Originally published in the Spring 2020 edition of PRISM: UF Honors Magazine.

2020 has brought many new and exciting developments to the Honors Program, the most recent being a move to Walker Hall. But what else is up with Honors, and how are we growing in this new decade?

Growth in Applicants

The Honors Program has seen a considerable rise in applications, and while the Honors Program is still planning on admitting the usual amount of students, it is a good indication of the rising interest in Honors at the university.

“This year we had almost 2,000 new students apply compared to last year, so applications are up from 9,300 to 11,000 and some odd,” Dr. Mark Law, the Director of the University of Florida Honors Program, said. Due to the increasing number of applicants, Law believes the Honors office will see growth in the test scores of incoming students.

Growth in Staff

In addition to the new Honors academic advisor, Dr. Renee Clark, the Honors Program has added new members to the 2020 team: Coordinator of Marketing and Communications, Jess Berube, and Magda Wahl as the new Office Manager. The Honors office has also just hired another advisor, Michael O’ Malley, who is coming to the Honors Program from the UF College of Engineering.

“The staff supporting is growing,” Law explained.

Growth in Course Offerings for Honors Students

“Our class offerings have really grown,” Law said. This semester, the first sections of honors biology became available and have been popular choices for students in the Honors Program. Law also explained that this upcoming fall, unique Honors sections will only further increase, as the Honors Program plans to offer an Honors Arabic course. Traditional (un)common reads and (un)common arts are continuing to expand as well.

“(Un)common read enrollment is still really strong,” Law said. “It was up spring this year compared to spring last year. In the fall we’ve got forty-seven (un)common reads being offered, so there are lots of new course offerings for students to take advantage of and get involved with.”

Another exciting and special course offering centers around student-run Honors classes. Usually (un)common reads, students can approach the Honors director and explain that they are interested in teaching a certain book.

Students then need to find a faculty mentor for the course, with expertise in the subject area the student is covering, not only to offer backup and assistance for the class, but also to ultimately handle the final grades. After securing a faculty mentor, Honors students can lead their own Honors (Un)common Read. Currently, two student-run Honors classes will be offered in Fall 2020, and Law explained that they hope to further formalize the program over the next year, including establishing an application process for juniors and seniors who want to lead courses.

“It is a great opportunity if you are thinking about going to grad school,” Law stated. “Having some teaching experiences ought to be a real plus to getting into grad school and helping to find a program, so I think it can help students a lot.”

The Honors Program is also beginning to work on an idea that falls partially under advising, and partially under course offerings. Aimed at first-year Honors students, it would help these individuals navigate the numerous and often overwhelming opportunities available to them in many different areas at the University of Florida.

“I think it’s particularly overwhelming for our first-year students to try and decide, do I want to be an Intersection Scholar, or what is International Scholars, or do I want to do research?” Law explained. “We’re going to try and work out ways to help first-year students figure out where they need to go and what the opportunities are. I think over the next year we’re going to get that a lot more put together and formalized.”

Growth at Walker Hall and the new Honors Residential Hall

At the previous location of the Honors Office at the Infirmary, the Honors Program had very limited space—during almost all of 2019 two Honors Program staff had to work remotely at Little Hall. Now, the Honors Program has fifteen office spaces at Walker Hall, compared to the previous seven at the Infirmary, which has allowed the Honors Program to accommodate the newest members of their staff.

“We were really crammed in the Infirmary, and had people scattered, so it’s nice to be all together again, in the same workplace, and with some room to grow,” Law said.

While no new updates are currently planned for the stately building across from Plaza of the Americas, there could be some remodeling in 2021. However, Law expressed that there is hesitancy to renovate the space, as the Honors Office could be moving to the first floor of the new Honors Residence Hall in only a few years, as it is scheduled to be finished in Fall 2023.

Besides providing access to Honors advising and the Honors Office all in the same residential building, Law explained other hopes the Honors Program has for the new residence hall, such as adding in numerous classrooms in order to offer even more Honors courses.

“I’m hoping in the new building there’s a lot more of those kinds of spaces, and we can do even more classes right there, where the students are living,” Law said.

More study spaces and common room areas are another desire for the new building.

“I love the common room layout, so we would want to have more of those spaces in the new residence hall, but I would want more study spaces like the one adjacent to the [Hume] classroom, where small groups can get together” Law said.

Growth in Honors Travel

The Honors Program designed a new pre-health Honors study abroad, which will be offered to students in the future: UF in Thailand will allow students to study the intersections of traditional and modern healthcare in Chiang Mai, Thailand. For other Honors students interested in future study-abroad opportunities, another Honors-oriented program includes one on the Holy Roman Empire. Dr. Law also explained that although not specifically designated as Honors, the UF in Cambridge program is a study abroad that usually is almost always made up of Honors students.

But study abroad programs are not the only opportunities the Honors Program is providing Honors students who wish to expand their learning through travel. One such example is the Signature Seminar, Hamilton’s New York, taught during spring break of the Spring 2020 semester. While in New York, students learned about the life of Hamilton and the history of the American Revolution by visiting landmarks such as Federal Hall, Trinity Church, and the Alexander Hamilton Grange National Memorial. The Honors Program only hopes to offer more short Honors excursions, like the New York seminar, in the future. Law explained that the New York trip will contribute to figuring out the logistics of similar future programs, along with deciding what is possible for these programs and how it will work.

“I’ve got a faculty member that’s interested in taking some students up to Birmingham, Alabama and doing civil rights. I could see going to an art museum in Chicago or New York. So I think there’s lots of opportunities to do city explorations, with cities as texts, where you can go off and explore certain topics and do a shorter trip,” Law said.

Another added benefit of these programs is since they focus on traveling within the United States, and are for shorter periods, they will be considerably more affordable than study abroad programs.

“New York is expensive, but it’s still cheaper than going to London or Paris,” Law said.

Law further explained that these Signature Seminars would be planned during breaks, such as spring break, or during times like the first week of May, which is usually after commencement. This would allow students with upcoming summer obligations, such as internships, to attend these programs before their other summer requirements begin. December is another possible option, as there is about a week between when finals end, and the start of the holidays.

“I think you could do a three or four day trip, and still not feel like you’re impinging on family time for students to go home and visit with mom and dad,” Law said.

Depending on the timing, the Honors Program might even plan an excursion after New Years.

Growth in Scholarships for Honors Students

In discussing these Signature Seminars in American cities, Law stressed the Honors Program’s desire to provide more potential funding for students interested in these types of programs, along with study abroad.

“We’re definitely trying to actively fundraise for scholarships,” Law said. “I am particularly fond of scholarships that support experiential kinds of activities, something that could offset the trip to New York or study abroads.”

Many Honors students apply to study abroad, but study abroad programs can have considerable price tags, even with Bright Futures, between the cost of programs, plane tickets, and basic living expenses. While the Wentworth Scholarship, offered by the Honors Program, provides $1,500 towards summer study abroad programs, Dr. Law explained that the Honors Program would like to do more:

“I think we could use and give a lot more study abroad scholarships. There’s obviously a ton of honors students going abroad, and if we could support that and help, that would be great,” Law said.

Another area where Law would like to provide more scholarships for students over time is in offsetting the housing costs for Hume Hall. Hume Hall, while it is the official Honors Residence Hall, is also one of the most expensive residential halls on-campus, and can therefore be too costly for some students in the honors community to afford.

“We do a lot of great things in Hume, and students that want to live there but can’t afford the price differential is another area where I would love to get some more scholarships,” Law said. “We are actively working on lots of opportunities there to try and support students, and hopefully we’ll have some big time successes.”