Commonwealth College

Contact: D. Cory Pols

Office: 504 Goodell

Phone: 545-2483

E-mail: comcol@comcol.umass.edu

Web site: www.comcol.umass.edu

Dean: Linda L. Slakey; Director of Administration: Brett Snowden; Director of Advising: D. Cory Pols; Director of Communication and Program Development: Meredith Lind; Director of Community Service Learning: John Reiff; Learning Communities Coordinator: Melissa Beesley; Office of National Scholarship Advisement Faculty Coordinator: Susan Whitbourne.

Commonwealth College is the honors college at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, offering a variety of educational, service, social, and advising opportunities to support its over 2,000 academically talented students. Commonwealth College is a campuswide program; students from all majors in every college are eligible to join the honors college.

The heart of Commonwealth College is to promote the love of learning. The curriculum of the College emphasizes inquiry and facilitates critical analysis, independent research, collaborative work, and effective communication skills. Consistent with the land-grant mission of the University, Commonwealth College also promotes engagement with society. The College affords its students many opportunities for engagement through a variety of academically based opportunities including internships, co-ops, experiential learning courses, leadership training, and community service learning courses. The College also promotes student leadership through specific leadership courses, through its speaker series and alumni mentoring/shadowing programs, and by encouraging student participation in College activities including peer mentoring, committee work, and activity planning.

Honors students experience the advantages of a small college and the wide-ranging opportunities of a nationally recognized research university. The College encourages students to undertake research and supports their efforts by helping to identify faculty mentors, teaching thesis workshops, and offering research fellowships for financial assistance. The College also offers a lecture series that brings distinguished visitors to the campus to speak on selected national issues, publishes a newsletter, sponsors service projects and student gatherings, and administers a competitive awards program.

First-year honors students may select from several residential options such as theme-based honors learning communities in the Orchard Hill Residential Area, the Talent Advancement Programs (TAP) in the Southwest Residential Area, and Thatcher Language House.

Advising

All students in the College are encouraged to meet regularly with a Commonwealth College adviser, as well as with an adviser in the department of their major. Faculty, staff, and peer advisers are available to assist students with their questions or concerns as they progress through their academic careers. This includes advice on honors course selection; how to integrate their honors requirements with their major department, academic college and other University requirements, study abroad and community service; and referral information about other services. Graduating honors students may request a letter of recommendation for prospective employers and graduate schools.

Each department of a student's major has a departmental honors coordinator who advises students on the subset of requirements associated with departmental honors. Advising concerning other academic matters (e.g., late course adds, late course drops, credit limit increases) are handled through the advising office of the student's academic college.

The College's Office of National Scholarship Advisement (ONSA) assists eligible students applying for national competitive fellowships such as the Rhodes, Marshall, Fulbright, and Truman Scholarships. ONSA advises students on requirements, qualifications, personal statements, and the interview process.

The Curriculum

The honors curriculum includes entirely enriched honors courses, colloquia, interdisciplinary seminars, independent study, service learning, and a culminating experience requirement. The culminating experience is a six-credit activity that may range in scope from the more traditional thesis to approved capstone courses to projects involving synthesis of academic study, guided reflection, and experience gained through community service, study abroad, or internship.

Community Service Learning (CSL) is a core value of Commonwealth College. Many honors courses have community service built into the coursework; examples include American Popular Culture and Violence in American Culture. Several courses focus on mentoring and tutoring opportunities, including mentoring youth of color, mentoring middle school youth, and tutoring young people in low-income housing cooperatives. Students may add a CSL component to any course in the University through a one- to two-credit CSL Honors Independent Study. First-year students may apply to participate in IMPACT, a CSL residential learning community. The Citizen Scholars Program offers scholarships and leadership training for students engaged in challenging work linking academics and community outreach. The University of Massachusetts Amherst Office of Community Service Learning at Commonwealth College promotes and coordinates honors and non-honors service learning opportunities that link theory with practice to enhance the learning of academic material and the practical understanding of society, citizenship, and community.

Honors Requirements

All students who complete Commonwealth College requirements will graduate as Commonwealth College Scholars. These requirements include a GPA of 3.2 or better, foundation skills, honors courses, and a culminating experience. To graduate with higher Latin honors, students must successfully complete the requirements of Commonwealth College and attain a minimum GPA of 3.5 for magna and 3.8 for summa cum laude. Cum laude will be determined by GPA and residency credits alone. Note: to graduate with any level of honors a student must complete 48 graded credits in residence. Departmental or Interdisciplinary Honors are awarded in addition to Commonwealth College and Latin honors. Specific requirements vary depending on a student's major.

Commonwealth College students must satisfy foundation requirements in three areas. The writing requirement is satisfied by completion of the General Education College Writing requirement (ENGLWP 112H or 113H or exemption). The computer literacy requirement is satisfied through completion of specific assignments sent to and submitted by students by email (all Commonwealth College students are required to maintain and regularly monitor an email account). The oral communications requirement is performed through successful completion of three one-credit Dean's Book courses.

A minimum of eight honors courses must be completed with grades of B or better. These eight honors courses must include: College Writing (ENGLWP 112H or 113H); two other General Education courses, one of which must have an Interdisciplinary (I) designation; and the Dean's Book series (students must complete three one-credit seminars, Honors 191D once and 391D twice; the three credits count as meeting the Commonwealth College requirement for a second interdisciplinary honors course). Three of the eight honors courses must be at the 300 level or above, and two must comprise a six-credit culminating experience ending in a 499-numbered course. Accommodations may be made for those entering the College after the freshman year. Under no circumstances will the Dean's Book requirement or the culminating experience requirement be waived. Students who transfer into Commonwealth College having completed an associate's degree through a certified Commonwealth Honors Program are recognized as having completed the first two years of their Commonwealth College requirements.

Students are encourage to integrate international study, internships, cooperative education, and service learning into their honors experience. Portions of this work may be approved as substitutions to fulfill honors course requirements. For details, call or visit the Commonwealth College office.

Citizen Scholars Program Requirements

Commonwealth College sponsors the Citizen Scholars Program, a two-year program exploring the linkage between community service, public policy, and active citizenship. Students apply to the program, which accepts approximately 15 to 20 students each year, during the spring of their freshman or sophomore year. Any University student who has a demonstrated record of prior community service, a commitment to future community service, and a cumulative GPA of 3.2 or higher is eligible to apply. The program provides a scholarship award of $1,000 a year for two years. Citizen Scholars may also receive support for summer internships in public policy or community service administration. The program requires 17-19 credits of coursework and a community service component:

ANTH 297H The Good Society

HONORS 291S Tools for Change

HONORS 391S Organizing for Change

HONORS 492C Public Policy and Citizen Action

A fifth community service learning course chosen from a list of electives

60 hours of community service in each of the four program semesters.

International Scholars Program Requirement

Commonwealth College and the International Programs Office co-sponsor the International Scholars Program (ISP), which allows qualified students to integrate international studies coursework and study abroad during their undergraduate years. The program is highly competitive with approximately 15 slots per year. Benefits of the program include individual advising for the integration of a student's major requirements and study abroad, ongoing mentoring by a faculty member from a related international field, and limited funding for study abroad via non-need-based scholarships. Qualified students are invited to apply in their freshman year. Applicants should have a cumulative GPA of 3.2 or higher and a commitment to pursuing international experiences or studies that will provide a global context for both their course of study and their career paths. The program requires 18-20 credits of coursework:

1) Sophomore year:

HONORS 291I International Issues

HONORS 291J Cross-cultural Preparation

International activities attendance requirement (four activities per semester)

2) Ongoing contextual coursework:

Twelve credits of foreign language and/or other coursework related to the student's international focus, which may be taken in the U.S. or while abroad.

3) Junior year:

Study abroad.

4) Senior year:

Cross-cultural re-entry seminar

Mentor members of new ISP class

Presentation of 499 Culminating Experience to ISP group.

Admission Information

There are three ways to enter Commonwealth College:

1) Admission Based on College Performance

Students may apply if they have a 3.2 overall cumulative average and a 3.2 in their most recent semester.

2) Admission Based on High School Performance

Entering first-year students are admitted by invitation. Each student's application to the University is evaluated on the basis of academic achievement in high school, test scores, an essay by the student, and evidence of leadership and community service. Average first-year honors students entering in Fall 2001 ranked in the top five percent of their high school class, attained a weighted high school GPA of 4.0 in their academic coursework, and scored 1315 on their SATs.

3) Transfer Admission

Transfer students with a 3.2 or better cumulative average must provide a complete transfer transcript and a letter of introduction, and apply either during transfer summer orientation in July or within the first four weeks of their initial semester. Students who completed an associate's degree through a certified Commonwealth Honors Program may transfer directly into Commonwealth College. Note: Petitions for exceptions to the residency requirement specified above may be made to the Dean of Commonwealth College.

The Courses

Several kinds of honors courses are offered as follows:

Enriched honors courses are separate sections of departmental courses that are limited to 25 students. These courses are designated with an H following the course number (Psychology 100H) and may carry 3 or 4 credits.

Honors Colloquia are 1-credit honors sections appended to regular 3-credit courses. They of-ten develop topics in greater depth than in the cognate course; however, it is not unusual for colloquia to introduce totally new material or experiences. Colloquia are designated H0 following the course number (Anthropology 317/H01), and are limited to 25 students. Content may be predetermined by the instructor, or spontaneously generated by students and instructor during the early classes of the semester.

191D, 391D Dean's Book are one-credit honors seminars. Students read and respond to a book chosen by Commonwealth College for the semester. The 100 level is for students taking the seminar for the first time. Students may repeat the 300 level as needed up to a total of three credits from 191D and 391D combined. The three credits count as meeting the Commonwealth College requirement for a second interdisciplinary honors course.

291I International Issues is the required entry course for students accepted into the International Scholars Program. Prerequisite: acceptance to ISP program.

291J Cross-Cultural Preparation is designed to help ISP students with preparation for their study abroad experience. Prerequisite: HONORS 291I International Issues and acceptance to ISP program.

291S Tools for Change is the second-semester course in the Citizen Scholars Program. Students learn the use of such tools as political mobilization, participatory action research, and public policy initiatives while they are engaged in collective work toward structural change regarding a significant social problem. Prerequisite: ANTH 297H and acceptance to CSP program.

391S Organizing for Change is the third-semester course in the Citizen Scholars Program. This course engages the tools learned during the previous semester and prepares students to implement action projects during their final semester. Prerequisite: HONORS 291S and acceptance to CSP program.

192, 292, 392, 492 Honors Interdisciplinary Seminars are directly sponsored by the Commonwealth College, and publicized prior to each semsester. Classes are highly interactive in nature and feature distinguished guest professors from several fields. Some of these courses carry General Education credit. Examples include American Portraits (IU), and The American Family (IU).

196, 296, 396, 496 Honors Independent Study involves frequent interaction between instructor and student. The student and the sponsoring instructor must fill out a contract which is available at the Commonwealth College office. Qualitative and quantitative enrichment must be evident on the proposed contract before consent is given to undertake the study.

196S, 296S, 396S, 496S HIS Community Service Learning allows a student, under the guidance of a faculty sponsor, to engage in community service learning for academic credit. Requirements include 30 hours of relevant, course-related community service for each CSL credit, a reflective journal, attendance at a mid-semester reflection session, and a paper containing an analysis of the CSL experience and its link to academic course content.

297P Peer Leadership covers conceptual frameworks and experiential learning related to explorations of self, self and other, and groups. The course covers a variety of leadership topics and issues of social justice, diversity, and wellness. Instructors use an emerging design for the experiential portion of the course, which allows for hands-on training to develop skills necessary to be an effective honors peer adviser or mentor, e.g., interpersonal communication skills.

397M, 397N, 397S, 397T Community Service Learning Mentoring courses focus on mentoring and tutoring opportunities, including mentoring youth of color, mentoring middle school youth, and tutoring young people in low-income housing cooperatives.

198, 298, 398, 498 Honors Practica are 1- or 2-credit Pass/Fail skill-oriented courses which allow honors students to work together in small groups: for example, Student Initiated Seminars and Peer Advising Practica. These practica cannot be used to meet honors academic course requirements.

492C Public Policy and Citizen Action is a capstone course of the Citizen Scholars Program. Its goal is to help students integrate and build upon their past community service courses and experiences and to prepare them to become citizen leaders with the skills, motivation, and knowledge to help solve community problems. Students in this course implement the project they have designed in the previous course. Prerequisite: HONORS 391S and acceptance to CSP program.

499 Culminating Experience may begin with either a 499-numbered course or a graduate-level seminar, but must end with a 499-numbered course. The culminating experience is a six-credit activity that may range in scope from the more traditional sequence of honors research and thesis, to concurrent or sequential capstone courses, to projects ranging from a case study to a synthesis of academic study, guided reflection, and experience gained through community service, study abroad, or internship. Students should consult a Commonwealth College adviser before undertaking a culminating experience.