Long Beach City College’s Honors Program should introduce experience-based activities to its current point system, including guest lectures, Q-and-A sessions with industry professionals and mock job interviews to benefit students’ futures.
Students enrolled in LBCC’s Honors Program are expected to earn 50 points each semester to remain in good standing with the program.
Program participants can earn 30 points once a semester by meeting with an honors program counselor, 10 points for attending a transfer workshop, 15 points for serving as a success center tutor, 20 points for being an honors club officer and 5 points for being a registered member of an honors club.
Although many of these activities encourage participants to engage with the program and develop leadership skills, some are inefficient and not unique to the program.
Requiring participants to meet with an honors program counselor each semester is helpful, but this is something that all LBCC students are expected to do for all programs.
Additionally, most transfer events held on campus are available to all LBCC students, and are not specific to the honors program.
If honors program students are expected to participate in these events every semester, they should be exclusive and worthwhile for the individual and their time.
A great example to follow is Orange Coast College’s Honors Program, where students have the opportunity to attend guest lectures.
Adding this to LBCC’s honors point system would be a great way for students to communicate with like minded scholars and leaders, and create networking opportunities.
Another enhancement to the program would be adding Q-and-A sessions with industry professionals, which would give LBCC’s Honors students personalized insight into their chosen field of study.
Lastly, offering mock job interviews would give honors students the chance to sharpen their interview skills and prepare for a job in their desired field.
This would allow honors students to learn the most desirable traits in their career field, and gain valuable feedback that could help them in the future.
The honors program’s commitment to helping students achieve their transfer goals is commendable; however, it is time for this dedication to go above and beyond four year universities.
If LBCC prides itself on standing out from other community colleges, these same philosophies, practices, and procedures need to be extended to the honors program as well.
