The Sweet Briar College Honors Program

First-year students holding the top merit awards offered by Sweet Briar to incoming students are invited to join the Program: Commonwealth, Founders, Prothro, Betty Bean Black and selected Sweet Briar Scholars. Other entering students showing academic promise based on their high school record also may be invited into the program. After the first semester on campus those with a GPA of 3.3 are considered Honors students and are invited to participate fully in the Honors Program, although all students are encouraged to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the Honors Program.

For perspective on the role of an Honors Program within a College academic community, we encourage students to review the information on the website of the National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC), the association of Honors Programs and Colleges, of which Sweet Briar is a member http://www.nchchonors.org/faqs.shtml.

Below is an overview of the classes, co-curricular activities, research opportunities, and enhanced academic challenges available to Honors students at Sweet Briar College.

Honors students should complete at least one Honors course (seminar, variant, or section) every year. In order for the course to count as an Honors course, a student must receive a B, or better, in the course. Honors students also are encouraged to participate in at least one of the co-curricular activities sponsored by the Honors Program including the Honors Colloquia, the lunch table discussions, the MARCUS Conference, and other events scheduled throughout the year.

Honors Courses:
Honors Seminars - Each year faculty design new courses for the Honors Program that are offered on a one-time only basis. These courses are often interdisciplinary and may be team-taught.  Seminars are offered at the 100, 200, and 300 level and most are designed to allow all Honors students, regardless of class year, to participate.  Seminars carry three hours of credit and often satisfy one of the College’s general education requirements.  Seminars may also fulfill requirements for a departmental major or minor at the discretion of individual departments. Students must make a B, or better, in the course in order to receive Honors credit.

Honors Variants - Honors variants challenge students by encouraging greater rigor, depth, and breadth in their studies.  Students may request that an Honors variant be added to a regularly offered course by contacting the course instructor. Honors variants allow students the opportunity to relate more fully the material of the course to their own intellectual interests.  Honors variants do not carry additional credit, nor do they simply involve a larger workload.  Assignments do, however, demand a deeper understanding and engagement with the course material. Students who wish to take an Honors variant should contact the professor teaching the course prior to registration, or at the very start of the semester, to ask about converting the course. To register for an Honors variant, students must submit an Honors Variant Contract to the registrar, signed by the instructor. Students must make a B, or better, in the course in order to receive Honors credit for the variant. 

Honors Sections - Departments with multiple sections of regularly offered introductory courses may offer one of the sections as an Honors section.  Students must make a B, or better, in the course in order to receive Honors credit.

Graduating in the Honors Program
At the conclusion of an Honors course of study, Honors students at Sweet Briar have two options for programmatic recognition: Departmental Honors and the Honors Degree.  Students who are interested in earning Honors Program recognition at graduation should consult with the Director of the Honors Program early in their college career, as well as with their academic advisor, and the department chair in their major, to discuss their academic goals and to ensure that they are fully prepared to fulfill all of their departmental major requirements along with the additional demands of Honors work.
Departmental Honors in the major is awarded to those students who successfully complete the Senior Honors Thesis Project. The Thesis Project includes nine credit hours of independent research or creative endeavor in the major, supervised by a faculty member from the department. Departmental Honors at one of three levels will be indicated on the student's transcript and announced at graduation.
The Honors Degree is a college-wide Honors designation awarded to students who have successfully completed the Senior Honors Thesis Project and have also completed at least six Honors courses. The award of the Honors Degree is announced at graduation and is noted on both the student's transcript and on her diploma. For additional information about graduating in Honors, click on Guidelines for Departmental Honors & Honors Degree Candidates.

Activities and Opportunities:
The online Honors Journal publishes the research papers produced by the Honors Summer Research Fellows, as well as other academic papers submitted by students.  The student editors are responsible for recruiting and supervising editorial staff, for soliciting contributions, for working with students on contribution revisions, and for working with Honors staff to produce the journal. 

Honors-on-the-Road (HOTR) organizes off-campus day trips to plays, festivals, and nearby cultural events.

Honors Colloquia are scheduled throughout the fall and spring semesters and feature faculty and other invited scholars and speakers presenting on topics related to the selected annual theme, or topics of current interest. We also invite new faculty on campus to discuss their research interests. These events are open to the entire College community and provide an opportunity for students to engage with faculty beyond the classroom.  All students are encouraged to attend and to participate in the discussions.

The Honors Lunch Table meets occasionally during the semester to provide an opportunity for Honors students and faculty to meet for lunch and discuss current topics of interest, academic issues, and life beyond the Sweet Briar campus.

MARCUS Conference - The Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference of Undergraduate Scholarship (MARCUS) is held in October at the Sweet Briar College Conference Center.  The conference is sponsored by the Honors Program and focuses on the scholarship and research activities of undergraduate students. Sweet Briar students and college students from Virginia and surrounding states are invited to submit scholarly research papers from all academic disciplines. Approximately eighty to one hundred students participate every year in oral and poster sessions, presenting their research at the day long conference.

Honors Summer Research Program - Each year the Honors Program awards fellowships to a select group of Sweet Briar students to support them in conducting independent research projects under the supervision of a faculty member. The Honors Summer Research Program is an eight week, on-campus program that brings together students and faculty from all disciplines.

The goals of the program include creating a unique academic experience for the participants by providing the opportunity for intensely focused research, and a one-on-one working relationship with a faculty mentor that is not possible during the academic year. The program also provides students the opportunity to use their faculty mentor as a research role model and to learn how to engage the appropriate mode of research for their discipline. Students who are interested in completing a Senior Honors Thesis Project often apply for a summer fellowship and use their summer research work as the foundation for an Honors Thesis Project.

Honors Student Travel Grants - The Honors Program has funds available for students for academic travel and research expenses. Grant proposals are reviewed by the Honors Committee during the fall and spring semesters. Students have been awarded travel grants to supplement expenses for travel to present their research at national conferences, to participate in student leadership forums in the U.S. and overseas, and to participate in academic events related to a course of study.

Honors Scholarships are awarded each spring by the Honors Program. The scholarship is a merit award given to students in recognition of excellence in academic work and contributions to the community. Eligible students from the freshman, sophomore, and junior classes are invited to apply early in the spring semester. A student may receive up to $7000 toward her tuition. The Honors Scholarship awards are extremely competitive and the selections are based on academic performance, breadth of study, student essays, and faculty recommendations.

Honors Program Staff:
Dr. Jill Granger, Director
(granger@sbc.edu)
Julie Hemstreet, Honors Program Associate Administrator
(jhemstreet@sbc.edu)
Dr. Abraham Yousef, Director, Honors Summer Research Program
(ayousef@sbc.edu)