potential to expand and improve the scholarly community.
Although the Honors Program itself is open only to select students,
individual honors courses and experiences are available to others who have
unique abilities and cultivated interests.
Criterion for
Participation: All students must complete an application of admission and be recommended
for participation. To remain in the program, all students must maintain a
3.00 grade point average (GPA). Continuing students must have completed
all developmental studies requirements. Part-time students, in addition to
having completed developmental studies requirements, must have completed
at least 12 college-level credit hours of study. High school students must
have a 3.00 GPA and an ACT of 21 or better. All high school valedictorians
and salutatorians are eligible to participate in the Honors Program.
The Honors
Advantage: Participation
in the Honors Program creates a variety of opportunities and benefits.
Among these are enhanced transfer/scholarship opportunities, study/travel,
participation in college days and professional conferences, special
registration, the chance to meet and work with community leaders on
significant social issues, library privileges at area colleges, networks
with students across the country, use of the Honors Resource Center, and
an Honors degree.
Contact Information: For further information, contact the Honors Office at 901/333-5203 for the Union Avenue Campus, where you will reach Clarence Christian, Director of the Honors Academy. For the Macon Cove Campus, contact Doug Branch, Associate Director of Honors Academy at 901/333-4705. Mr. Christian can also be reached by e-mail at cchristian@southwest.tn.edu, and Mr. Branch can be reached at dbranch@southwest.tn.edu.
The Honors Resource
Center: The
Center provides resources and is a place for collaborative learning
outside the classroom. In addition to lounge space for informal
faculty/student interaction, it provides meeting space for processing and
transfer information. Facilities exist on both major campuses.
The Honors Degree: To
graduate with an honors degree, a student must complete a minimum of 15
hours with Honors credit, including HONR 1110. Other credits can be gained
through either Honors courses or contracted Honors.
Honor Societies: Honor
societies are national organizations dedicated to the promotion of
excellence in academic pursuits, leadership development, and service to
community. In support of these endeavors, Southwest Tennessee Community
College maintains an active chapter of Phi
Theta Kappa. The chapter requires that students have a 3.5 cumulative
GPA on at least 12 hours to be eligible for induction, have demonstrated
leadership ability, and have a record of service to community and
neighbor. A student must maintain a GPA of 3.25 to maintain membership.
Phi Theta Kappa gold stoles may be worn during the graduation ceremony.
Memberships: Southwest Tennessee Community College is a member of the National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC), the Southern Regional Honors Council (SRHC), and the Tennessee Honors Council (THC); it is affiliated with the National Association of African American Honors Programs (NAAAHP).
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