Jan. 17, 2008

Liz Babiarz, 404-413-1356
University Relations

Georgia State University expands Honors Program across university

ATLANTA - From the age of 10, when he would sit at the stop sign on his Marrow, Ga., block and give “tickets” to drivers who did not halt, Henry Swofford seemed destined for a career in law enforcement.

But it wasn’t until he joined Georgia State’s Honors Program that the senior biology major realized his true passion lie in criminal investigative research.

Paired with a faculty advisor, Swofford received the individualized attention and support needed to conduct a study on the rate of alcohol absorption based on the type of food people ate. He has presented his findings at conferences across the nation.

“The best thing about the Honors Program is it helped me catch the bug of learning, and I haven’t let it go,” said Swofford, a Presidential Scholar, who has also analyzed fingerprints and trace evidence procedures for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

Swofford is one of 550 students at Georgia State who have blossomed in the Honors Program and soon, twice as many high-ability students will have access to the program’s advanced academic opportunities.

The Honors Program, housed in the College of Arts and Sciences since 1975, is now a university-wide program, open to students across five colleges.

“Originally, it was a small program that catered primarily to students in the humanities,” said Robert Sattelmeyer, the Honors Program director. “By taking it university wide, we’re catching up to the changes in our demographics. A vibrant, rich Honors Program is needed at a university of this size.”

Georgia State is now offering more honors only courses – smaller, intensive classes taught by senior faculty.

Also this fall, the university launched Freshmen Honor Seminars, courses in which 12 freshmen or less meet with a faculty member to discuss his or her research area. Some of the seminar topics include the Battle of Gettysburg as a turning point in the Civil War, the biology and prevention of infectious diseases and the anatomical, physiological and pharmacological foundations of the brain.

“Instead of waiting for their upper-level courses to get exposure to advanced academic work, incoming students get to see it now,” said Jeffrey Young, associate director of the Honors Program. “We’re connecting bright students with the resources and opportunities that they might not otherwise have access to.”

Honors students can enroll in graduate-level courses and participate directly in the research projects of Georgia State scholars and scientists. Students also have the opportunity to initiate their own research projects, compile results and write an Honors Thesis. Swofford, for instance, proposed his alcohol rate absorption study to Honors Program officials and charted his own course through independent study.

Honors students receive individualized advisement, priority registration for classes and special housing. Next year, about 200 beds in the University Lofts and 200 beds in the newly-constructed University Commons will be set aside for honors students.

They have opportunities to study abroad as well. During the three-week semester in May, for example, honors students will travel to Paris to study artistic tradition, Costa Rica to explore the rainforest, Puerto Rico to examine Afro-Hispanic culture and the Georgia Coast to review its history and literature.

In recent years, Georgia State honors students have been admitted to top graduate schools including Yale, Oxford and Harvard universities and have received prestigious national fellowships, such as the Fulbright Scholarship.

The Honors Program is open to incoming freshmen, transfer students and current Georgia State students. Students can take as many or as few honors courses as they wish and, by fulfilling particular requirements, can earn any of three special honors designations that appear on their transcripts and diploma at graduation.

“It’s the academic enrichment of a small selective college, while taking advantage of the breadth of offerings of a large public research institution in the middle of a metropolitan area,” Sattelmeyer said of the Honors Program.

For more information, visit www.gsu.edu/honors.

Who is eligible?

• Freshmen who have attained a 3.5 grade point average in high school and have scored at least a 1,200 on the math and verbal section of the SAT.

• Transfer students who have attained a 3.3 grade point average on at least 12 hours of credit from another accredited university.

• Current Georgia State students with a 3.3 grade point average on at least 12 hours of credit.