University Catalog 2014-2015 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]
Honors College
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OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR
King Hall D1045
Phone: (323) 343-5969
E-mail: honorscollege@calstatela.edu
Website: honors.calstatela.edu
Administrators:
Director: Michelle Hawley
CSULA Honors College
The CSULA Honors College offers outstanding students an opportunity to participate in a scholarly community dedicated to inquiry and discovery, creative and critical thinking, and the creation of knowledge that will have a positive impact on society. Its interdisciplinary curriculum emphasizes civic engagement and takes advantage of the vast resources of Los Angeles. Exceptional faculty and challenging courses foster the intellectual curiosity of all students and provide rigorous preparation for those interested in pursuing advanced degrees in graduate or professional school. Regardless of their chosen career, graduates of the Honors College are informed citizens prepared to respond to the challenges facing their neighborhoods, cities, nations, and world.
Through an unwavering commitment to excellence and engagement, the Honors College will become an educational institution of choice for motivated and outstanding students in our region and beyond. Grounded in the timeless values of inquiry and reflection, yet responsive to the changing nature of knowledge production and contemporary life, the Honors College will play a vital role within the larger university as an incubator for innovation and engaged teaching, learning, and scholarship.
Program Overview: The Honors College curriculum meets many of the University and general education requirements. Over the course of their undergraduate Honors education, students will:
• Examine the evolving history of a modern, multiethnic metropolis in a year-long sequence of courses that explore the “city-as-text”.
• Become active participants in their communities and in civic and political processes.
• Consider what it means to be a “citizen of the world” and examine how the sciences, social sciences, and humanities help us understand our role in a global community.
• Develop habits of research and information literacy that prepare them to participate in a knowledge economy and to adapt to changing information environments.
• Receive individualized attention as they pursue independent research and produce a senior thesis or creative project.
Learning Goals and Outcomes
Recognizing the need for advanced intellectual and creative skills that emphasize interdisciplinary and independent thinking, students in the Honors College are expected to meet learning outcomes in the following areas:
Knowledge Creation
Honors College students will develop an appreciation for various modes of academic inquiry and contribute to a knowledge economy. They will understand how knowledge is produced, organized, and disseminated in dynamic information environments; and they will acquire and create knowledge using curiosity, imagination, sensibility, and reflection.
Aesthetic Awareness and Creativity
Honors College students will be expected to respond subjectively as well as objectively to aesthetic experiences, respect the integrity of both emotional and intellectual responses, and recognize aesthetic responses as complementing rational inquiry. They will cultivate and refine their affective, cognitive, and physical faculties through studying great works of the human imagination across a range of contexts and cultures.
Civic Engagement
Honors College students will learn to effectively participate in political and civic processes and to make socially responsible decisions. They will identify social, political, economic, and ecological challenges faced by local, regional, national, and global communities and propose innovative and sustainable solutions to those challenges.
Global Citizenship
Honors College students will develop the social, cultural, linguistic, and technological skills to participate effectively in a global society and workplace. They will recognize and explore individual and cultural differences and commonalities within the diverse populations of the world; they will understand the interdependence of political, economic, and environmental systems; and they will analyze the relationships between diverse aesthetic, ethical and cultural practices.
Honors College Admissions
The Cal State L.A. Honors College is committed to admitting well-prepared and motivated students who are interested in actively participating in our intellectual, social, and community engagement programs. Selection will be based on a comprehensive review of application materials, including written essays, letters of recommendation, and SAT scores. Finalists may be invited to interview with the Honors College Admissions Committee. We recommend that applicants have a cumulative high school GPA of 3.5 or higher and a combined minimum score of 1100 on the Critical Reading and Math sections of the SAT, or a minimum composite ACT score of 26. Transfer students and continuing CSULA students may also be eligible for admission to the Honors College provided they have attained a minimum GPA of 3.5 or higher in their college coursework and in all lower division GE requirements, which must be completed prior to admission to the Honors College. They may also be eligible if they have successfully completed a comparable Honors program in a community college. Meeting these minimum requirements does not guarantee admission. Please note that prospective students must apply to both CSULA and to the Honors College.
Bridge to Honors: CSULA students who are interested in joining the Honors College during the freshman or sophomore year may apply to the Honors College and be admitted to “Bridge to Honors.” “Bridge to Honors” gives students an opportunity to experience the Honors College and see if it will be a good fit for them.
Students admitted to “Bridge to Honors” will meet with the director of honors advisor to map out an individualized program, including a minimum of three honors courses. Bridge to Honors students who earn a CSULA GPA of 3.5 or above and a minimum of 3.3 GPA in their honors courses will be admitted to the honors college upon satisfactory completion of the “Bridge to Honors” program.
Scholarships
All eligible applicants to the Honors College will be considered for these and other scholarships. No separate application is required. Scholarships are competitive and will be awarded based on a comprehensive review of application materials.
President’s Scholars. $2,500-$10,000 (up to $40,000 over four years) will be awarded to select incoming freshmen demonstrating high achievement, motivation and a commitment to education. President’s Scholars will generally have a cumulative high school grade point average of at least 3.75 or above and a combined SAT Reasoning Test score of at least 1200 (based only on the Critical Reading and Math sections), or a composite ACT score of at least 27.
Honors College Scholars. $2,000 ($8,000 over four years) will be awarded to incoming Honors College freshmen who have demonstrated great potential, motivation, and a commitment to education.
Requirements, Good Standing, and Probation
Honors College students remain in good standing if they maintain a CSULA GPA of 3.3 or higher, complete required honors courses on schedule and participate in Honors College activities each quarter. Students are placed on honors probation if their grade point average at Cal State L.A. falls between 3.0 and 3.3 and/or if they do not complete required honors courses or approved substitutions. Students on probation must maintain a term GPA of 3.3 or above and will be restored to good standing once their overall GPA returns to 3.3.
Students will lose their honors college privileges, including priority registration and scholarships, if their overall CSULA GPA falls below 3.0 for more than one quarter or if they fail to take required honors core courses and sequences on schedule Students may also lose their privileges if they fail to demonstrate active participation in Honors College activities.
The Honors College Curriculum and Requirements (38 units + Senior Thesis/Project)
Students who complete the program with a GPA of 3.3 or higher will receive an Honors College designation on their transcripts.
Lower Division Required Courses (16 units)
Lower Division Electives (8 units)
Students select 8 units of lower division Honors Electives with advisor approval. One of these electives must include a civic or community engagement activity approved by the Honors College. Students who are admitted to the Honors College in their junior year satisfy this 24-unit lower division requirement by completing their lower division General Education requirements with a GPA of 3.5 or higher or by completing a comparable lower-division Honors program.
Upper Division Required Courses (14 units)
Students must complete the following 12-unit Honors Upper Division Theme in Global Citizenship and Global Responsibility as well as 2 units of Honors Institute. Before students begin their Upper Division Theme, they should complete all of their lower division Honors College requirements, and must be in good standing.
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Honors Contract:
With permission of the course instructor and the director of the Honors College, students may create an honors contract to convert up to two lower-division and up to two upper-division courses into honors courses. Honors contracts allow students to explore a subject in greater depth and at a higher level of academic rigor. An honors contract must meet one or more of the honors college learning outcomes.
Honors Thesis/Project
The Honors College undergraduate experience culminates in the thesis, a required advanced research or creative project completed either in the student’s undergraduate degree program or in the Honors College. An honors-level undergraduate thesis project will promote focus, depth, and independence and will develop creativity, resilience, and patience. By completing the thesis students will be demonstrating the ability to become producers of knowledge in their own right. Students may complete the thesis/project within the honors college by taking the following courses:
Or, students who wish to complete the thesis/project requirement in conjunction with offerings in their major department/college (variable units) may create an honors thesis/project contract with permission of the instructor and Honors Director.
Early Entrance Program
Program Overview and Admissions Requirements
The Early Entrance Program provides the opportunity for highly gifted students to begin their college studies early at CSULA, and offers them the support, guidance and counseling necessary to prepare them for success at the university level. Most of the EEP students bypass high school. EEP students are recruited through the biannual Search for Exceptional Academic Achievement (SEAA) talent search and through qualifying scores on college entrance exams such as the SAT and ACT. Top scoring students who are younger than 16 years old but who are at least 11 years old at the start of the summer quarter for which they would be provisionally admitted may be invited to apply for admission to the Early Entrance Program. The main criteria for EEP selection include need for academic acceleration, maturity, motivation, and readiness for early college admission. Admission is based on a holistic assessment of the student’s overall academic performance administered by the program director, personal interview of the applicants and their parents, and the completion of a provisional quarter of study. Those students whose academic and personal performances are judged adequate and appropriate during the provisional summer quarter and who receive final approval from the Admissions Committee, the Honors College, and the Office of Undergraduate Studies are admitted as matriculated students for the fall quarter.
Upon admission, EEP students are assigned to a class cohort that is enrolled in special EEP classes for their first year and are required to attend regular meetings with EEP staff, participate in scheduled EEP activities, and maintain enrollment as full-time, degree-seeking undergraduates. EEP students are responsible for tuition identical to other CSU students and are eligible for financial aid and scholarship assistance. EEP students are provisionally admitted to the Honors College. After completion of their first year with a GPA of 3.3 or above, EEP students will be recommended for formal admission to the Honors College with the approval of the director of the Honors College. For further information please contact the EEP Office at (323) 343-2287, Fax (323) 343-5575, or visit www.calstatela.edu/academic/eep.
The EEP Curriculum
The EEP curriculum is designed to meet both the traditional requirements of a high school diploma (GED) and the specific requirements for a baccalaureate degree (B.A. or B.S.) from CSULA. Accordingly, students are required to complete the enhanced General Education curriculum specified below, in addition to completing the requirements for their selected major, as well as all other university graduation requirements. With approval of the Director of the EEP and the Director of the Honors College, students may substitute equivalent courses for these requirements. Prior to the completion of 90 units in the program, students must declare a major and meet with an advisor in their major department to determine the requirements for that major.
EEP GE and University Requirements (96-105 units)
Introduction to Higher Education and Life Long Learning and Self- Development (4 units)
English Language Communication and Critical Thinking (16 units)
American Institutions (12 units)
Scientific Inquiry and Quantitative Reasoning (20 units)
Humanities (16 units)
With advisor approval, students select 8 additional units in humanities courses from Block C
Social Sciences (16 units)
Selected in consultation with EEP advisor.
Upper Division Theme (12)
Students are required to complete a 12-unit upper division theme as part of the General Education Program. Students select one of the nine available themes and complete three courses, one in each of the natural sciences and mathematics, social sciences, and humanities areas. (See the description of the G.E. Upper Division Themes in the Undergraduate Studies section of the catalog.)
Diversity Requirement (0-8 units)
Students must complete two courses certified as diversity courses. These courses may be completed at either the lower division or upper division level from among the courses satisfying general education requirements in blocks C, D, or F. Diversity courses are designated with a (d) by each course.
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