Exposure to different experiences at Lake Superior State University helped me to learn and decide what I wanted to do with my life. There were many opportunities to help my learning experience, including day and weekend trips to various geological sites. It wasn’t all travel though; there was lots of hands-on experience that helped demonstrate what we learned in lectures.
Nicole Anderson
Geologist
NAEVA Geophysics, Inc.
Honors Program
Welcome!
The LSSU University Honors Program provides an important dimension of the University’s commitment to excellence in teaching and learning. The Honors Program seeks to create a community of scholars characterized by strong student and faculty interaction, creativity and enhanced learning opportunities. This community fosters an approach to education that incorporates the qualities of self-directed learning, a positive response to demanding work, and an appreciation of knowledge for its own sake.
The Honors Program at Lake Superior State University offers highly motivated students the opportunity to develop their abilities and skills in exciting and innovative ways that go beyond the classroom. The central goal of the Honors faculty is to actively engage the Honors students in the process of their undergraduate education.
Admission to Honors Program
Honors students are invited to become members by a pre-selection process that requires one or more of the following:
Composite ACT of 27 and 3.0 high school G.P.A.;
Personal interview and faculty recommendation of LSSU sophomores.
After the fall semester, entering freshman who make the Dean’s List (3.5 G.P.A.) are also invited to participate in the Honors Program.
Our Students
Honors students are superior students from all disciplines who to desire to participate actively in their education and related activities. They bring together a diversity of talents, aspirations, and experiences. They seek out challenges and benefit greatly from sharing such experiences with students of comparable abilities. Some of our students tell their stories: Mary-Ellen, SavannahSue, Jessica, and Peter.
Our Faculty
Faculty who teach in the Honors Program are selected on the basis of their desire and ability to challenge and encourage high achieving students. Faculty members submit course proposals to the Honors Council for approval. Faculty are encouraged to be innovative in both the topic choice and the teaching pedagogy.
Approximately one-quarter of LSSU faculty have taught honors courses or served as mentors of individualized honors projects (called "Honors Option Contracts") and/or honors theses. Excellence in teaching is emphasized as is the commitment to work with students in and out of the classroom.
Honors housing: Lake State’s honors students have been given the privilege of exclusive rights to the use of Ontario Hall. Ontario Hall offers students:
Large Double Rooms
A Kitchen and Laundry Facilities
A Central Campus Location
Recognitions
Honors designation on diploma and course transcript
Honors medallion at graduation ceremony
Honors stole at academic award ceremony
Honors thesis presentation on campus Benefits
Benefits
Appeal to future employers
Preparation for graduate/professional school admissions
Mark of distinction
Enriched education opportunities
Curriculum
Honors classes are conducted in the seminar fashion and limited to fifteen students. An interdisciplinary focus is promoted by the inclusion of students and faculty from all majors as well as by the design of the honors core curriculum.
Requirements
Each student admitted to the Honors Program is required to complete twenty-one Honors Credits, including ten credits of Honors Seminar/Thesis. The remaining credits may be acquired by enrolling in honors sections of general education courses, or by taking advantage of the Honors Option Contract. Students must maintain a cumulative 3.5 G.P.A. in order to graduate with an honors degree and to remain eligible for active program participation.
**The LSSU Honors Logo
was designed by Ashley Traynor, class of 2011, as part of her senior thesis.
Impact in the real world...
Rachel Claucherty-Arnold
Environmental Health
What made Rachel's Lake Superior State experience so unique was the practical research she did with top-notch faculty.
"I really enjoyed working with environmental chemistry professor Judy Westrick and biologist Deb Stai," Rachel says. "For my senior project, we evaluated a lab method for cultivating a fungus that causes infections in humans."
was designed by Ashley Traynor, class of 2011, as part of her senior thesis. 
