honors-program

Our Mission

The Honors Program at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College is designed for highly skilled and motivated students who have demonstrated superior academic and/or leadership achievements and desire to enter a living and learning community with similarly motivated students. Honors students are expected to be engaged in the interactive learning process the College provides for them, both in and out of the classroom. To support and nurture an interactive learning environment, Honors classes are small, discussion-based, and taught by faculty dedicated to the Honors Program mission. Honors course work differs from general course work in breadth and depth of exploration of subject matter and, as much as possible, inclusion of both primary and secondary sources of information. Honors students are expected to exhibit and further develop cognitive engagement in the learning process and reflect on the meaning of what they are learning in their own lives. Ultimately, the goal of the program is to produce young adults who will become enlightened leaders in the campus community, and in their future communities of the larger world.

Honors' Benefits

Scholarships: The Honors Program awards need- and merit-based scholarships to select Honors students.

Priority Registration: all Honors Program students receive Priority I registration to register for classes as soon as they open.

Housing: the Tifton site offers a special wing in the Lakeside dorm for Honors students to live and learn together.

Conference Opportunities: students are encouraged to submit proposals for state, regional, national, and professional conferences.

Honors Lounge: a private lounge for studying and socializing at the Tifton site.

Special Events: educational trips, guest speakers, and film events offer honors students learning opportunities outside the classroom.

Recognition: special recognition is given to Honors students at the College’s annual Honors Day program and at the graduation ceremony.

The Honors Program offers a second home here at ABAC for intellectually talented and strongly motivated students. In Honors, students gain the most rewarding college experience possible by developing a strong sense of intellectual and personal community. Honors students enjoy the benefit of meaningful connections across disciplines and close, hands-on mentorship with our faculty right from the start of their time at ABAC. Honors prepares students from all academic programs to advance their education, take on innovative projects, prepare them for a rewarding professional life, or further graduate study. Rewarding courses and engaging professors place Honors students on a path toward academic and professional success and build a close, tight-knit community that defines the Honors experience.

Programs

The Honors Program offers students two opportunities to enrich their experience and to earn recognition – by completing the Honors’ Core and by working closely with faculty mentors in their disciplines in upper division coursework and research.

The heart of our program is in our Honors core courses. All Honors freshmen participate in our two introductory Honors seminars in their first year at ABAC and 12 hours of Core Honors courses. Students pursuing Bachelor’s and Associate’s degrees in any discipline can be recognized for completing the Honors Core and are recognized with a medal at graduation. The Honors Program offers the following courses on a regular, rotating basis:

Honors Core

Honors students pursuing a Bachelor’s degree at ABAC have the unique opportunity to customize their education to meet their specific goals and interests by working with the Honors Program and partnering with our faculty by adapting the content or scope of an existing course, pairing students with faculty to undertake mentored research outside the classroom, supporting student research through conference participation and senior projects.

Students who complete the 12-hour Honors Core need to select three of the following options, including at least one course contracts.
Students who do not complete the Honors Core, including transfer students, need to select five options, including at least two course contracts.

Course Contract

Any 3000 or 4000 level course section can be converted to an Honors section via an Honors Contract. With approval from and in coordination with the course instructor, an Honors curriculum is created by the student. The Honors curriculum should reflect the Honors Program learning outcomes (found on the ABAC Honors Program website). Honors Contract work is not simply extra work. The work can be different, creative, or more in-depth than regular assignments. Ideally, the faculty member and student will create work that targets a student’s intended professional goals.

Honors Contract Policies

Honors Contract Course Approval Form

Conference Presentation

All Honors students are encouraged to submit to academic conferences. These conferences are platforms upon which students enter the realm of professional communication. The Honors program offers state, regional, and national conferences to which a student may submit proposals for presentation. Other discipline specific conferences are available through your academic mentors. This Honors option requires the student to submit a conference proposal, be accepted, and present at the conference. The Honors Program has scholarships available to students to cover all or part of travel expenses and registration fees associated with presenting at conferences.

Honors Conference Resources

Mentored Research

Participating in academic research mentored by a professor allows Honors students to see their academic field in action. No longer is Biology just in the textbooks or Wildlife just in the classroom. With mentored research, students get to do what a Biologist does or what a DNR officer does. Earning a mentored research slot with a professor takes an excellent academic track record and open dialogue with your professors. The first step is communicating that you are interested in this type of experience. Your mentored research may go beyond one semester, so a mentored research form must be submitted before your research begins so that the honors director can evaluate the units to be allotted for your work. The Honors Program has funding available to cover costs associated with undertaking certain mentored research projects.

Honors Capstone or Senior Project

A capstone or senior project can be converted to an Honors one via an Honors Contract following procedures similar to those for modifying a course section. With approval and in coordination with the project mentor, an Honors curriculum is created by the student. The Honors curriculum should reflect the Honors Program learning outcomes (found on the ABAC Honors Program website). Although Honors Capstones or Projects will require extra work, they should not simply require more work. Instead, they might involve more extensive engagement with current research, more complex research questions, experimentation, surveying, or analysis. They might also encourage a greater degree of inter-disciplinary collaboration, interaction with multiple faculty mentors, or application of their ideas to real-world problems. Ideally, the faculty member and student will create work that targets a student’s intended professional goals.

Honors Societies

The club's overall mission is to recognize and promote student academic achievement and engaging in public service.

Meeting Information

Third Tuesday of each month
11:30 AM
Room 266

Contact Information

Sherri Newberry
sherri.newberry@abac.edu

Faculty Advisor

Dues
$85 one-time for national & local; afterwards, $15 per year

The purpose of the Omega Delta Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa shall be the promotion of scholarship, the development of leadership and service, and the cultivation of fellowship among qualified students at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College.

Meeting Information

Wednesday (2nd & 4th of month)
Carlton 206
5:00 PM

Contact Information

cklesman@abac.edu

Faculty Advisors

Charlotte Klesman
David Rhode
Marti Schert

Dues
$85 initial membership fee to international office

Beta Beta Beta Biological Honor Society is a society for students, particularly for undergraduates. It seeks to encourage scholarly attainment in this field of learning by reserving its regular membership for those who achieve superior academic records and who indicate special aptitude for and major interest in the life sciences. It desires to cultivate intellectual interest in the natural sciences and to promote a better appreciation of the value of biological study and thus welcomes into associate membership all those students who are interested in biology. Beta Beta Beta also endeavors to extend the boundaries of man’s knowledge of nature by encouraging new discoveries through scientific investigation and to this end encourages undergraduate students to begin research work and report their findings in the journal of the society, BIOS. It emphasizes, therefore, a three-fold program: stimulation of scholarship, dissemination of scientific knowledge, and promotion of biological research.

Meeting Information

Contact Information

bgahagan@abac.edu

Faculty Advisor

Ben Gahagan

Student Profiles

Solar Tanton
Crop and Soil Science
Class of 2025

Participating in the Honors Program at ABAC gave me the opportunity to work closely with my professors and to connect what I was doing in my classes with my professional goals. I liked that I had the same professor for my Honors Biology lectures and labs and that these classes were made up of the same small groups of focused students. For me, the best part of Honors, though, was my work with Honors Contracts, which let me make my upper-level classes into whatever I wanted. I used contracts to dig deeper into a project on vineyard management with Dr. McCrimmon and it really helped me with another a project on wine and olive oil production during a study abroad trip to Spain. I did another Honors Contract with Dr. Porter on precision agriculture that helped prepare me for future studies as I work toward a Ph.D. in Plant Pathology.

Jakeeria Kitchen
Biology, Pre-Professional
Class of 2027

If you are thinking about Honors, I’d encourage you to be optimistic. Honors might sound like a lot of work or like something that is only for people who study all the time. You can be in Honors and still have a life and be involved in student activities. I was surprised at the social and academic benefits of the Program. The Honors Program helped me to get involved here at ABAC and to connect with like-minded students. I made lots of friends in the Honors Seminar and connected with people across different programs. We’ve formed study groups and stayed in-touch to coordinate Honors contracts and build shared schedules.

Jesse Jerls
Agribusiness
Class of 2026

Honors helped me to set personal and professional goals. The Program has helped me to develop a strong, distinctive resume and it’s all the small things you do, like Honors classes, that make you stand out on the job market. I loved my Honors core courses. Honors sociology with Dr. Larsen really opened my eyes to how others’ see things in our society in a way I’d never paid attention to before. I made a great friend group in Dr. Schmeisser’s American Government class. It was a fun space to work out tough ideas together. Honors is definitely worth it if you do the work for it and it opens doors all across campus.

Amy Hernandez
History and Government
Class of 2025

Being in the Honors Program has really helped me to prepare for Law School and a future career in politics. I have especially enjoyed working closely with my faculty mentors, Dr. Cable and Dr. Schmeisser, through Honors course contracts. With Honors contracts, I got a lot of one-on-one discussion about modern day issues and had the chance to explore different forms of political theory, comparing Western thinkers with People of Color. The work I did with Dr. Cable and Dr. Schmeisser helped me to develop professionally, by leading to presentations at the Georgia Undergraduate Research Council conference at Emory and the Georgia Political Science conference. Honors has been a great way for me to tie in research with public life and my professional goals.

Bryson Massey
Forestry
Class of 2027

To anyone considering the Honors Program, I’d say do it. It’s not what you might think it is. Keep an open mind and you will meet people and gain new perspectives. Honors has been an excellent place to connect and interact with students I wouldn’t have met otherwise. I enjoyed the Honors Seminar and it’s Mock UN activity. The class encouraged me to put myself into others’ shoes and to really consider how I might respond to very real, tangible human reactions. The topics from the course, the politics, laws, social connections helped me to think differently about issues in forestry, like endangered species policy.

Emily Rodman
Forestry
Class of 2027

The Honors Program has helped me to develop as a researcher, right from my first year at ABAC. During one of the Program’s Hang Out with Faculty meetings, I connected with Dr. Anderson, the Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences and he invited me to participate as a research assistant on a study he was conducting on flamingo behavior. Together, we monitored flamingos in zoos for stress reactions caused by crowds to study whether people watching changes their behavior. Thanks to Honors, I was able to co-author a paper on our findings that was published in Avian Biology Research, a leading journal on animal psychology.

Apply

Admission to the ABAC Honors Program requires a separate application from the College. We consider students for Honors based on a holistic assessment of academic and intellectual potential. Established academic performance, including GPA and courses taken in high school, factor into our decision-making process, but so do other aspects of your background, like extracurricular involvement, community engagement and service, and how you show your intellectual curiosity, responsibility, independence, and personal goals.

The Honors Program has a rolling application process. Applications are reviewed on a monthly basis throughout the academic year and we send out notification letters in the middle and end of each term.

Honors also awards merit- and needs-based scholarships through our application. To be considered for an Honors scholarship, submit your application by March 1^st. For priority admission to the Honors Program and to ensure placement in Honors courses for the Fall semester, applications should be received by May 1^st.

Application

Contact Us

Tifton:
Dr. Brian Yost
byost@abac.edu
229.391.4974

Bainbridge:
Dr. Dave Nelson
dave.nelson@abac.edu
229.243.3179

Honors Program

Our Mission

Honors' Benefits

Programs

The Honors Core

Upper Division Honors

Honors Societies

Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) Alpha Gamma Epsilon Chapter

Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) Omega Delta Chapter

Tri-Beta

Student Profiles

Apply

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