Honors Program Community

The honors program is committed to the idea that academic and spiritual excellence both require strong communities to nurture and support that excellence. One of the chief aims of the honors program, therefore, is to provide that community. This objective requires commitment to participation from honors students within the classroom, campus, and civic life.

Cohort-based Education

The honors cohort is a critical part of the creation and sustaining of community within the honors program. For the first two years at Northwest, you will take two classes per semester with your cohort and only your cohort. This structure allows for more in-depth educational opportunities, but it also enables you to form relationships based on shared experiences and knowledge. A crucial component of this approach is a willingness to engage in a respectful and loving manner with your fellow cohort-members. Keep in mind that even though you may have differences in interests and experiences, you are joined together by your love of Christ and by your passion for learning.

One final note on the cohort model is that we deliberately are not creating an entirely separate academic experience for honors students. In other words, we are committed not just to providing an insular, exclusive community within your cohort, but also allowing space for you to join in with the larger NU community. The honors program will not prevent you from engaging with campus life, but instead will work to provide you with avenues for engagement.

Colloquium and Events

In addition to classroom learning with your cohort, there will also be opportunities for community building through various colloquia and events. There will be three types of events. The first will be specifically for your cohort. In the first semester, this will usually take the shape of a reading group or some other extra-curricular activity. The second is for all of the honors cohorts. For this first year, you are the only cohort, but as the program grows, once per semester we will bring together all of the different cohorts. Finally, we will have events that reach beyond the honors program and into the broader campus community. These will combine service and community, as you will be involved in these events both as participants as well as creators, sharing the honors experience with the entire student body.

Honors Capstone Trip

The committee who designed our honors program intentionally built in an event that will serve as a capstone to your honors courses: a trip to Washington, DC. This trip will occur in May of your sophomore year, following your completion of the honors political science course. The cost of the trip will be spread out over the previous eight semesters via course fees. The purpose of this trip will be to solidify your sense of academic community within your cohort, to represent the values of the NU community, and to engage deliberately with issues of civic duty, practicing community through citizenship in both our nation and the world.

Space to Grow

One of the chief points of emphasis in our desire for community is an acknowledgement that true community needs space to grow. The honors program is committed to providing that space. Practically, this means that we will not fill your time with “busy work," even in the name of community building. Our emphasis on community will be intentional and deliberate yet non-intrusive as we encourage you to mirror our intentionality with your own efforts to develop and strengthen your ties to your cohort, campus, and broader community.

One final note is that if you are struggling with community, either through too many commitments preventing you from growing deep roots or from difficulties in making initial connections, please talk with Dr. Meeks or with another faculty member.

Service to Others

In addition to excelling at academics and growing through community, as a student in the honors program, you will also be required to engage in service activities. This requirement, however, is not something you will be expected to arrive at Northwest and immediately know exactly how to serve. Your first semester will largely consist of figuring out, in conversation with your cohort and the honors leadership, where you have a desire to serve. This service may be fulfilled through tutoring, mentoring, serving through ASNU, writing for the Talon, or traveling with the Debate team, or through participating in any number of other opportunities both on- and off-campus.