The University Honors Program at Northeastern offers exceptionally motivated students an opportunity to enhance their educational experience. Admitted students invited to join the Program are our most highly accomplished applicants, and have been notified of selection in the admission letter.
The Honors Program First Year Experience establishes connections built on a set of shared values: interdisciplinary thinking, a willingness to accept challenges both inside and outside the classroom, the use of a global lens, and the commitment to community.
Through Honors Welcome Week, the First Year Inquiry Series, Advising Resources and our Living Learning Community, students become connected to one another, supported on their academic and personal journey, and frame their own vision of becoming successful as they study and live with other Honors scholars.
Welcome Week:
Honors Welcome Week is the official welcome for new Honors students. Students move in prior to the start of classes and participate in a series of opportunities to welcome them to campus and orient them to the Honors Program.
Some of these events include a social with upper-class students, the First Pages Faculty Panel and breakout sessions, the Honors Teambuilding Retreat, the Honors Outreach Project and the Honors Induction Ceremony. All of these opportunities take place within a supportive environment of faculty, staff and upper-class students.
First Year Thematics:
The Honors First Year Experience is organized around four broad Honors Thematics. These themes provide a foundation for the academic opportunities and programming that occurs in the first year. Students from all majors can participate in these interdisciplinary themes.
These First Year Thematics include:
First Year Inquiry Series:
The Honors Program offers courses for incoming students that build knowledge the in four Thematic areas and meet NU Core requirements. Each of these courses are led by faculty who are both engaged in their field through research and writing and engaging in the way that they frame course work exclusively for first year Honors students.
Enhancing Honors:
Building on the momentum of Welcome Week, we offer Enhancing Honors, a team-taught required course with upper-class Honors Mentors. Embedded in this course is a City as Text experience. Enhancing Honors opens the door to the city of Boston through a series of introductory experiences including a neighborhood “walkabout.” Meeting on alternating weeks in small mentor-led groups, students will have a chance to be introduced to the larger opportunities available in the program and begin to chart a plan for their undergraduate years.
Living Learning Community:
The Honors Program extends beyond our commitment to exciting and challenging academics. The program provides leadership opportunities, offers exciting cultural events, and facilitates contributions to the Boston community. Honors students play an important role in the program through helping at Welcome Week, serving as Mentors in Enhancing Honors, working with prospective students as Ambassadors and selecting the First Pages book as Honors Readers.
International Village is the newest residence hall at Northeastern University and home to the Honors First Year Living Learning Community. International Village is a supportive community, where students have the opportunity to live and study with fellow honors scholars. Two members of the faculty also live in International Village and collaborate on Honors programming with residential life staff.
Advising:
The goal of Honors First Year Advising is to assist students in the transition from being talented high school students to becoming successful Northeastern students. Honors advisors are available to offer academic support and guidance targeted to the First Year Experience.
There are four main areas of advising embedded in the First Year Experience within Honors. These include summer orientation advising, fall semester advising, spring semester advising and satellite advising.