The Honors Community

Honors is a community unlike any other. In honors you get the opportunity to take classes with students from across the campus who are as engaged and committed to learning as you are. You get to participate in events and programming that emphasize the integrated nature of learning and the transformative nature of service.

In honors we emphasize the collective and multi-discliplinary nature of scholarship, community engagement, and leadership. We encourage you to bring the experience of your major, your individual research, and your campus engagement back to the program and to take it with you into the community. Our curriculum emphasizes the integration of the entire campus experience into the formation of sophisticated learners and thinkers – Citizen Scholars – who can reach beyond the conventional. The honors experience is an enriching experience because it is shared.

When you join the honors community you are joining Drs. Marston and Palm in the Bio and Engineering labs and Dr. Varano with the police in Providence and Dr. Case at the Popular Culture Association Conference. You are joining Dr. Spritz in Jamaica, Dr. Bender in Ireland, Dr. Campbell in Brazil, and Dr. Quezeda-Grant in the Dominican Republic.

Are you ready to be part of the community?

The Honors Living Learning Community (LLC) is a required component of the Honors First Year Experience. Students in the LLC participate in a summer project, a pre-orientation retreat, and live and learn together throughout this foundational first year on campus.

During the first year, students are housed together in Stonewall IV and take as many as three common courses together. Stonewall IV is also home to the Honors Center – a communal space that serves as a common room with a lending library, movie watching lounge, and the Honors classroom.  

For many honors students, the LLC serves as the foundation for life-long friendships and the opportunity to work closely with honors faculty. The Honors Center is also home to offices for the Director of the Honors Program and the program assistant, providing easy access to academic advising and support for Honors students. Students maintain their privilege to the Honors space in Stonewall IV throughout their membership in Honors, from the time they first come to campus through graduation.

The Honors Advisory Council (HAC) is the primary advisory body to the honors program director. The advisory council is comprised of elected faculty and honors students representatives. The council meets every month and serves as the primary mechanism for reviewing honors programming and petitions. In addition to the monthly meetings, HAC members serve on subcommittees ranging from admissions to curriculum to senior capstone. In addition to their advisory role, HAC members also serve as mentors for students throughout the program.

2017-2018 HAC Membership

Adam Braver, University Library (abraver@rwu.edu)

Jacob Brostuen, Student Rep (jbrostuen592@hawks.rwu.edu)

Jeremy Campbell, Director of Honors Program, FSSNS - Social Sciences (jmcampbell@rwu.edu)

Owen Guillot, Student Rep (oguillot822@hawks.rwu.edu)

Robert Jacobson, FSSNS - Math (rjacobson@rwu.edu)

Katherine Johnson, Student Rep (kjohnson973@hawks.rwu.edu)

Benjamin Manning, Student Rep (bmanning779@hawks.rwu.edu)

Stephanie Manzi, SJS - Criminal Justice (smanzi@rwu.edu)

Benjamin McPheron, SECCM - Engineering (bmcpheron@rwu.edu)

Cassandra North, Student Rep (cnorth011@hawks.rwu.edu)

Bill Palm, Associate Director of Honors Program, SEECM - Engineering (wpalm@rwu.edu)

Ann Proctor, SAAHP - Art & Architectural History (aproctor@rwu.edu)

Dahliani Reynolds, FSHAE - Writing (dreynolds@rwu.edu)

Zachary Santoro, Student Rep (zsantoro562@hawks.rwu.edu)

Becky Spritz, FSSNS - Psychology (bspritz@rwu.edu)

Hannah Theriault, Student Rep (htheriault494@hawks.rwu.edu)

Margaret Thombs, SED (mthombs@rwu.edu)

Laura Turner*, At-large, FSSNS - Psychology (lturner@rwu.edu)         

Sean Varano, SJS - Criminal Justice (svarano@rwu.edu)

 

Since its first class graduated with honors in 1997, the University Honors Program has celebrated many distinguished post-graduate achievements. Reflecting the program’s three hallmarks – scholarship, service, and leadership – alumni have embarked on a variety of research, study, and career paths. Among the many careers and graduate school placements are the following:

  • Fulbright scholar (the University’s first)
  • art museum events coordinators
  • assistant county attorneys
  • cancer researcher
  • college admissions counselors
  • elementary and secondary education school teachers
  • engineering firm scientists
  • environmental scientists
  • EPA program analysts
  • fishery biologists
  • MBA’s in banking and finance
  • mechanical engineers
  • park naturalists
  • Peace Corps volunteers
  • physicians
  • police officers
  • U.S. Secret Service specialists
  • veterinary medicine professionals

We always welcome information and photographs from our alumni for this page.