RIT Honors College

Name of Concept: RIT Honors College

Overview

When the honors pilot program emerged in AY 2001-02, its main objectives were as follows: to attract the best and brightest students to RIT and raise the level of academic achievement of the RIT student body; to develop the potential in RITís best undergraduate students to achieve distinguished success in their professional fields; and to enhance RITís reputation as a world-class, career-oriented university.  Secondary objectives were to make RIT a competitive choice for the best students; to provide a challenging academic environment to retain our best students; and to provide a unique honors program distinguished by professional opportunities, general education, and experiential elements.

The development and dedicated space for an Honors College represents a timely extension of the Honors Program, which is an important component of RIT. The Honors College can further the program objectives of attracting the best and brightest students and raise the Universityís reputation. The Honors College can also attract external funding to RIT, as individuals and organizations contribute to scholarships, programming and enhanced educational experiences that would become integral parts of an Honors College.  The College could participate in future capital campaign projects. Finally, the Honors College can serve as a model of creativity and innovation that can be implemented campus-wide, showcasing enhanced engagement with students through faculty-led, trans-disciplinary communities.

How this idea leverages current areas of RIT expertise

The Honors College curriculum would focus on the integration of humanities and social science perspectives with the core competencies of RIT. These core competencies include basic and applied science, applied technology, visual and digital arts, and the opportunity to explore Deaf culture and language. In the broadest possible terms, these are among the unique features of the RIT experience. Honors College coursework would therefore be geared around humanistic, literary, political, economic, and/or social explorations of science, technology, art, film, photography, and deafness.

Further, a current area of RIT expertise is its strength in providing hands-on learning experiences (such as the co-op program) and a professional component to its academic programs. The Honors College would align with this area of expertise as it would provide enhanced opportunities for this professional component.

Main RIT on-campus champion(s) for this idea

Danielle Taana Smith, Director, Honors Program

Additional on-campus champions willing to collaborate with this individual and take a lead role in driving the idea

Zack Butler (GCCIS)

Colleen Manioci (University Studies)

Deb Kingsbury (CIAS)

Catherine Washington (COS)

Is there potential off-campus advocacy and support for the idea?

Yes, Growing and strong alumni base; Corporations which employ program graduates; On campus groups to identify potential advocates

Are you aware of another university that is working on a similar idea? If yes, which one?

Many universities have honors colleges, and the creation of honors colleges nation-wide is a growing trend.

How you envision this idea advancing RIT's national or global stature in an important or emerging field

The creation of an Honors College would necessitate the use of resources which could be allocated to other initiatives. However, the Honors College would be critical to advancing the Universityís priority of research, scholarship, and creative works. Provost Haefner has stated that a campus goal is to: ìIncrease campus scholarship and research, and particularly sponsored research.î The Honors Program has attracted students partly because of its strong support for identifying undergraduate research opportunities, and for engaging students in research. The Honors Summer Research Scholars Program and honors courses offered through the Provostís Learning and Innovations Grants (PLIG), exemplify the programís close involvement in undergraduate research. Consequently, the program currently has proven success with graduates being accepted to the nationís most highly regarded graduate programs and to professional schools. Further, honors students have been awarded prestigious scholarships, including the Goldwater.

The Honors College can continue to enhance undergraduate research opportunities by working more holistically with faculty engaged in research across the campus. The Honors College will have tremendous positive consequences for RIT in meeting the universityís stated priorities, including providing more effective support and services for students, improving the high retention rate of the program, and raising RITís prominence among undergraduate universities.

Why you believe RIT has a unique opportunity or an ability to differentiate itself through this idea

RIT Honors College students would seek opportunities to explore what a school of technology has to offer, without limits and with a strongly independent sense of what their education and their careers will look like. They would be students who seek a sophisticated liberal arts education, but who understand that the liberal arts cannot be neatly separated from technological studies in a culture as dependent on technology as ours is. They want, in other words, a twenty-first century education, one that eagerly embraces inter-disciplinarity and that confronts, rather than avoids, the intersection of the humanities and the sciences.

The creation of an Honors College promotes many of RIT's current vision-pillars. The College will continue to enable faculty, with student collaboration, to develop the courses and experiences that define RIT as a creative and innovative university. RIT is renowned as a career-focused and teaching university; opportunities for professional development are an integral part of the honors experience. The Honors College will be at the forefront of undergraduate research activities on campus, as the university transitions to a research and scholarship university. The Honors College can also continue to collaborate with the Study Abroad Office to facilitate global education opportunities, as RIT strives to be a leader in global education. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the Honors Program has provided great experiences for students. The Honors College can serve as a model for all RIT students as the university becomes a great student experience university.