CC offers honors program

High school students taking dual credit classes from Clarendon College will have new opportunities for success through a new Honors College program starting this fall.

Honors College students would receive priority advising and get specialized transfer advising from both Texas Tech University and West Texas A&M University and have opportunities to attend transfer days at both universities.

“We’re very excited about the opportunity to meet with these students and help them be successful,” said CC President Robert Riza. “This gives them an opportunity to leave home, adjust to college life, get their core classes completed or finish an associate’s degree, and then transfer to a university.”

The program, approved by the Board of Regents last month, will waive tuition and fees for college hours equal to the number of dual credit hours completed for CC students from outside of Donley County. Those students would be required to live in student housing on the Clarendon campus and could not combine their waiver with other CC institutional scholarships.

Donley County resident high school students are also eligible for the Honors College without being required to live on campus, but their tuition and fees will not be waived. Instead, local students already enjoy a 12-hour tuition cap put in place by the Riza administration two years ago, and they can take advantage of local and CC institutional scholarships.

Students in the Honors College will be expected to participate in community service hours, and those who qualify will be inducted into the Phi Theta Kappa honor society during the fall semester.

To be eligible for the Honors College, students who graduate high school in May or June must have passed at least 24 semester hours of dual credit academic course work at CC and have at least a 2.5 GPA. Specialized admission is available for those with fewer than 24 hours.

“The reality is these are our students already through dual credit, but the Honors College designation will be a select group that will get priority treatment and opportunities that other students might not have,” Dr. Riza said.

The program will be overseen by CC instructor Charla Crump, who sees the Honors College as a special opportunity for students as well as a chance for the community to get more involved with the students.

“I’m really excited about the community service opportunities,” Crump said. “This will give these kids a chance to give back to the community, and people love our college kids. Some kids haven’t gotten that, and it looks good on a résumé.”

Crump also said the residency requirement for students outside of Donley County is a good opportunity for them to experience residence hall life before they go to a large university, and the Honors College will focus on kids completing their core classes so they don’t have to take those in a large class setting at the university.

For more information about the Honors College program at Clarendon College, contact Charla Crump at 806-874-3571.