Mission
The Norbert O. Schedler Honors College identifies highly motivated students, immerses them in a learning community where they can examine who they are and practice who they want to become, and challenges them with opportunities for growth. The Honors College equips students from across disciplines with the tools and skills to lead flourishing lives and develops them as conscientious citizen-scholars prepared to make a difference.
Vision
The Norbert O. Schedler Honors College strives to prepare students to serve as global leaders ready to confront the complex challenges of our modern world. We aim to do this by building a community in which every person is valued, included in the conversation, and prepared for discussions of the salient problems of our time. We aspire to be known both locally and nationally for innovation and excellence in higher education.
Values
We live in a world where the nature of the problems we face requires a variety of skills, approaches, experiences, and perspectives. To this end, the Honors College values INTERDISCIPLINARITY: the integration of knowledge that allows us to recognize bias, transcend disciplinary borders, and construct meaningful context. In order to promote human flourishing for all, we seek to create an INCLUSIVE environment in which we respect the similarities and differences in our community. We value CURIOSITY, through which we come alive to ourselves and what is around us; we take up the questions that are in the never-ending CONVERSATION among people past, present, and future, and shape them carefully so they point to routes of INQUIRY. This process demands of us persistence and COURAGE to take intellectual risks, to explore our discomfort, and to stay in the conversation. We value EXCELLENCE, striving to be our best selves, individually and collectively. These values nurture a community that encourages informed and responsible action.
Guiding Principles
Inclusion Statement
The Norbert O. Schedler Honors College upholds that diversity fuels the scholarly advancement of knowledge. In order to foster excellence and prepare culturally competent leaders, we seek to create an environment of inclusiveness and respect for the similarities and differences in our community. Through thoughtful conversation about ethnicity, race, socio-economic class, gender, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, age, and ability, we expand our minds and move beyond raising awareness toward creating sustainable social change.
Interdisciplinarity Statement
The Norbert O. Schedler Honors College provides an interdisciplinary forum through which the integration of knowledge allows one to recognize bias, transcend disciplinary borders, and construct meaningful context. Interdisciplinary understanding entails seeing an issue from an array of perspectives and recognizing how alternative approaches influence one another, which leads to a holistic understanding of complex issues.
Leadership Statement
The Norbert O. Schedler Honors College provides a constructive forum that fosters the cultivation of knowledge, skills, and behaviors that develop capacity to effectively communicate and interact with others in order to accomplish a goal in a manner that is as free as possible from prejudice and presupposition and that reflects high ethical standards.
