News release
Public Information Office
SLU 10880 Hammond,
LA 70402 phone:
985-549-2341 fax:
985-549-2061publicinfo@selu.edu
www.selu.edu/news
Contact: Christina Chapple
Date: 12/10/03
 Click
on image for publication quality photo
SUCCESS IS AN “HONOR” AT SOUTHEASTERN – Graduates of Southeastern Louisiana University’s Honors Program tell current students about the benefits of taking honors courses at a recent seminar on campus. From left, are Charles Borcheres, Cheryl Breaux, Jason Calmes (at podium) and Christina Abreo. Not pictured are John Nelson, and Dana Meidinger. SOUTHEASTERN GRADS TOUT HONORS PROGRAM HAMMOND -- Success is an “honor.” That was the consensus of a group of alumni who returned to Southeastern Louisiana University recently to address students in the university’s award-winning Honors Program. The six Southeastern graduates said the knowledge and skills they acquired through Southeastern honors courses have given them an invaluable edge in the work place and in getting into and succeeding in graduate or medical school. As Honors Program students, they “learned to learn,” said Cheryl Breaux. “We were pushed to think, pushed beyond our comfort zone.” And, while they acquired valuable knowledge and experience in areas such as writing and creative thinking, the graduates said the courses also heightened their awareness and appreciation of the today’s world and the past’s lessons. “I get to smile more because of what I learned,” said Jason Calmes, who earned multiple degrees at Southeastern and is now pursuing a doctoral degree in mathematics. “Remarkable things happen when highly motivated students come together in small classes led by professors recognized for their teaching excellence,” said Honors Program director James Walter. “Learning becomes contagious,” he said. “Not only does the tempo pick up, the level of student interest and commitment rises. In this setting students feel they have more at stake in their education, and they tend to form influential and intellectual friendships that last long after graduation.” Walter said that along with the more scintillating courses, honors students also get perks such as early-priority registration (meaning first pick of courses and schedules), honors residence halls, conference-travel opportunities, special awards including distinctive honors diplomas, and more personal advising throughout the course of studies. The ultimate benefit of the honors experience, according to Robert A Sevier in “Marketing” magazine, is that students graduate “better prepared academically” with more expansive goals. He claims that a volume of data “suggests that students enrolled in honors programs at better public and private institutions are academically similar to students enrolled in our nation’s best private colleges and universities.” According to an article in “Money” magazine, the recognized quality of an honors education means “more value for your money.” And first-rate honors programs are not as hard to get into as some may think. Southeastern’s Honors Program is now in its 23rd year and includes approximately 200 students, Walter said. “Students take innovative honors courses that are not simply enriched versions of regular classes but purposefully sequenced interdisciplinary and disciplinary learning experiences,” he said. “In small classes limited to 20, students receive a personalized education that prepares them for a complete life and for leadership in their professions and communities.” “What you get out of honors is definitely more than you put in,” said sophomore honors student Laura DuPlooy of Hammond. Especially important among Southeastern’s offerings are the four courses constituting the Freshman Honors Seminar taken by all students who join the program. “This sequence is recognized by the National Endowment for the Humanities as a model of excellent core curriculum education,” Walter said. “Students read and discuss classic culture-creating epics of the great periods of world history, and they learn about the major figures, political movements, social transformations, artistic achievements, and events that have helped shape our contemporary world.” “The goal is to give each student knowledge and skills essential for success in life as well as vision for connecting what they learn to real needs of the world in which they will become involved citizens and effective leaders,” he added. Southeastern offers five curriculum paths to an honors diploma. Freshman honors courses are especially designed to raise personal expectations and set a tone for solid progress in the university. “While students may choose to concentrate on honors in the core curriculum, the greater number decide also to enhance their pre-professional credentials by taking honors courses in their major,” Walter said. “They earn an Honors Diploma in the discipline that adds luster to their resumes for career placement. Information about honors programs in Louisiana and nationwide is available in the guidebook “Honors Programs & Colleges,” 3rd ed., authorized by the National Collegiate Honors Council and available at bookstores. The Southeastern Honors program website — www.selu.edu/Academics/Honors -- has complete eligibility and academic information, including comments by students and graduates. A copy of the program’s award-winning newsletter “The Lion’s Eye” is also available upon request by contacting 985-549-2135, jwalter@selu.edu. |
Return to News Releases