The Riverside Community College Honors Program Coordinators and faculty are pleased that you have chosen to be a part of this exciting new program. The Honors Program community is comprised of student scholars and faculty who share a passion for learning and the desire to expand their personal and academic horizons. We hope that you will enjoy the special contact with faculty, exploring academic subjects in more depth, and engaging in a variety of special intellectual challenges. The Honors Program makes it possible for students to stretch themselves intellectually, actively work with fellow students and faculty in an environment that encourages you to improve your critical thinking, written and verbal communication skills to a university level, and to help you to cultivate an awareness and understanding of the diverse points of view necessary for a rich and productive intellectual environment. Perhaps the most valuable aspect of the Honors Program will be the enthusiastic learning environment created by Honors faculty and students, an environment we hope benefits not only honors students and faculty, but the college and greater community as well.

The program will offer several benefits to students who successfully complete the honors classes/ the honors program:

• Enriched educational experiences in the classroom (the classes will cap at 20 and be taught seminar-style). You'll be in a class that will more closely resemble the kinds of demands you'll face when you transfer to university, you'll be expected to participate in that class more fully--no hiding in the back, and you'll be in the room with other motivated students--so we can do more and in more depth and with more sophistication,
• One-on-one mentoring and help from the honors coordinators and faculty in preparing applications for university admissions and scholarships
• Workshops to help you prepare applications and essays for applications
• The opportunity to participate in a student research conference where students get to present their own original work (Hosted by the Honors Transfer Council of California; the 2006 conference will be held in March at UC Irvine)
  

Four key ingredients distinguish honors classes:

• Smaller class size, which allows for a greater emphasis on critical thinking by insisting on active student participation in each class session (supported and made possible by limiting classes to 20 students)
• an emphasis on requiring honors students to read primary texts and not simply textbook material
• an emphasis on developing your writing and critical thinking skills through the assignment of at least 20 pages of formal graded written work - this will better prepare you for the demands of university level work
• the encouragement of innovative teaching strategies to challenge honors students to go beyond rote learning and to discover creative or original solutions and conclusions