Honors New Student Orientation Summer 2023

​​​​​​In order to remain in the Honors College students are required to maintain a GPA of a 3.25 or higher. More information about requirements for application to the Honors College can be found online.

​​​​​​​To graduate in the Honors College through the traditional path, students must complete a minimum of 15 credit hours, typically 5 honors courses. One of those courses must be HON 4390 B (Thesis).

​​​​​​​Honors Courses are meant to be taken based on what you are interested in and what is required in your degree plan. There is not a specific Honors Course that anyone is required to take besides the HON 4390B Honors Thesis course.

​​​​​​​Courses that can transfer for TXST credit can be found in the Transfer Course Equivalency System.

The requirements to graduate in the Honors College with the Honors Studies minor are listed on our website.

1. 1. Deciding when to declare a major and/or minor is up to you as the student. You’ll usually pick a major when you meet with your academic advisor during NSO before your first semester. If you ever want to change your major or declare a minor later on you need to meet with an academic advisor within the college that hosts that major or minor. (ex. Meet with an Honors Advisor to declare the Honors Studies Minor)
   2. There are some majors that do require a minor, there’s a full list on the TXST website. If your major doesn’t require a minor it is completely up to you to declare one or not.
   3. Again, it’s typically up to you as the student what you want your minor to be in (unless your major requires something specific) and there’s a full list of possible minors. You can always ask for advice from an academic advisor within your College and they can help give you some recommendations if needed. You want to keep in mind how many additional credit hours a minor would add to your degree.

Transfer students should have a GPA of 3.25. View the Transfer Planning Guide. Students who are currently members of an honors program should review transfer student information on the Admission Requirements page.

There is a full list and catalog of Honors courses on the Honors College website.

1. 1. It is recommended that you take at least one honors course per semester.
   2. There isn’t necessarily a limit besides what you can make work with your degree plan. We encourage taking as many as you can (within reason).

1. 1. Honors classes are much more discussion based than regular classes. Most honors classes ask that you read articles or parts of a book and come in prepared to talk about the reading(s) each class period. Papers and projects are also quite common.
   2. Honors classes are considered full with 20 students so they are significantly smaller than non-honors courses. 
   3. Most honors classes are labeled as writing intensive.

1. 1. As an incoming freshman you’ll meet with an Honors advisor during New Student Orientation to pick an honors course to register for. For each semester as a current student you’ll want to go to an event called Honors Course Fair. At this come-and-go, browse-style event, honors students engage with professors teaching future honors courses. Attending Meet the Professor Night will help you decide which course(s) you should take as well as give you the chance to request first-day registration access to the course(s). Course requests are only accepted in person during this event. Honors courses can fill quickly, so students are encouraged to attend.
   2. Time tickets for registration can be found on the Office of the University Registrar’s website. Honors Students typically register on the first day, but times vary depending on classification (Freshman vs. Senior).

1. 1.  LLC events can vary greatly from recreational events like holiday parties and video game tournaments, to events that relate to the college itself like honors college and common experience activities.
   2. Non-Laurel residents can participate in many of these events, depending on the purpose of the event. For example, many residents at Laurel’s sister hall, Retama, often participate in many recreational and community building events hosted by Laurel.

1. 1. To become an RA, you must go through an application and interview process, as well as a series of workshops and team-building training once selected for the job. Specific qualifications for the job can be found through Residential Life.
   2. RAs receive monthly pay, free housing and meal plans, and valuable leadership experience.
   3. An RA lives at their workplace, and as such their job never truly stops. They often have to mediate disputes and lead during a crisis, and they devote a lot of time to the community. It’s a stressful and time consuming job, but one that provides with priceless experience in teamwork, communication, leadership, management, and many other invaluable skills. 

LLC students are highly encouraged to take the Honors University seminar for that LLC and at least one Honors course each semester 

1. 1. An Honors Capstone is described as “an original, independent research project undertaken your senior year with the guidance of a faculty mentor.” The capstone fulfills a specific requirement to graduate in the Honors College. The Honors College is the only undergraduate program at Texas State University to require a capstone in order to graduate. Information about the capstone process can be found on the Honors website.
   2. More generally, “research” can refer to any type of exploration of a topic that interests you – ongoing lab work, anthropological fieldwork, etc.

1. Learn more about the honors capstone process and requirements.

1. 1. Students enroll in 4390B Honors Thesis Course after their thesis topic is approved and is generally taken during a student’s senior year or last semester at Texas State. 
   2. The Honors College also offers 4390A Senior Seminar: Thesis Development which can be taken to help prospective thesis writers narrow down their topic. 

1. Our Honors Thesis library has a wide variety of topics and forms. You can look at the library to see what others have done.

1. Tips for picking your capstone advisor can be found on the Honors College website.

1. The Honors College website maintains an active Undergraduate Research website that outlines all of the ways Honors students can present and/or publish their research while at Texas State University. The Honors College offers two presentation outlets in particular: the Texas State Undergraduate Research Journal (TXSTUR) and the annual Undergraduate Research Conference (URC). Please see the links for further info.

1. 1. Our Student Center, commonly known as LBJSC, maintains a searchable database of all recognized student organizations at the University.
   2. You can also click here to see a list of Honors-affiliated organizations.

​​​​​​​Terry Scholar event information will come directly from Terry Scholars at Texas State.

1. 1. For incoming freshman, you’re asked to use the PACE Center in the UAC to get information on classes to take and services to access. The PACE advisors are well-versed in the gen-ed courses that every student is required to take. Once you start moving into classes within your major, you can visit the advising center within your college. Generally, for your first two semesters, you will stick to PACE.
   2. You can also make an advising appointment with the Honors College, where they are tremendously helpful with finding Honors Courses equivalent to the classes in your degree audit.

1. 1. Students can meet with an Honors advisor at any point during New Student Orientation.
   2. When you’re registering for your first semester of college, that is an opportunity to begin finding Honors equivalents to the required Gen-ed courses. Visiting with your Honors advisor will help you understand all the opportunities that you have available before you commit to your first semester classes.

1. 1. You can make an appointment directly online here or send us an email.

First, you should activate your NetID.

After you have activated your Net ID and set a password, you will have access to your Texas State email account. 

1. Go to txstate.edu and click ‘current students’ at the top. 
2. From there, BobCatMail should be the first link.
3. When you click that, it will bring you to a login page.
4. Sign in using your Net ID as your email. (zzz99@txstate.edu)

The password will be whatever you chose during activation.

1. 1. Tension rod/Curtain to put in front of your closet. A lot of people like this to keep their room looking neat.
   2. Ethernet cable! When you have trouble connecting to the internet right before an assignment is due, the ethernet cable will save your life.
      1. If you’re a techier person: Consider an ethernet splitter so it can reach multiple devices.
   3. Shower Caddy. This may seem obvious, but I know a number of people who carried a handful of bottles to and from the showers every time.
   4. Shower shoes. Flip flops work well for this. Just something to keep your feet off the carpet from the room to the shower and back.
   5. Clip Lamps are nice because you can have them clipped to your bed, so you can reach the switch without climbing down.
   6. Water Bottle.

​​​​​​​You can walk to the river in less than ten minutes! It’s really easy to head down there to have a relaxing weekend.

1. 1. A Dean is the person in charge of a particular college within the university. Texas State has ten Deans in charge of various Colleges, and the Honor’s College’s Dean is our very own Dr. Galloway. You can find a list of the most current Honors Staff and Faculty, along with a diagram of the Honors Organization Chart on the Honors Website.

   2. Dr. Kelly Damphousse currently serves as Texas State’s tenth president. Information about the organizational structure of the university and its various departments, schools, and programs can be found online at the Office of the President website.

​​​​​The Dean’s List is a list recognizing high academic achievers within the University. To be eligible for the Dean’s List at the close of any fall or spring semester, an undergraduate student must have earned a minimum Grade Point Average of 3.5 in that semester on at least 12 credit hours. Different Colleges may have rewards for students who get onto the Dean’s list multiple times, but in general it should be seen simply as a representation of your hard work. It also looks good on a resume. 😉

Information regarding all Academic Honors at Texas State University can be found through the Undergraduate Academic Policies webpage.

1. 1. Bring a good laptop that is lightweight and easy to bring back and forth from your backpack.
   2. Don’t forget to grab any and all random cables you have buried in your room. You never know when you’ll need one.
   3. Ethernet cables!
   4. Bring headphones and earbuds in multiples. Especially if you are prone to losing things.
   5. Entertainment. I’d recommend limiting your entertainment to something you’ll use often because space is very limited. If you plan to play console games a bunch, go ahead and bring your Xbox, but if you are generally going to stick to your laptop for movies, you might want to go without a TV in lieu of more storage.