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Herkimer College Honors Program

A member of the National Collegiate Honors Council

Emma Vanderwerken"The Honors Program gave me an opportunity to challenge myself while working on goal-oriented projects with professors who served as my mentors. My favorite part about being an Honors Program student was the freedom I was given to choose projects that aligned with my personal goals and field of study. This program provides students with an opportunity to build their resumes, make connections with mentors in their fields, and work through community-based projects from brainstorming to implementation. Most importantly, the rigor and independent structure of the Honors Program played a huge role in preparing me for transition into a Bachelor's degree program. I am thankful for everything the Honors Program at Herkimer College has offered me, and I would highly recommend it to any student seeking to grow through education."

Emma Vanderwerken '18

Program Overview

Herkimer College’s Honors Program provides qualified students with additional opportunities to expand their intellectual and artistic growth and to enrich their individual skills and abilities. The program promotes Herkimer College’s commitment to the pursuit of academic excellence and is available to students in all curricula, both in person and online. Students who successfully complete the Honors Program are given special recognition by the College at graduation. Students in the Honors Program also meet periodically to attend cultural functions, lectures, and to participate in other enriching events.

For more information, contact:

Jennifer A. Herzog
Herkimer College Honors Program Director
herzogja@herkimer.edu
(315) 866-0300 X8626
Technology Center (TC) 318

Benefits of the Honors Program

Students who participate in this program develop skills and knowledge that lead to career opportunities, engaging participation in community issues, and overall life-long learning. 

  • Completion of the Honors Program is notated on the student's official college transcript.
  • Honors Program graduates are recognized in an end-of-year ceremony and at graduation.
  • Honors Program students receive free membership into the National Collegiate Honors Council, which can lead to additional learning opportunities and scholarships.
  • Graduates are often selected for transfer scholarships based upon their participation in the Honors Program.

Honors Program Learning Outcomes

This program is designed to:

  1. provide students with an overview of the Herkimer College Honors Program.
  2. provide students with an opportunity to acquire basic skills relevant to success in the Herkimer College Honors Program.
  3. guide students through the role of a mentor in the exploration of a topic of interest.
  4. empower students with the ability to develop an effective experiential learning proposal. 
  5. provide an opportunity for students to select and independently explore a topic of interest under the guidance and leadership of a mentor.
  6. provide students with the opportunity to utilize knowledge learned through experience and/or research.
  7. introduce students to the concept of leadership and its many facets.
  8. engage students in research and exploration of an area of community interest that stimulates reflective and critical thinking, problem solving, and decision-making.

Honors Program Requirements

The following requirements should be noted by all students interested in the program:

  1. Students who enter college need a high school average of 88 to be eligible for the special section of First-Year Student Seminar Honors (FS101). This section will augment the study of the topics by incorporating selected readings and other supporting material. Students will be nurtured for the Honors Program and counseled for entry into the program; this is not a required course to gain acceptance into the Program.
  2. Invitation letters to join the Honors Program will be sent to all students obtaining at least a 3.5 average each semester, as well as to students who transfer in with at least a 3.5 average.
  3. Applications will be evaluated by a reviewing committee to determine if the student will be accepted into the program. All applicants will be notified of committee decisions on acceptance or denial to the program via email.  If a student takes a semester off, a new application is not required to continue with the program; however, the cumulative 3.5 GPA requirement must be met.
  4. Credits in Honors courses (notated with the prefix “HP”) are above and beyond degree requirements listed in the College catalog.  However, the course grades are factored into student GPA calculations.
  5. Students must maintain a 3.5 GPA and an “A” or “B” in all Honors courses (HP 301, HP 302, HP 303) to remain in the program.

Steps to Complete the Honors Program

Step 1: Students accepted into the Herkimer College Honors program register for HP301 (1 credit), which is an asynchronous online course.  Enrolled students acquire the knowledge and skills required to develop an experiential learning project with a chosen mentor by the end of the term.

Step 2: Students who successfully complete HP301 with a B or better can then register for HP302 (1 credit) the next term.  In this course, which is an asynchronous online course, students complete the experiential learning project developed in HP301 with the assistance of their chosen mentor. 

Step 3: Students who successfully complete HP302 with a B or better can then register for HP303 (1 credit) in their final semester of the program.  HP303 is a capstone course (asynchronous, online) that provides students with an opportunity to use a variety of higher-level learning techniques as they work independently to develop and implement an experiential learning project that addresses a community-based issue.