Honors Program

Purpose of the Program

The mission of the Honors Program is to bring Bethany’s best students together in an interdisciplinary class setting where they can push themselves and one another in an academic community of equally prepared, motivated, focused, curious learners.

How It Works

Honors students will go through the four-semester Interdisciplinary 101, 201, 202, 203 Bethany College Core Experience series as all Bethany students do, but the Honors students will be placed in an Honors section, designed specifically for them. Once this four-course cycle is complete, Honors students will take four additional one-credit Honors discussion seminars during their last two years of college. The topics of these discussion courses will vary – one will be offered every seven weeks.

Admission

The coordinator of the Honors Program will oversee the admission of applicants into the Honors Program.

Requirements and Procedures for Application:

1. Incoming freshmen must possess a high school GPA of 3.5 or above and an ACT score of 25 or above. 2. Incoming freshmen must apply for admission to the

Honors Program separately from their application to the college. 3. Each application must contain a copy of the academic transcript (high school or college as appropriate), a record of the ACT scores, a letter of recommendation from a teacher and a short essay (500-750 words) addressing how the Honors Program would help the applicant meet his or her academic goals. 4. The completed online application for incoming students is to be included along with the general admissions materials for Bethany College.

Removal from the Program

If, once admitted, the semester GPA of a member of the Honors Program falls below 3.5 for two consecutive semesters, or if a student fails to earn at least a B in any Honors course, that student will be withdrawn from the Honors Program. In the event of unusual circumstances (illness, family emergency, etc.), the Honors Program Coordinator (in consultation with other faculty teaching Honors courses) may allow exceptions to this, giving a student a one-semester grace period to reach the 3.5 mark, or allowing a student to retake an honors course.

Requirements to Graduate from the Honors Program

Each student must have a cumulative GPA at Bethany of 3.5 or above. 1. Honors students must receive a grade of “B” or higher in all Honors courses, four ID Honors courses, and four Honors seminars. In addition to Honors course completion, students must have a fully developed Honors page in their Foliotek e-portfolio which demonstrates their work in the program and reflection upon it. 2. Students who enter as freshmen and students who enter as second-semester freshmen or sophomores will complete the same requirements. Students who begin the program after their first semester of college may take the one-credit discussion courses concurrently with any 200-level Honors ID course. 3. Completion of the requirements for graduation with honors will be determined by the Honors Coordinator and Enrollment Services. Completion or lack thereof of these requirements has no bearing on graduation itself. If a student is a member of the Honors Program and has completed all requirements for graduation, that student will graduate regardless of the completion of the requirements for graduation with honors. 4. Membership in and graduation from the Honors Program will be indicated on the diploma and transcript with the statement “Graduated Member of the Bethany College Honors Program.” 5. Membership in and graduation from the Honors Program will be indicated on the diploma and transcript with the statement “Graduated Member of the Bethany College Honors Program.”

Other Honors Program Benefits

In addition to completing the Core Experience Program with other like-minded students and with faculty who have customized the curriculum for Honors students, members of the Honors Program will enjoy the following privileges: • Faculty-length borrowing privileges at the library (that is, longer lending time). • A dedicated study lounge for use by members of the Honors Program. • Funds available on a competitive basis to subsidize participation in academic conferences. • Priority in enrollment. Members of the Honors Program will register for courses before all other students. • Overload fee waiver for any honors courses which place them in overload status in a given semester.