Current Students

Honor Code

Education is an opportunity to accept and overcome new challenges. As a member of the Texas A&M University-Texarkana Honors College, I will dedicate myself to the pursuit of knowledge with integrity, diligence, respect, an open mind, and a devotion to service.

Maintain Your Membership

To maintain membership in the Texas A&M University-Texarkana Honors College, a student must fulfill the following requirements:

• Maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.25 or higher
• Adhere to university standards of conduct
• Complete at least one academic achievement per year
• Acquire at least four co-curricular points per year

Honor Courses

Honors courses can take one of two forms:

• Honors sections of existing courses (i.e. IS 1300 01H)
• Honors courses under an HONR prefix (i.e. HONR 497)

Honors courses need to be completed with a grade of B or better to count for credit towards Honors requirements.

Honors Sections

An Honors section of a course fulfills all of the requirements of the non-Honors version of the course, but also carries Honors credit for fulfillment of Honors college requirements. Each semester we try to offer Honors versions of existing core curriculum courses for Honors students to enroll in. These courses tend to be smaller than their non-Honors versions and are taught by Honors Faculty (who must be approved by the Dean of the Honors College). They provide opportunities for students to engage with the course materials in a more unique and interesting manner.

Current and previous Honors sections have included:

• IS 1100- University Foundations
• IS 1300- The Human Experience
• HUMA 1301- Introduction to the Humanities
• HIST 1302- US History 2
• PSCI 2302- American Government 2: US and Texas Political Behavior

We are always adding new courses, so if there is a class that you would like to see an Honors section of, let us know!

Honors Courses

The Honors College also offers stand-alone courses under the HONR prefix; these courses are often team-taught, interdisciplinary seminars covering broad, interesting topics. Over the last several years we have offered:

• HONR 345- Advanced Academic Argument
• HONR 497- A History of True Crime
• HONR 497- Religion and Spirituality in Society
• HONR 497- Performing the South
• HONR 497- The Politics of Science and Research: Every Disaster Movie Starts with the Government Ignoring a Scientist
• HONR 497- World Narratives of Well-Being
• HONR 497- Gender, Sexuality, and Film Studies
• HONR 497- Science and Society

Honors Designated Courses

Honors students have the flexibility to create their own Honors curriculum! Through the use of Honors-designated courses and Honors projects, you can craft an Honors experience that is unique to your interests and desired outcomes.

The course needs to be completed with a grade of B or better to count for credit towards Honors requirements.

Honors Designated Courses

An Honors-designated course is an agreement between the student and a faculty member that the student will take a non-Honors course for Honors credit. These differ from Honors sections of courses in that the course is "Honors" only for the student who designated it as such. The designation usually gives the student the opportunity to immerse themselves more fully in the course materials while also going beyond the course expectations. The form that this takes is up to the student and faculty member, but often takes the format of a project, paper, or presentation.

In order to designate a course, follow these steps:

1. Email or meet with the Honors College when registering to confirm that the course satisfies the Honors College requirements.
2. Meet with your instructor and discuss taking the course for Honors credit using the guidelines below.
3. Summarize the agreement on the Honors Designated Course form. 
4. Have the instructor sign the Honors Designated Course form.
5. Get a signature from the Honors College Dean and you will be given a copy to give to the instructor, a copy for your records, and one will remain on file in the Honors College office.
6. Complete this process by the second week of class.
7. At the end of the course, if the student has fulfilled the requirements of the designation, the instructor will provide a final signature of approval

Honors Projects

An Honors project is the ultimate in student-directed curriculum. The student works with a faculty mentor of their choice on a project of their design. We have had students pursue a wide variety of projects, including developing independent research projects, building pedagogical tools for classroom experience, contributing to faculty research agendas, and producing works of art. We encourage you to discuss project ideas with faculty in your fields of interest. 

Individual instructors and Honors College students will work together to develop learning objectives, learning activities, and means of evaluation for the project.

While students are encouraged to design their own projects, some previous examples include:

• Biology students working to raise chickens from artificially created environments
• History students designing historical simulations for use in middle and high school classrooms
• A Business student surveying regional CEOs on their use and implementation of various management theories
• A Nursing student designing a myocardial infarction simulation for use in the Nursing lab
• An Engineering student designing interactive teaching materials for Engineering classrooms
• A Mass Communications/History major examining how social media distorts the news

These projects are limited only by your imagination (and access to resources), so design away!

Honors Thesis/Capstone

If your academic program offers a thesis or capstone option, and you want to explore how to elevate it to an Honors thesis or capstone, please contact the Honors office (honors@tamut.edu).

Co-Curricular Opportunities

As with the academic requirements, the co-curricular path is yours to forge. You can focus on honing your research and presentation skills if you wish, or to give back to the campus through tutoring and stewardship, or a combination of all of them- the choice is yours!
 
We have three broad categories of co-curricular opportunities, and we’re adding more all the time! Under each category are some examples of activities and the points earned associated with them.
 

• STUDENT RESEARCH
  • Attend a Colloquium (1 point)
  • Facilitate a Colloquium (2 points; applies toward Stewardship seal)
  • Present a Colloquium (4 points; applies towards Research and Public Speaking seals)
  • Present at the Red River Symposium (4 points; applies towards Research and Public Speaking seals)
  • Present at Approved Academic Conferences (6 points; applies towards Research and Public Speaking seals)

• TUTORING AND COACHING
  • Attend an Honors Workshop (1 point)
  • Facilitate an Honors Workshop (3 points; applies toward Mentorship seal)
  • Serve as an official Honors College tutor (4 points per semester; applies toward Mentorship seal)
  • Serve as an Honors College First-Year Experience Coach (6 points per semester; applies toward Mentorship seal)
  • Serve as an Honors College Resident Assistant (6 points per semester; applies toward Mentorship seal)

• STEWARDSHIP (all activities below count towards the Stewardship seal)
  • Volunteer at an Honors College Event (2 points per instance)
  • Serve as an Honors College Ambassador (6 points per semester)
  • Serve as an Honors College Student Director (6 points per semester)
  • Serve on the Honors College Teaching Excellence Award Committee (4 points per semester)

• Public Speaking
• Research
• Stewardship
• Mentorship

Graduate with Honors

To graduate from the Texas A&M University-Texarkana Honors College, a student must fulfill the following requirements

• Maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.25 or higher
• Adhere to university standards of conduct
• Complete at least four academic achievements and obtain at least sixteen co-curricular points before graduation