2020 Cohort

Fostering the culture of intentional learners at UCCS, committed to service, personal growth, and a positive contribution to the local and global community with an understanding of Gray Matters, which is a unique perspective, a mindset, that multiple and competitive complex views can exist at the same time, thus allowing us to appreciate diversity in both ideas and solutions.

The UCCS Honors Program aims to foster a culture of intentional learners who are committed to service and personal growth, while making positive contributions to the local and global community. Central to these aims is an appreciation for Gray Matters, which we understand as the unique perspective, or mindset, that multiple or competing complex views can exist at the same time. Engaging with Gray Matters allows us to appreciate diversity in both ideas and solutions.

Motivating students who want to broaden their horizons beyond the classroom by promoting their:

• Passion for life-long learning seeking stimulating peer-group interactions.
• Appreciation for diversity of thought and opinion.
• Development of creative problem-solving skills and analytical thinking.
• Preparation to be outstanding candidates for future education and job opportunities.
• Contributions to the global and the local community.
• Leadership aspirations by including all perspectives in decision making.
• Understanding of Gray Matters, its ambiguity, indeterminacy, diversity, and complexity.

A reviewed publication, a document, a piece of art, a framework, a movie, an animation, a poster, a thesis project, or a capstone where a student, using topics and tools in their chosen area of study, can explain their narrative and understanding about any of the following: an experience, a problem, a case study, a theater production, a research project, a study abroad experience, or a computer program analysis, exhibiting the student’s learning of Gray Matters framed as Complex Systems.

Students accepted in the Honors Program will have

1. Access to the “Gray Matters” course, which is a cornerstone of our program.
2. Emphasis on regular one-on-one faculty interaction with UCCS Honors students.
3. An opportunity to demonstrate learning and growth through the Honors Program Portfolio. The Honors Program Portfolio will provide an opportunity to deepen intentional learning in Gray Matters areas that the students are passionate about, encouraging personal growth and community impact. We believe that good ideas need our clear and personal voice, and are to be expressed succinctly and professionally. The Honors Program Portfolio depth is supported by two designated courses of the student’s choice. The assigned Honors Program faculty advisor will guide the student with the Honors Program Portfolio mentor selected from the UCCS faculty members across all departments.
4. Experiential learning outside the classroom with peers and mentors contributing to growth of global awareness through volunteering and engagement.

Gray Matters explores the intersection of the mind and society with a focus on how we think, learn, and live. Topics of discussion are designed to investigate the role of ambiguity in the gray spaces of human endeavor. This course anchors the philosophy of our Honors Program, namely, that Gray exists in real-life situations and often times there is nothing definite, black and white. Students will learn adaptability and flexibility through the various Gray Matters interdisciplinary themes from perspectives drawn from disciplines such as Complex Systems, Leadership, Communication and Education, History, Ethics, Philosophy, Psychology, Mental Health, and others.

This philosophy provides Honors Program Core Values. Honors Program students are encouraged to embed Honors Program Core Values in their Honors Portfolio.

Honors Program students will strive to embody and promote these Core Values:

1. To foster empathy and compassion for people, including oneself.
2. To embrace the realization that there are always multiple and diverse perspectives.
3. To recognize that both collective wisdom and individual solutions may be appropriate alternatives in problem-solving.
4. To support diversity and inclusion in action and thoughts.
5. To exhibit open-mindedness, self-reliance, intellectual curiosity, personal responsibility, and integrity.
6. To promote an understanding of and appreciation for scientific discourse and scholarship.

A total of about thirty $1000 per year Honors Scholarships for four years will be awarded, by
invitation only, to those students who have:

1. Cumulative High School GPA of at least 3.5,
2. Test scores (at least) ACT: 26 or SAT:1300
3. Essay (1000 words).
4. Interview: Either face-to-face interview at UCCS (if face-to-face meeting is not possible, online/phone interview or video submission required).

Honors Admission Committee will review all applications and select the finalists for invitation.

Students accepted in the Honors Program will have the opportunity to interact with motivated and like-minded peers, who understand that good citizenship includes contributing to society. Besides the courses in their own degree program, Honors students are required to take the additional courses required to graduate with Honors from UCCS as described below. Many of our students embed these courses in their degree program without additional tuition.

Once accepted into the program, University Honors students will graduate with University Honors if they include the following:

• Gray Matters course (GPS1010/3010): All students receiving a UCCS Honors Scholarship must enroll in Gateway Program Seminar (GPS) 1010/3010 (Gray Matters) in their Freshman year. This course anchors the philosophy of our Honors Program: that Gray exists in real-life situations and often times there is no definite, black and white. Students will learn adaptability and flexibility through the various Gray Matters interdisciplinary themes such as Complex Systems, Leadership, History, Ethics, Philosophy, Psychology, etc. Includes Research Methods Tutorial: Honors students will participate in Research Methods Tutorial during the GPS 1010/3010 Gray Matters course towards preparing a beginning proposal, possibly towards their Honors Program Portfolio(HNRS 4950) to be completed during their senior year. The Research Methods Tutorial will teach students how to be successful in an extended research project by developing skills in discipline-specific research, planning, time management, and editing.
• Public Speaking course (COMM 2100) suggested but not required.
• HNRS 3011 (Conversation about Complexity).
• Honors Program Portfolio (ID 4950): Completed by the student or group of students in coordination with their Honors Program Portfolio faculty advisor and Honors Program Portfolio mentor. Taken in the semester when the student expects to complete the Portfolio and submit it to the Honors Program by Oct 30th for the Fall semester Graduation, and March 30th for the Spring semester Graduation. The report will be reviewed by an Honors Program Portfolio mentor, and then reviewed by two Honors Program Faculty members associated with that Portfolio during that semester. The feedback must be provided to the student within ten days after the student submits their report. The final report could be placed on the Honors Program website as a form of online publication by the Honors Program. These reports may be briefly mentioned by the Honors Program during the senior Graduation Ceremony, acknowledging the students’ Portfolios. List of acceptable portfolio ideas have been mentioned earlier (See Honors Program Portfolio Requirement section). These portfolios will also be published by UCCS Kraemer Library’s permanent digital collection, may be presented at CSURF (Colorado Springs Undergraduate Research Forum), Mountain Lion Research Day (Poster presentation), regional conferences specific to student major, and Research Synthesis/Case Studies for Nursing Students. Publication or presentation in national and international conferences and journals, coauthored with their mentors, provide another method of publication encouraging student learning as appropriate, and is encouraged by the UCCS Honors Program. Alternative forms of portfolio presentation will be available to disciplines where emphasis is on theater, filmmaking, etc. Student should work with their assigned UCCS Honors Program academic advisor, assigned during GPS 1010 Gray Matters class, to explore a variety of Portfolio topics available to them to satisfy the Honors Program Portfolio requirement during their required one-on-one meeting every semester.
• Two honors-designated courses: selectable from the student’s primary degree program, or from any other program1. Honors-designated courses will require an Honors Program learning contract to be filled out by the student before they take the courses and be approved by Honors Program Director/Associate Director. Grade of B or higher required. A course in the University Catalog can become an honors-designated course by completing the Honors learning contract form available at https://www.uccs.edu/honors/ - hover on Forms, and get all the necessary approvals.
• Maintain a minimum overall cumulative GPA of 3.5
• Engagement of ten hours per semester is required² and expected of all Honors students. A form filled with list of activities will be due to the UCCS Honors Program Office by April 15th for the Spring semester, and November 15th for the Fall semester. Honors students get many opportunities to interface with faculty and peers during several mandatory and voluntary events including a social get together such as movies or Honors Program seminars, Honors Program events. UCCS Honors Program prefers that the student satisfy this requirement by mostly attending UCCS Honors Program events. If UCCS Honors Program Advisors pre-approve then some of these hours could be fulfilled by volunteering at UCCS volunteering events (Alzheimer’s walk, hiking activities, student clubs such as Undergraduate Research Journal, etc.) and the library’s Just Talks series, Sustainability and Center of Aging lectures, even attending performances by Theatre Works. We believe that participation in the required Honors Program events will make Honors students life-long learners, build community of scholars, quicker to adjust to new situations, more marketable for employment, and highly competitive for admission to graduate studies because our focus is Gray Matters in UCCS Honors Program events.
• In addition, the semester the student is completing the Honors Program Portfolio (usually the Fall or the Spring of junior/senior year) the engagement form requirement will be waived to focus exclusively on the HNRS 4950 Honors Program Portfolio.

1. Fall Freshman: GPS 1010 (Gray Matters): Assigned Honors faculty advisor will teach and advise incoming Freshman.
2. Freshman Spring: Student should work with assigned Honors Program Faculty advisor to identify a UCCS faculty mentor for the student’s Honors Portfolio, and two student-selected (designated) courses. Student takes Honors Program Designated Course One.
3. Fall Sophomore/Junior: Student-selected, Honors Program Designated Course Two. At the end of this course, the student will define the basic Honors Portfolio idea.
4. Spring Sophomore: HNRS 3011 (Conversation in Complexity). HNRS 3011 may also be available some Summer terms, so check early in Spring semester with UCCS Honors Program for Summer offering.
5. Junior or Senior Fall, Spring semester: HNRS 4950 (Honors Program Portfolio): Student completes Honors Portfolio working with Honors Portfolio mentor, and two readers for review in preparation for Graduation in Fall, or by April for Graduation in Spring. HNRS 4950 may also be available some Summer terms, so check early in Spring semester with UCCS Honors Program for Summer offering.
6. Student graduates from Honors Program.

COMM 1220 (Public Speaking) course suggested but not required.

We require UCCS Honors students to do two additional Honors-Designated courses. Since there are very few Honors-Dedicated courses (i.e. courses that only enroll Honors students with HNRS prefix) most students opt to take Honors-Dedicated courses by completing a Honors Program learning contract (as explained earlier). In an Honors-Dedicated course, a student works with a faculty member to identify additional work they can do that goes above and beyond the standard course requirements. There are many different ways to approach this depending on the discipline. In the past, students have written essays, collaborated on research, served as a tutor or lab assistant for others in class, developed their own creative work or completed more complex work products. There is no one model that fits all courses, so we ask the instructor and student to complete a contract³that is turned in to the UCCS Honors Program Office. One final point of note: the work agreed upon to "designate" the course for Honors should not be factored into the final grade awarded to the student. The faculty teaching the designated course will still grade the student based on their completion of the course assignments required of all others, but the faculty teaching the designated course will provide an additional pass/fail acknowledgment UCCS Honors Program Office, in regards to the additional work for which both the designated-course faculty and the student have contracted. This is a very simple process still student should plan ahead and submit the paper-work early during the semester when designated course is being taken by the student.

Honors Program Cohorts are required to attend all Honors Program events (with reasonable accommodation made in case of emergency or work-related travel) for their ten engagement hours per semester. Apart from other benefits explained earlier in this document, Honors Faculty feel that these required meetings will help students develop their portfolio and students who attend these events can count their hours towards the 10 hours of engagement required of a cohort in the Honors Program every semester.

Students with accumulative UCCS GPA of 3.75 for all their (four or more) years at UCCS, and graduating with 3.75 or higher cumulative GPA at UCCS, will be recognized as Dr. Michael Hackman UCCS Honors Program Scholars.

All cohorts will remain in the Honors Program until they graduate from UCCS, although students’ plans can change, and they can always request to be out of the Honors Program by informing the Honors Program in writing or an email. Although student can complete UCCS Honors Program curriculum in more than 4 years, UCCS Honors program scholarship is provided only for four years. Starting cohort 2020, UCCS Honors Program is implemented a tiered scholarship program.

A UCCS Honors student shall not violate other University, College or Departmental rules and policies sufficient for disciplinary action. To maintain the Honors Program Scholarship, the Honors Program has a Cumulative GPA requirement of 3.5.

Students maintaining 3.5 and above, and satisfying the Engagements requirements, will receive the Honors Program Scholarship for next academic year. Students whose cumulative GPA is below 3.25 must be advised in a face-to-face meeting with an Honors Faculty member. The Honors Faculty member will provide a summary of their conversation, specifically regarding the plan of study indicating how the student will complete the Honors Program academic course work, including the engagement hours. Any student leaving the Honors Program must do so in writing to the Honors Program Administrator.

To graduate from the UCCS Honors Program students must have a cumulative GPA of 3.5 after their last semester and satisfy all the academic requirements of their cohort year, including required engagement hours. The student will be recognized during the UCCS Graduation Ceremony.

If a student has a cumulative GPA after their last semester at UCCS of 3.25 or above, but less that 3.5, and satisfies all requirements of the Honors Program as stated above, then they will graduate with the UCCS Honors Program Mountain Lion designation and will be recognized during the UCCS Graduation Ceremony.

A student whose cumulative GPA is below 3.25 will not receive any designation from Honors Program during graduation. If the student has completed all the academic requirements, then the Honors Program will provide a letter indicating that the student has completed the Honors Program academic requirements for their cohort year.