Weekly (sort of) Newsletter

Spring '25 Honors Courses and Registration--we've added Statistics!

Late-breaking development: MATH 1342 ("Exploring Social Justice Issues through Data") will be offered on MW at HLC from 1:30-2:50 by Daniel "Fitz" Fitzpatrick

You can see all of the Spring '25 Honors courses on the college's course schedule page. Now is the time to start planning, as we will open the registration request form on October 7th. We'll announce when the form is open; some courses fill up very quickly, so submitting the request early assures your seat in the class, as we register in the order of requests received. (Remember, only Honors Program staff can register you due to the restricted nature of these courses.) If you need some guidance about what courses to take, our Honors advisor Jana McCarthy has more appointments November, but if you need help now, she is recommending that you email her: jana.mccarthy@austincc.edu.   

For general questions about registration, please contact honors@austincc.edu. Our support staff members Professor Melissa Foote and Professor Marcel Pons Ventura are eager to help

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Congrats to OUR HDFS Fellows at Texas State University

Honors Psychology majors Coral Brundige, Isabel Castillo-Rosatti, Renita Edward, and Morgan Gaither have been accepted to the Opportunities for Undergraduate Research in Human Development & Family Sciences (OUR HDFS) Fellowship Program at Texas State University. During this 25-week program supported by the National Science Foundation, participants will be paired with faculty and graduate student mentors, conduct research, and learn about graduate school and careers in HDFS. All participants will receive a stipend of $5625.

We are super proud of these Honors students, and we'll be featuring their bios on our social media in the coming days. 

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KOOP Radio Volunteers on the Air

Turn that dial to 91.7, and you'll soon be able to hear the dulcet voices of Asfa Awan, Tracie Federwisch, and Matthew Ferguson--all of whom have been working on promos for the station as part of a collaboration between Koop Radio and the ACC Honors Program. There are currently 21 students in this year's cohort.

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Texas Tech Honors College Virtual Transfer Info Session Today at 5:00 (10/1)

Assistant Dean Chad Cain of Texas Tech Honors College will be hosting an info session today at 5:00 pm. If you've never considered Lubbock, there are several reasons why you should. Not only does Texas Tech have a well-funded Honors College that provides students with a variety of paid experiential learning/research opportunities (and extracurricular activities), but the Honors College administrators are extraordinarily nice people--who want to provide a pathway to ACC Honors students because they're impressed by the Riverbats who have already transferred there.

Tuesday, October 1st Zoom link (5:00 pm): passcode 374468  

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ACC Casting Call is happening 10/2 and 10/3 at ACCTV's Studio 

From ACCTV:

We are hoping to get the word out to students and alumni in your areas about our open casting call set for October 2-3 from 9 AM- 3 PM (Bldg 4000, Room 4.2415).  No appointments are needed and folks can show up.  We'll be looking to cast roles for future ACC ads and campaigns, program testimonials, social media and on air talent for ACCTV programming.  Students will be paid for any work they are hired to do.  Student Affairs will be there as well!

Below is a poster and slide to help post up and promote this in your areas if you could!

Website is austincc.edu/talent.  

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Building 5000 Town Hall (10/10) and Survey

Would you like to have a say in how Building 5000 is developed? (Would you like to advocate for, ahem, an Honors Lounge for students?) Then fill out this survey and attend the Building 5000 Town Hall on October 10th. 

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Calling English Majors: Conference Opportunity

**Sigma Tau Delta is the International English Honor Society

The University of Texas at Dallas and Texas Tech University are now accepting submissions of creative work and critical essays for the Sigma Tau Delta Southwestern Regional Conference.  Students (high school, undergrad, and graduate) as well as Sigma Tau Delta members and alums can submit work that connects to this year's theme: One of Ours. 

Submission Deadline: Sunday October 12 

• Visit Sigma Tau Delta's Regional Events page for submission guidelines and process. 

Conference info: 

• Date:  Saturday, October 26, 2024, 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. CST

• Location:  Virtual Event (Teams)

• Registration Cost: Free

• Purpose: The 2025 Sigma Tau Delta Convention theme is "One of Ours" and the convention (March 2025) ends our Centennial Celebration Year. Preparing for this convention, you are invited to join us for the Southwest Region Conference (virtual on MS Teams) on Saturday, October 26.

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NASA Community College Aerospace Scholars (NCAS) is now accepting applications

We've had many Honors students join NCAS, and we'd like to see you take advantage of this one-of-a-kind opportunity, too. (You don't even have to be a STEM major to participate, as NASA needs folks from a variety of disciplines.) Check out the details here and attend one of the info sessions listed below. If you complete any of the missions, let me know. 

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The Mellon Humanities Collaboratory: Fully Funded Summer Research Opportunity

Interested in escaping Texas during the summer and doing research in the Humanities? See details below! In 2023, we sent two ACC Honors students to Baltimore: Adelaide Rouech-Beard (Art History & Sociology) and Zek McCormick (Philosophy & Computer Science). We'd love to send more students this year. If you apply and are accepted, definitely let me know! Also, I have a couple of sample proposals, so touch base with me if you're interested: athomas2@austincc.edu. 

I’m writing to invite Austin Community College students to apply to a fully funded summer research program hosted by Johns Hopkins University. The Mellon Humanities Collaboratory provides emerging humanities scholars currently enrolled in community college with a generous summer stipend of $6,000 for ten weeks of full-time mentored research. On top of the stipend, travel to and from Baltimore and housing at our beautiful campus are included in the award at no cost to the student. The program will be held on the Johns Hopkins University Homewood campus in Baltimore, Maryland, from May 27 through August 2, 2025.

With support and mentorship from Johns Hopkins faculty and research staff, Humanities Collaboratory participants design their own research projects in any area of the humanities. Using a student-centered, peer-modeling approach, the Collaboratory invites students to work together constructively while pursuing their individual projects. This highly successful model develops undergraduates as subject matter experts and prepares them for further study in the humanities at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Our website has more information, including videos produced by previous years’ participants detailing the impact of the program.

Applications for the 2024 program are open now through December 2, 2024. Due to restrictions on the Mellon funding, the program is open to U.S. citizens and permanent residents only. The only other eligibility requirements are current enrollment in a community college and an interest in humanities research. The online application can be found here.

We are hosting a series of virtual info sessions over the coming weeks. Please share the following links with your students and encourage them to register for a session:

·       Wednesday, October 9, from 2:00 to 3:00 pm EST: register here.

·       Wednesday, October 16, from 12:00 to 1:00 pm EST: register here.

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Honors Program Scholarship Is Open: Deadline 11/1

The ACC Honors Program Scholarship is open, and applications are due by November 1st. This scholarship is awarded in the spring only, and we will award at least 5 scholarships of $1000 each. 

In order to be eligible for the scholarship, you must 1) have taken or be currently taking at least one Honors course, 2) declared your intention to become an Honors Scholar with honors@austincc.edu (just email us and say you'd like to become one), and 3) have at least a 3.5 GPA. That does not mean that you must have fulfilled all of the Honors Scholar requirements at the time of application; you just need to be heading in that direction. (The idea is that the scholarship money can help you to complete your remaining requirements by paying for additional courses.) Students who have already received a $2500 ACC Foundation Open Scholarship for the 2024-2025 are not eligible to apply, unfortunately.

What is the purpose of the Honors Scholar tier? We wanted to provide students with an "Honors portfolio," of sorts, which will make them even more competitive transfer/job applicants. Right now, everyone who takes an Honors course has that course designated as Honors on their transcript, but if you become an Honors Scholar, you'll receive what is known as an endorsement on your transcript (basically a fancy stamp that signifies completion of a special initiative/program of study). You will also receive a microcredential that you can use for LinkedIn, transfer applications, etc. The endorsement demonstrates a level of rigor and involvement that university admissions committees tend to find very attractive--especially when paired with an application essay that highlights your leadership and service activities as an Honors Scholar. Also, admissions offices are familiar with this kind of tier; Honors Scholars are common at many community colleges and universities.

Here is where you'll go to fill out the general application--make sure you check the box that asks if you are in the Honors Program--and here is the scholarship itself. You will not be competing with the entire ACC population; you'll be competing with Honors students who have registered their intention to become Honors Scholars only. (That's a relatively small pool!) The applications will be reviewed by a committee composed of Honors faculty and an Honors advisor. To register your intention to become an Honors Scholar, please contact honors@austincc.edu. You'll receive instructions about how to proceed.

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Calling Fall 2024 Graduates: The College Wants to Spotlight You

ACC Communications plans to highlight a series of students who will be graduating in December, and they would specifically like to write stories about students who have taken/are taking Honors courses and are also involved in Honors Program or other college activities (Think YCS Fellows, peer tutoring, HSO, SGA, PTK, etc.). Or, hey, maybe you're an Honors Scholar. If you're graduating and any of these descriptions fit, please reach out to me: athomas2@austincc.edu

From Communications: We would love the share their stories and help promote programs throughout the semester, especially leading up to the ceremony. Students will have multiple opportunities throughout the semester, including video, photography, writing, social media, and more. We will work directly with students to determine what is best for them.

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