Understanding PVCC’s Honors Program
Samantha Aldridge, staff writer
The PVCC honors program is an immersive program that prepares its students for transfer and overall educational gains. Honors Program Coordinator Ann Marie Plunkett said, “The most important thing to note about the honors program is that it provides interactive, smaller size classrooms for like-minded students.”
The program allows students to develop communication, the ability to work in teams,, and to learn hands-on skills. The requirement to be accepted into the program must have a minimum GPA of 3.25 or students who wish to take an honors course without being in the program must meet the prerequisites to enroll in that course.
Some students confuse the honors society and the honors program, but they are different. The honors society highlights involvement with Phi Theta Kappa while the honors program only entails taking honors courses.
Students affiliated with the program are generally applying competitively to other schools, want to take advantage of all learning opportunities at PVCC, or want to receive an honors diploma.
The honors program includes benefits such as having separate scholarship opportunities specifically for honors students. The students participate in extracurricular activities that include leadership development which may qualify them for other unique scholarships. Members also receive assistance and support with internships and transferring.
The group of honors students is vastly diverse in age, with the youngest students being around 14 and the oldest in their 50’s. The program allows volunteer activities.
One of the recent activities the honors students did involved helping The International Rescue Committee receive clothing donations for Charlottesville refugees.
The classes offered are typically core classes and count toward an associate degree. The classes can be accessed on the PVCC website. If anyone has questions regarding the program contact Dr. Ann Marie Plunkett through her email aplunkett@pvcc.edu.
