Shorter Honors Academy

Sigma Eta Alpha or SHA (Shorter Honors Academy) is the official name of Shorter University’s prestigious Honors Program. The Shorter Honors Academy offers a challenging environment for talented and intellectually gifted students who seek an enhanced education. The aim of the academy is to challenge students to cultivate strong habits of critical thinking and creativity in a community of scholars

The Shorter Honors Academy provides an enriched curriculum for students who want to go beyond regular undergraduate requirements and creates an intellectually charged and engaged community of students and faculty. It promotes a distinctive educational experience that challenges students to cultivate depth and breadth in critical and creative thought, as well as facilitates students’ interdisciplinary contributions to intellectual life and the community. No matter what program of study a student desires to pursue, the Shorter Honors Academy can enhance the quality of that educational experience.

Being a part of the Shorter Honors Academy brings with it numerous advantages, including

• Enjoy smaller classes.
• Gain access to Honors-level Core Courses.
• Gain access to Specialized Honors Colloquia.
• Register First.
• Do not incur charges for hours over 19 and up to 21 in any one semester.
• Enjoy access to the Honors Study Lounge.
• Have an opportunity to become an Honors Ambassador to provide school service and mentoring.
• Write and defend an Honors Thesis.
• Have your thesis published as a part of the Livingston Library.
• Get Honors Seal on diploma.
• Wear Honor Cords at graduation.
• Become part of the elite 5% of college students nationwide that have graduated from an Honors Program.

Several of our students have won major awards in recent years, including Alpha Chi National Awards and scholarships, and many graduates have gone on to acceptance at the following prestigious universities.

• Latin Honors refers to the recognition that students who graduate cum laude (cumulative GPA of 3.5-3.74), magna cum laude (cumulative GPA of 3.75-3.874), or summa cum laude (cumulative GPA of 3.875-4.0) receive on their diplomas.
• The Dean’s List is a distinction given by semester to any full-time student who earns a minimum GPA of 3.5 for 12 credit hours or more for a semester.
• Several majors offer Honor societies for their students. See the chair of your major department for more information.
• Shorter Honors Academy students can achieve any or all of these distinctions; however, not every student who achieves these distinctions is part of the Shorter Honors Academy. Only 5% of college and university students nationally graduate with an Honors Program degree.

Admission to the Shorter Honors Academy can be achieved in several ways. Many highly qualified students, including Shorter Scholars, are invited to apply upon admission to the University. Still others apply on their own after discovering the academy during the admission process or their first quarters at the University. Students from any major may be in the Shorter Honors Academy.

If a student chooses to join the Shorter Honors Academy, s/he must meet with the Director. To maintain the high quality of the academy, we reserve the right to limit the number of students accepted.

Incoming students who believe they would be a good fit for the academy, transfer students, and current students are all encouraged to apply to the Director. Students admitted to the academy typically have high school GPAs above 3.5, ACT scores of 28 or higher and SATs of 1400 (verbal and math) or higher. Current Shorter University students must have a GPA of 3.5 or above.

In a nutshell, Shorter Honors Academy students must take two Honors Colloquia (three credit hours each) and four Honors classes or Honors Add-On classes (12 credit hours). In addition, they must write a thesis that they will defend to the Honors Director and major professor. Students’ progress towards the successful completion of the Academy requirements will be monitored. Students not making sufficient progress must meet with the director to address a strategy for completion.

Shorter Honors Academy students may choose to take regularly offered Honors classes, including ENG 1030, ENG 1040, HON 2000, and HON 3000. Other classes that are often rotated in include COM 1010, HIS 2XXX, and ENG 2XXX. Students may also opt to take Add-On classes. In this case, students negotiate with their professors to enhance the class so that it becomes the equivalent of an Honors class. For students to get credit for an Add-On class, they must fill out the Honors Add-On form and secure the proper signatures.

Along with completing a total of 18 hours of Honors courses, students must write an Honors Thesis. Honors Thesis courses are required (two to four credit hours) if a student’s major does not include a written capstone. If a student’s major does include a written capstone paper, then the student must work with the Honors Director to ensure the quality is sufficient to warrant Honors Thesis credit. The thesis must also be defended to the Honors Director and major professor. The student’s overall GPA must be at least 3.5 upon graduation.

Note that many of these Honors requirements overlap with degree requirements, so students may actually end up adding ZERO additional hours to their graduation requirements.

Active Shorter Honors Academy students with a passion to mentor new participants and evangelize the program can apply to be Honors Ambassadors. Honors Ambassadors serve the Academy by staffing recruiting tables, giving tours to prospective students, providing information to faculty, and being “familiar faces” on campus to promote the Shorter Honors Academy.