Explore. Collaborate. Influence.
Have a Question?
Contact Rivka Glaser, Ph.D.
Director of Honors & Professor of Biology
443-394-9644
rglaser@stevenson.edu
Benefits
As a member of the Stevenson University Honors program, you will:
- Receive priority registration.
- Take academically engaging Honors courses taught by talented faculty.
- Have access to specialized advising and mentoring (including a dedicated Honors librarian and Career Services advisor).
- Participate in career preparation programming tailored to the specific goals and aspirations of Honors students.
- Enjoy the opportunity to meet distinguished political, social, and cultural leaders from around the world.
- Receive an Honors designation on your transcript upon successfully completing the program.
Expectations
In order to remain in good standing the the Honors Program, students must:
- Enroll as a full-time student
- Maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.5 each semester
- Complete the academic requirements (see Curriculum)
Students are strongly encouraged to be active members of both the larger Stevenson Community and our Honors community by attending events and taking on leadership roles with Honors.
Scholarships
Honors students receive the highest level of merit scholarship and are also invited to apply for the Founders’ Scholarship, which recognizes a student’s potential to be an active, engaged member of the Stevenson Community. All scholarships are renewable for four years. For more information, please see the Scholarship & Grants page.
Curriculum
HON 100
Second Semester Freshman Year
This course introduces students to foundational aspects of the Honors Program, including collaborative, interdisciplinary thinking.
General Education Honors Courses
Freshman and Sophomore Year
A minimum of four Honors sections of general education or introductory courses are needed to fulfill University degree requirements, such as the following:
- Honors Writing Seminar
- Honors General Biology Lab
- Honors General Chemistry I Lab
- Honors General Chemistry II Lab
- Honors Introduction to Psychology
- Honors Introduction to Philosophy
- Honors Public Speaking
- Honors Introduction to Sociology
- Honors Intro to Creative Writing
- Honors Topics in Literature
- Honors Communications Ethics
- Honors Film and Moving Image History
- Honors Topics in History
Two Independent Projects
Sophomore – Senior year
These two independent projects (honors contracts) give you an individualized academic experience tailored to your own interests within courses you are already taking to meet your degree requirements. You will work one-on-one with your faculty member to design an additional component to the course work that will allow you to take an interdisciplinary approach to a project. This will give you the opportunity to explore the intersections between different areas that interest you and work closely with your instructor.
HON 400
Junior or Senior year
This course allows you to explore your creativity and work with fellow Honors students from all different disciplines in a semester-long project-based class that asks you to work as a team to tackle a real-world problem or challenge. This class is creative and fun and prepares you for the kind of collaborative problem-solving that you will find in the workforce.
Transfer Honors
Stevenson University welcomes transfer students to join its Honors Program, which provides academically talented students the opportunity to develop a strong network of mutually outstanding and motivated peers and work closely with talented and engaged faculty.
Direct Admit
Any transfer student who has completed an honors program at another college/university and has a cumulative GPA of a 3.5 or higher will be granted guaranteed admission into the Stevenson University Honors Program. If you meet these criteria, please click here to indicate your interest in joining the Stevenson University Honors Program.
How to Apply
Transfer students who have not completed an honors program but fall into one of the following categories are strongly encouraged to apply to the Stevenson University Honors Program:
- Students with a cumulative GPA of a 3.5 or higher who are currently enrolled in an honors program at another institution.
- Students not currently enrolled in an honors program but who have completed fewer than 30 credits and have a cumulative GPA of 3.5.
Please click here for the online application form.
Click here to view the Transfer Honors FAQ page.
Student Honors Advisory Board
The Student Honors Advisory Board plans and hosts co-curricular events for the program in addition to serving as liaisons between the students and the director.
Director
Rivka Glaser , Ph.D.
Professor, Biology
Director, Honors Program
Owings Mills North N115
rglaser@stevenson.edu
443-394-9644
As a graduate of an honors program herself, Dr. Glaser is passionate about honors education and is thrilled to be the director of SU’s honors program.
Glaser earned her bachelor’s degree in Biology from Goucher College and her Ph.D. in Human Genetics and Molecular Biology from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. She joined the faculty of Stevenson University in 2006 and teaches introductory biology and genetics. She is a faculty member in the Genomics Education Partnership, a consortium of undergraduate institutions that strives to engage students in genomics research projects. She is the co-chair of the the Human Genetics Undergraduate Education Workshop, a member of the the Board of Directors of NFTumor Foundation, a support group for people with neurofibromatosis, and serves as the liason for Stevenson University to the Collaborative Teaching Fellowship Program, which helps mentor graduate students and postdoctoral fellows at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and University of Maryland School of Medicine who are interested in teaching.
Glaser has presented pedagogy workshops at local, national, and international conferences about her work with the Genomics Education Partnership and the innovative, interdisciplinary service-learning project she has done with colleagues in Stevenson University’s School of Design in collaboration with the National Human Genome Research Institute’s Education and Community Involvement Branch.
Frequently Asked Questions
I was invited to participate in the Honors Program – now what?
Congratulations! Approximately the top 10% of students admitted to Stevenson are invited to participate in the Honors Program. Acceptance of the invitation to participate comes during the summer, when you complete your online student orientation. Your participation in Honors begins the week before classes start with the Scholars Pre-Orientation program, which will be around August 20-21, 2024.
However, there is no requirement to participate if you were invited. You can opt out of joining the Honors Program during the online student orientation this summer.
What are the advantages of being in the Honors Program?
As part of the Stevenson Honors program, you will take academically engaging Honors courses taught by talented faculty, receive priority registration, have access to a Scholars librarian and career advisor, and receive the Honors distinction on your transcript upon graduation. Additionally, you will have access to special programming for all Scholars students, such as the Taste of Baltimore trips, Etiquette Lunch, and the Baltimore Speakers Series (a line-up of influential leaders from all over the world).
What are the requirements of the Honors Program?
Academic Requirements:
- 8 courses
- Maintain a cumulative 3.5 GPA
The suggested sequence of course is:
| First year | 1-2 honors sections of general education courses per semester* |
| Second year | 1-2 honors sections of general education courses per semester* |
| Third year | 2 honors contract projects in 300/400 level courses |
| Fourth year | HON 400 |
*Honors students will take a minimum of 4 honors general education courses.
Most of the courses in the program are honors versions of courses you would already be taking to meet general education or program requirements. For example, instead of taking the regular section of Intro Biology Lab, you would take the Honors section of the Intro Biology Lab with other Honors students. This course will fulfill both a Lab Science requirement and an Honors requirement. A total of 4 credits (1 credit for Honors 100 and 3 credits for Honors 400) of additional coursework are required to meet the honors requirements and count toward the 120 credits you need to earn for your bachelor degree.
Are Honors courses harder than traditional courses?
Honors courses are not designed to be “harder.” You can expect to work closely with your faculty, take a deeper look at material, and have more opportunity for individual work and creative/intellectual exploration. It is natural for professors to expect a higher level of engagement from Honors students, but the classes are not intentionally harder.
I have a lot of AP credits from high school – does it make sense for me to participate in Honors?
Absolutely! AP credits will cover many of the required general education courses, but it is likely that you will still have additional general education courses to take. The Honors Faculty Director and your Success Coach can help you select courses.
What are honors contract projects?
Honors contracts are independent projects that you design and carry out within an upper-level, non-honors courses. These projects relate to the course content in some way and result in a final product (i.e. research paper, presentation, panel discussion, etc.). Honors contracts allow you to “convert” a non-honors course into an honors course. Here are some examples of projects that our students have done:
- Confronting the Opioid Epidemic in Baltimore County
- The Intersection of History at Environmental Science as told by the History of Wildfires and Prescribed Burning
- Operation: Parasite (a board game for middle school students)
- The Neighborhoods in Our Bodies: A Children’s Book
- My Immune System and Me: A Children’s book
- Handling Situationally Induced Impairments and Disabilities in Mobile UI Design
- The Role of NMDA Receptors in Depression*
- Telling Her Story: Celebrating Diverse Women Authors Through Stories of Resilience*
- Who Gets to Play? The Evolving Criteria for Women’s Sports based on Gender Discrimination*
- Partnering with the Community: A Hannah More Shelter Donation Drive
*these projects were selected for presentation at the Northeast Regional Honors Council’s Annual Conference in March 2023
Meet Our Students & Alumni
On the Honorable Path
Jaibyn Hull
Biology, Pre-Medicine Track
“The Honors program has truly enhanced my Stevenson education. It has allowed me foster connections with a network of peers and professors, while also providing me with rigorous coursework that has boosted my resume and made me more marketable as a student.”