Honors Program Students Jump Ahead of the Pack

SUNY Ulster’s Honors Program provides highly motivated students the opportunity to work closely with professors and other motivated students in advanced level classes that promote critical thinking, analysis, research, writing, communication, and more.

Experience a Different Kind of Learning

Forget about traditional classroom lectures and prepare yourself for active learning. In the Honors Program’s intimate, seminar-style classes, you’ll be asked to share your ideas, present your arguments and engage in lively and probing discussions of both enduring questions and contemporary issues. In Honors, you learn how to learn and think. Instead of textbooks,  primary sources and genuine scholarship are used to study the world’s greatest writers, thinkers, scientists, and critics.

Study with Our Honors Professors

Like our students, our faculty consider participation in the Honors Program to be a privilege. These instructors are committed to sharing their knowledge and intellectual passion with you in both your Honors courses and in personal, informal exchanges outside the classroom. Their fields of expertise span a wealth of disciplines and approaches, from medieval history and ancient languages to astrophysics and contemporary politics.

“The Honors Program at SUNY Ulster has pushed me to pursue my studies at a deeper level.” –Richard Ayers, Current SGO Vice-President and Honors Program student.

More Personal, More Tailored

The program is more personal – you get more one-on-one time and small group time in class, plus professors give a lot of direct feedback throughout your course.

With this more personal approach, students are encouraged to connect directly with each other. That deeper connection has helped create friendships as students discuss coursework among each other.

It is a good, personal experience overall. It connects students who may not, outside of class, have anything in common. They can connect and grow through Honors Program studies.

Create Lasting Relationships of Value

“One of the best features about participating in the Honors Program is the relationships built between students. We aren’t distracted by a large numbers of students in one room and can really get to know each other on a more personal and academic level. The students are a lot more focused. This has really helped us all feel comfortable with each other.” says Second Semester Honors Program student, Richard Ayers, Liberal Arts Major at SUNY Ulster.”

He adds, “We spend a lot of time in class talking about what we’re studying, plus outside of class we’ve created constant communication methods to gain insights from each other. We also stay connected about things going on in our life outside of the classroom. Even over the summer, we all kept in contact via Facebook and checked in with each other consistently.

The relationships I’ve created with other students will last far past graduation. I’ll be transferring to SUNY New Paltz for creative writing, and as we become alumni and go further into our degree paths and careers, I’m certain our connections will last.”

A Cooperative Learning Experience

“Through group discussions and our Facebook group, we’ve developed the communication skills to learn from each other. Instead of the professors talking at us, we get together and discuss the topics and course work. We get to see perspective’ from others experiences that play into what we are studying. Also you’ll find that question you have, other students may have too. One students will ask the professor and share the answer with everyone, this speeds up the learning time in the class so we can stay focused on going forward in our studies.” – Mairead Briggs

Get Involved in the SUNY Ulster Honors Program

Honors Studies are open to students in all programs who meet the criteria for admission. Students who successfully complete 18 credits of Honors-level courses, fulfill the requirements of their academic programs and earn an overall GPA of 3.5 receive the Honors designation at graduation.

You can find out more at: http://www.sunyulster.edu/docs/admissions/honors_flyer.pdf

You can also reach Jennifer Kaufman at kaufmanj@sunyulster.edu.