City College’s Honors Program is introducing student-run committees this semester to give members an opportunity to become involved in program events.

Each committee will focus on different events hosted by the Honors Program and will be overseen by a co-president. Nearly 300 students are enrolled in the Honors Program, and the addition of the committees will give more students a chance to be a part of the event planning process.

“In the past, there has been three students in charge of running all of the events, but now we have voices from all different backgrounds and from all over the program,” Co-President Bianca Wagner said. “The more voices the better.”

The Honors Program challenges students to expand on critical thinking, argumentative writing, and effective oral communication skills. Students can graduate from the program with an Honors Associate Certificate from the humanities, social sciences, science, and mathematics departments.

“The Honors Program takes students who didn’t think they were honors material or capable of doing it, and then discover they actually can do it,” said Dr. Melanie Eckford-Prossor, faculty director of the Honors Program. “It’s so rewarding. The honors motto after all is, ‘Expect more. Be more.’”

The Honors Program traditionally has two parts. The first is the Honors Advisory Committee, run by faculty who coordinate the academic side. The other is the Honors Guild, run by a trio of student presidents.

The new committees encourage more people to get involved, equally distribute the work, and allow students to focus on specialized events. It will also allow first-year and international students a new way to get involved in the program.

“So many great minds working together will ultimately strengthen the Honors program both academically and socially,” Co-President Eleanora Schulman said.

The committees will be divided by event, however they will all come together for their main event, the 13th Annual SBCC Student Conference.

The conference is open to all students, with this years subject, “LIVES: Decent/Indecent Indulgent/Indigent.” This event is preceded by a debate between professors from different departments of the college. The Honors Advisory will be in charge of the bimonthly “Tea with a Professor,” which gives students a chance to converse with a professor in and environment outside the classroom.
The Honors Guild will be developing “Stress Free Fridays,” an activity where students go on hikes and meet one another. This is one of several events the committee will work on.

“The committees are building and emphasizing a sense of community, were almost like a family who get to nerd out together,” Schulman said.

Honors student member Matthew Poulin will lead the conference committee and believes the delegation of tasks will help govern the event planning process and improve group project skills.

“It doesn’t matter what the task at hand is, you just get in and do it to the best of your ability,” Poulin said. “It is what makes a team a team. And that is exactly what I see happening with the Honors Program.”

To apply for the program a student’s grade-point average must be at least 3.0 and be eligible for English 110, “Composition and Writing,” and Math 107, “Intermediate Algebra.”