Honors Program

John C. Orr, Ph.D., assistant to the provost

The University of Portland offers the honors program to enhance the intellectual life of the University community by mentoring high achieving and intrinsically motivated students to serve as public intellectuals at the University and beyond. The program fosters in these passionate and gifted students a love for the life of the mind and the desire to enrich their communities. Honors students may be enrolled in any major.

The curriculum fulfills a portion of the University core requirements for graduation. Freshmen take a one-week colloquium before the fall semester. They then take a first year course that fulfills one (and in some cases two) core requirement(s). In their sophomore year students take an additional core class. In the first two years honors students are also assigned a faculty mentor with whom they meet regularly and with whom they write reflective papers integrating their educational experience with their personal development. The sophomore year culminates with a reflective retreat at which students develop personal statements. In the junior and senior years, the focus of the honors students is in their majors. Each major has its own set of honors requirements, including a senior honors project. The junior and senior years also see honors students participating in two one-credit interdisciplinary reading and discussion courses. Additionally, honors students are supported and encouraged to take advantage of a number of special opportunities including, but not limited to, study abroad programs, internships, summer research opportunities, nationally competitive scholarships, service projects, various off-campus transformative experiences such as participation in conferences, and special projects. To remain in the honors program, students must maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.3, complete all honors assignments, and regularly attend honors events and meetings. For details contact the director of the honors program, Buckley Center 161, University of Portland, 5000 North Willamette Blvd., Portland, OR 97203. Telephone: (503) 943-7857. Toll free: (800) 227-4568. E-mail: honors@up.edu.