Overview
Melissa Bissonette (English), Program Director
Faculty Advisors: Lauren Kocman (Economics), Robert Dunbar (Religious Studies), Maryann Herman (Biology), Sebastien Lazardeux (Political Science), Todd Sodano (Media and Communication), Deborah VanderBilt (English)
Effective and responsible intellectual leadership, on campus and post-graduation, begins with curiosity and knowledge in and beyond one's own field of mastery, requires the responsibility to encourage and support that curiosity in others, and relies upon a well-developed ability to speak with authority, fairness, and persuasiveness across different fields of study.
Through coursework and events, the Honors Program stresses challenging interdisciplinary work, so that students can understand their own majors within a larger context; research, so that students' intellectual curiosity can lead them to explore the strongest ideas and work of others; communication that is visual, textual, and verbal, so that students can share their knowledge and curiosity beyond the classroom; and community, within the Honors Program, St. John Fisher College, and beyond, so that students always know that their work has implications outside of the classroom.
To graduate from the College Honors Program, students who have been admitted to the program must maintain a 3.00 cumulative grade point average their freshman year and a 3.30 cumulative grade point average thereafter, as well as complete six honors courses. Students may complete their requirements with a senior project linked to their major, as approved by the Honors Program director. Honors courses may not be taken S/U.
For transfer students admitted to the program, the required number of honors courses is determined by the number of semesters the student has to complete at St. John Fisher College to graduate.