New to Honors?

Welcome to the club! The rest of us were once there, too. The good news is that we are all friendly and that you have a lot of resources at your disposal to help you get up to speed in a new task and in the wonderful world of Honors Education.

1. Get to know the Honors Transfer Council of California

This is a consortium of about 50 community college honors programs. Directors and counselors meet several times a semester to share problems and solutions and exchange insights and experiences, and also to have some fun. Everyone in honors education is welcome to attend the meetings, even before your campus has formally joined the group.

Becoming a member is easy:

Come to our HTCC meetings. Click the link for the date and campus location of the next meeting.
Subscribe to the HTCC email list– Send an email to Alannah Rosenberg: arosenberg@saddleback.edu and ask to be added to the mailing list.

2. Join the National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC) and plan to go to the next conference.

The NCHC is the national organization for honors education. It provides information and services (start- up help, consultants, evaluators, research, reports on trends, etc.) to over 700 member honors programs. The annual meetings feature sessions on “Beginning in Honors” and consultants’ lounges where you can talk over your problems for free with veteran honors directors. For contact information check NCHC website. There is a national honors list-serve hosted by George Washington University. To subscribe, send mail to listserv@hermes.circ.gwu.edu and write sub honors Your Name.

3. Join the Western Regional Honors Council (WRHC)

The WRHC is a professional organization of faculty, administrators, and students dedicated to the promotion and advancement of undergraduate honors education. The WRHC represents honors programs in universities and colleges across the Western Region through an annual conference, through regular newsletters and email communication, and through two business meetings, one held in the spring at the annual conference and one held at the NCHC annual conference. Through sharing information about honors programs and best honors practices region-wide, the WRHC hopes to create an intellectual, programmatic, and administrative network of resources aimed at helping the region’s honors programs grow and thrive. Check the website for further information.

4. Plan to attend both/either the NCHC or WRHC annual conferences

The conferences are a great place to meet other honors directors and counselors and share ideas. Like all educational enterprises, Honors Education is all about belonging to a community of teachers and students who share common values and goals. So get to know the people who share your values and goals. Come to the next HTCC meeting—it is free! You are not alone, and most of us have faced most of the problems you do.