building honors program for students

THE UNIVERSITY of Tennessee at Chattanooga School of Nursing is starting its own honors program.

There’s no deadline for the program’s launch, but preparations are well under way, says Assistant Professor Brooke Epperson and Senior Lecturer Kelli Hand, who are working together to build the program.

“We're in the planning stages. No one has ever done this before, so it’s trying to figure out: What does it look like? What are the right processes,” Hand says. “We have a good plan, but we’re refining all of it to make it viable.”

The pair says they’re working with UTC Honors College Dean Linda Frost to make sure the College and the School of Nursing program follow similar guidelines and mesh without complications.

“Linda Frost has been an absolute champion for our program” as has School of Nursing Director Chris Smith, Hand says.

The School of Nursing Honors program is being designed for students earning bachelor’s degrees and who want to take an extra academic step, Epperson says.

“What we would like is to offer the students who may want an extra challenge or want to dive deeper into research or work more closely with nursing faculty,” she says. “Maybe they're already thinking, ‘I want to go to grad school. Maybe I want to explore this further.’”

Nursing students won’t be required to take an extra course to be in the Honors program, Epperson says.

“There will be a little higher expectation within a course,” she explains. “Let's just take nursing research, for instance. All 40 of my School of Nursing students are going to take this course. To make it an Honors course for particular students, there's going to be an additional component.

“It's not a brand-new course or a new program of study. It's taking the existing courses that we have and upping the ante.”

Right now, each nursing student has a senior project, but they’re not always able to see it through to its ultimate conclusion.

“These students have such amazing ideas,” Epperson says. “I've had students in my research class who really wanted to see their project through to the end and there just wasn't enough time.”

Nursing students already have a heavy load with classes, clinicals and research, Hand and Epperson say. Adding an Honors component will be tough, but it could impact the student’s future.

“It's the distinction of saying that you are an Honors program. It would look very good on an application to grad school,” Hand says. “If grad school is something that they're looking for—which is the majority of them—it will give them a leg up.”

Even if a student is in the Honors program, the School of Nursing’s focus will be on its overarching goal.

“Their end goal is to be a nurse, so we want to make sure that's still at the forefront,” Epperson says.