Welcome to the UNF Honors Program. I’m glad you are considering attending the University of North Florida and joining the Honors Program.

When I walked into my freshman advisor's office many years ago, I noticed a framed cross-stitched picture on her wall. It said, "EDUCATION IS NOT ONLY ABOUT MAKING A LIVING, IT'S ABOUT MAKING A LIFE." That simple motto made a huge impression on me that day, and it continues to inspire me as the director of the UNF Honors Program. I want every student who comes through the door of the Honors office to leave with the joy of learning new things, the thrill of seeing the connections between seemingly unrelated phenomena, and the excitement of trying to understand the complex relationships that constitute life on this planet. I want their lives to be fuller and richer as a result of their college educations, just as mine has been. In simple concrete terms, I want them to understand that every issue has at least two sides, that they need to read a newspaper (or blog) with a critical eye, that simple solutions to complex problems probably don’t exist, and that they have a responsibility to themselves and to society to continue their own educations for as long as they live. The Honors Program is designed to provide you with all of this. At the same time, we want you to have the best four years of your life in a community of learners who will become your lifelong friends.

The Honors Program at UNF is not harder than regular classes and it doesn’t require you to take extra tests like AP and IB classes did in high school; on the contrary, the Honors Program is your reward for working hard in high school and achieving all of those academic credentials. Honors classes at UNF are smaller, more interdisciplinary, and more experiential than most classes at UNF. Honors classes have no more than 25 students in them, and many combine more than one discipline. For example, I teach a six hour course that combines the study of economics with the literature and pop culture of the Great Depression, and compares it to today’s recession.

Experiential classes get you out of the classroom so you can apply what you are learning to the real world. Last spring, an Honors political science class on the presidency conducted a survey about President Obama’s job approval rating in his first one hundred days using the UNF polling lab. They wrote the survey, put it in the field, and analyzed the data. They also took a class “field trip” to Washington, DC that was partially funded with Honors scholarship money. This summer, an Honors class, in partnership with the College of Engineering, is traveling to Ghana in West Africa to make infrastructure improvements to a children’s home. What is truly remarkable is that the Honors Program has been traveling to the same children’s home every other summer for eight years. This year alone the Honors students raised over $10,000 to buy supplies and materials to support the home. In the fall, a class on the science and ethics of disease will include a field experience at Jacksonville’s Mayo Clinic. These kinds of classes make what you are learning immediately relevant to the world around you.

The Honors Program is also committed to providing international experiences for our students. In the past, Honors classes have traveled to England, France, Japan, Ecuador, and Spain, to name just a few. In the spring and summer of 2010, we are planning trips to London, Egypt, and Ecuador. In addition, Honors students are eligible for funding that helps to support them in individual internships and study abroad opportunities. For example, Honors students have participated in internships with the World Food Program in Thailand and Rome. Many Honor students have received scholarships that allow them to spend a summer or a semester at the Washington Center participating in internships and taking classes offered by many of the distinguished faculty at universities and colleges in the Washington, DC area.

In addition, the Honors Program provides you with a safe and secure environment in which to become a scholar, a leader, and an involved citizen. Honors students live together in the lap of luxury in the new Fountains Residence Hall. The rooms are arranged in a suite format and amenities include a pool, a lazy river, a game room, a fitness center, and a snack bar/grill on the premises. Opportunities abound for getting involved in campus and community life and for becoming a leader on campus. Students are involved in making decisions about all aspects of the Honors Program. The Honors Student Union (HSU) is an elected group of students that address the needs of the student body, and the Honors Student Director serves as a liaison between the Honors Program administration and the students. The Honors Student Director and the HSU are also an integral part of planning and implementing the Honors Orientation Retreat at the beginning of each new academic year.

The Honors Program offers all of this in the context of a vibrant university that offers degrees in engineering, business, nursing, education and many other specialized majors. You get the benefits of a small liberal arts college education combined with the diversity of majors and specialized programs offered by a major university. If all of this sounds like the college experience that you’ve been looking for, please take the time to peruse our website, and feel free to contact me.

Mary O. Borg, Ph.D
Professor of Political Economy
Director of the UNF Honors Program