The Honors Institute: a High Calling

"We aim for nothing less than the deep excellence that comes from a well-trained, curious mind."

That's how Assistant Provost Mary Durfee sums up the mission of Michigan Tech's new Honors Institute, which she directs.

Launched in the Spring of 2005, the institute brings together entering first-year students from high school who had at least a 30 ACT or its SAT equivalent. The new institute brought in eighty-seven members who represent all of the colleges and schools at Michigan Tech. Members come from all across the US and from Nigeria, and about a third of them are women.

The aim of the institute, says Durfee, is to provide additional opportunities for students to pursue their interests in research and scholarship. The institute is more "activities-based" than a set of special courses. The only time participants will be in an all-honors class is in Perspectives. The four honors sections of this freshman seminar are being taught by Professor William Bulleit, civil and environmental engineering; Associate Professor Kim Hoagland, social sciences; Associate Professor Dennis Lynch of humanities; and Professor Randy Freisinger, also of humanities.

"They seem to be having an excellent time all around-lots of good, thoughtful discussion," Durfee says. "The professors say they have to keep on their toes to keep up with the students, and it's exhilarating."

After this shared experience, however, the requirements of the Honors Institute take place in the context of each student's regular classes. They will do three "contracts" in their other courses. Durfee calls them "enrichment activities." The idea, she explains, is that the students will develop a way to link experiences, other classes, additional research, or reading to an existing class. They will work out details with the professor in the course and the achievement will be reported on their transcripts.

Finally, members will write an essay portion of a nationally competitive scholarship-like the Goldwater or a Fulbright-and present it to the group. If they do all of the above and maintain an overall GPA of 3.5, they will graduate in the Honors Institute, with whatever academic honors they may have earned (such as, summa cum laude).

Durfee says that the students' curiosity and enthusiasm for learning showed up in their applications. When asked to describe himself, one said "insatiable." Some noted that they couldn't look up one thing without reading more on the subject. One marveled, "The entire idea of the calculus-imagine thinking that up!"

Students wrote about their favorite quote, music, literature, or scientific concept. Overall, their responses-and their sages-ranged widely:

One cited Viktor Frankl-"Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms-to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way." Another invoked Emerson-"Nothing great has ever been accomplished without enthusiasm." A third admired Doug Adams-"It is a mistake to think you can solve any major problems just with potatoes."

The members of the Institute are collaborating on bringing speakers to the campus. They are working on a number of ideas, such as someone from Jet Propulsion Laboratory on Mars rovers, and a researcher on neurological chemistry of gender differences. In September, they sponsored a speaker on the Constitution and had a rousingly interesting time hearing Dr. Kathryn Clark, of Tech's Board of Control, talk about her work at NASA.

The institute is getting ready to invite the next new honors class. "I've asked the members what we should name them," said Durfee. "So far, they have come up with great minds, constellations, candy, and Ninja Turtles. Hard to say what we'll decide."

The Honors Institute is "for students who want to make their mark at Tech-and ultimately in the world," Durfee says. "It is always fun to work with Tech students, to see them mature from first years to grad students and professionals. I can see already that these are splendid young men and women, and they will bring the liveliness on campus up to a new level."