About Honors
The University Honors Program at Idaho State University offers enriched educational experiences for bright, talented, and ambitious undergraduate students.
As the only Honors Bachelor's degree granting institution in Idaho, the University Honors Program provides you with opportunities for broader, deeper, and more complex learning experiences, but the program is bigger than academics alone.
The University Honors Program offers you the following:
- Priority registration throughout your college career.
- Small class sizes throughout the Honors curriculum.
- Undergraduate research and leadership opportunities.
- Undergraduate thesis development courses, not offered elsewhere on campus.
- Individualized advising.
- An active learning/living community on campus.
- Personal connections with Honors faculty to support your growth.
- Additional scholarships reserved for Honors students.
- Strong preparation for post-graduate studies.
- Peer Mentors to aid in acclimation to college and the Honors Program.
- Numerous social and civic-engagement opportunities.
- A community that values and recognizes the whole person.
Honors Student Distribution in Idaho State University Colleges
Honors students come to ISU with varied interests and from a variety of backgrounds. The graphs below show the distribution of Honors students (by percent) in the Colleges at ISU and compares all students in the first graph to the two most recent incoming classes starting in the Fall 2020 and Fall 2019 semesters.
Key Principles
Mission
The University Honors Program inspires students, faculty, and staff to collectively pursue multi-disciplinary learning, active research, artistic interests, and civic engagement to elevate academic pursuits and personal growth.
Vision
The University Honors Program fosters an academic community to develop competent, inclusive, and engaged global leaders.
Values
The University Honors Program is a research- and civic-engagement focused program that provides a transformative environment promoting intellectual curiosity, academic attainment, and the development of social consciousness.
Goals for Student Development
Interdisciplinary Scholarship – The ability to integrate knowledge to express well-constructed insight and originality of thought through multidisciplinary courses and methodologies.
Intellectual and Creative Engagement – using the appropriate methodology and theoretical framework that will include design, synthesis, and interdisciplinary research.
Citizen Scholar – addressing real-world problems and finding ethical solutions, a process that culminates in reflective civic engagement, respect for diversity, and service-oriented action.
Honors Student Learning Outcomes
Interdisciplinary Scholarship Learning Objectives
- Written and Oral Communication: Synthesize and analyze information from a variety of sources to logically present ideas in order to effectively communicate with diverse individuals and groups.
- Integrative Scholarship: Integrate knowledge to express insight and originality of thought through disciplinary or multidisciplinary methodologies.
Intellectual and Creative Engagement Learning Objectives
- Research: Engage in the creative process of formulating a hypothesis, researching those problems, and drawing conclusions that lead to either original classroom assignments or larger faculty-mentored research projects resulting in contributions of scholarly work to each student’s chosen field of study.
- Critical Inquiry: Ability to analyze new problems and situations and formulate informed opinions and conclusions.
Citizen Scholar Learning Objectives
- Civic Engagement: Engage purposefully in leadership/service, mentorship, and/or multicultural/intercultural activities within the Honors Program and Idaho State University.
- Citizenship: Actively participate and collaborate as informed members of local and global communities.
Honors Degree Seeking Student Learning Outcomes
In addition to the learning objectives noted above, the University Honors Program has identified a set of specific outcomes for students who pursue and complete the Honors Degree. Honors Degree candidates will be able to:
- Write and publicly defend an Honors thesis of original research.
- Conduct independent scholarly work of professional or near-professional quality in their field.
Civic Engagement
We are continually defining what it means to be an Honors student in an ever evolving program. Part of this definition includes a strong sense of community service and involvement, in addition to a commitment to high academic standards.
As a means for ensuring good standing, Honors students (regardless of their program status) are expected to participate in at least one Honors activity each semester of their undergraduate career at Idaho State University. Opportunities are available through First Year Seminars, University Honors Program Club, Honors Envoy, Honors Mentors, and various university entities.