The Honors application is now live!
Mission Statement
The Honors Program at Jacksonville State University provides academically gifted students with an enriched educational experience in a diverse range of courses that foster independent, critical thinking and effective communication. The Honors Program helps students fulfill their potential in their chosen fields while preparing them to meet the challenges and responsibilities of becoming citizens with global perspectives.
About the Honors Program
The Honors Program is designed to engage students' intellectual curiosity and develop their skills to think and study independently, creating connections between students and their communities. The main component of the program is the offering of classes that focus on these educational aspects, helping students who are intellectually curious and self-motivated find ways to expand their ideas and perspectives on the world and their place in it. Applying to and becoming a member of the Honors Program includes additional benefits. The small classes and other activities associated with the program, including special advisement, career planning, and service opportunities, help to create an interdisciplinary and interdependent community of scholars engaging one-on-one and as groups with each other and their professors, the university, and the wider community.
In addition, Honors Program members will receive special recognition at graduation.
Students must be members of the Honors Program to enroll in Honors classes.
Honors Director, Dr. Lori Owens, answers some of the most frequently asked questions about the Honors Program at JSU.
A typical Honors student should present the following:
- Writing skills at least adequate to the demand of society at large.
- Evidence of involvement in extracurricular and academic organizations.
Apply to the Honors Program
Honors Program Goals and Objectives
The Honors Board, dedicated to offering challenging and innovative academic opportunities, supervises the Honors Program and has established the following goals and objectives for the program:
- To foster critical thinking and intellectual curiosity
- To promote the open exchange of ideas
- To value the strength that comes with inclusiveness
- To encourage innovative and interdisciplinary classroom instruction
- To embrace service and social responsibility
- To prepare students to be leaders in their chosen fields
Remembering Dr. Benjie Blair
1963-2020
"Dr. Blair was a fundamental component of our JSU Honors Program. His level of dedication to the students who were also highly motivated and dedicated was unmatched. Always the team player, Dr. Blair jumped in wherever needed to help us reach our goals in the Honors Program. Even in the final weeks of his illness, Dr. Blair was still writing letters of recommendation and support for students and for colleagues applying for tenure or promotion. In addition to his vast knowledge in his field and his talent for teaching and guiding students completing research projects, Dr. Blair could also converse extensively regarding practical matters that were of interest to a broad range of individuals. Those of us in Honors who were blessed to work with Dr. Blair will always treasure him as a friend and colleague. Moreover, all of us will remain inspired by his dedication to our students."
- Dr. Lori Owens, Honors Program Director
