Weekly (sort of) Newsletter

Spring '26 Registration: New Classes 

We opened the registration request form last week and a few courses filled up so quickly that we asked for and received permission to add a section of GOVT 2306 ("Why You Can’t Skip This Class: How Texas Policies Affect Us") on MW at 3:00-4:20 at Highland campus and another section of MATH 2415 ("Data Science Applications") at Highland on TTH at 1:00-2:45 pm, with Gustavo Cepparo as the instructor. 

We will be adding BIOL 2402 (Anatomy & Physiology II) at EVC to the registration request form after 10/17. The title is "Human Physiology: Hacking Health and the Future of the Human Body," and the instructor is Matt Belzer.

Questions? Contact honors@austincc.edu

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Students Needed for Focus Groups: Paid Opportunity 

ACC faculty are leading an effort to help required courses at ACC be more meaningful for students. We could use your help as we investigate what you are connecting with most in these courses. Please consider signing up for a focus group. 

Students who participate in a focus group will receive a $50 Amazon Gift Card at the end of the conversation. All focus groups will be conducted in-person at ACC Highland. 

These focus groups will be led by Honors Government professor Ted Hadzi-Antich. You'll meet for about an hour and a half and discuss your experience in required courses at ACC like English composition, history, government, math and other such courses which pretty much every single ACC student needs to take for almost all of our degrees. 

The deadline to submit the interest form is October 30th. 

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Explore Honors Opportunities at TXST Honors College: Virtual Info Sessions 10/14 and 10/22

You may be aware that we have a transfer agreement with the TXST Honors College. (In order to qualify for automatic acceptance, you must be in "good standing" with the ACC Honors Program, which means you must have successfully completed at least one Honors course.) I recently reconnected with the Dean of the Honors College, Dr. Heather Galloway, and she and her team have decided to put together a couple of virtual info sessions for you:

Are you thinking about your next step after ACC? Join us for a virtual information session to learn more about transferring to Texas State University and the exciting opportunities available through the Honors College.

During this session, you’ll hear directly from the Dean of the Honors College about:

·   Honors College programs and how to graduate with honors

·   Transfer of honors credits from ACC to Texas State

·   Academic and scholarship opportunities at Honors College and Texas State University

·   And much more!

Register now to reserve your spot

·   Tuesday, October 14 at 4:00 PM (via Zoom): Link to register

·   Wednesday, October 22 at 3:00 PM (via Zoom): Link to register

This is a great opportunity to get your questions answered and explore how Honors College at Texas State can help you reach your goals. We look forward to meeting you!

Best regards,
Honors College
Texas State University

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Honors Program Info Session: Join Us for Lunch! 10/17

Have you recently been accepted to the Honors Program? Or have you been a member for a while, but have been hesitant to participate? Then come join us next Friday, October 17th at the HLC Welcome Center from 12:00 pm-1:30 pm. Pizza will be provided, and the plan is to cover courses, scholarships, internships, specialized advising, transfer opportunities, and some of the leadership and service initiatives we've developed for Honors students (UT YCS Fellows Program, INRW peer tutoring, UT LBJ opportunities, etc.). Honors students will talk about their participation in some of these initiatives, and representatives from Transfer Resources will be present. Students who can't make it in person can register via Zoom; the in-person registration form is here.

Friday, October 17th, 12:00 pm-1:300 pm, Highland Campus Welcome Center, Building 1000 (HLC1 2350) 

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Free College Application Week: October 13-19 

ACC's Transfer Services is excited to share information about the NEW Texas Free College Application Week  initiative, which requires universities to offer FREE APPLICATIONS TO TEXAS PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES during the week of October 13-19! This means Texas residents can apply or any – or all – Texas public schools for free for upcoming semesters via the ApplyTexas applications (and the CommonApp for UT Austin). 

Important info for UT hopefuls: not all parts of the application must be completed when filling out the application. Students have until the application deadline to submit supplemental materials via the UT Admissions Portal (essay, letters of recommendation, academic resume)

The Transfer Services team will be hosting hours on campuses to help students. Events will be updated on the Transfer Events Calendar. 

Monday, October 13 

• 10 a.m. -1 p.m. • South Austin Campus • Room 1137

• 12 p.m.-2 p.m. • Hays Campus • Room 1301

• 1 p.m.- 4 p.m. • Highland Campus • Highland Campus Accelerator 

Tuesday, October 14

• 9 a.m -12 p.m. • Northridge Campus • Northridge Student Affairs Suite

• 10 a.m. - 3 p.m •  Highland Campus • Career and Transfer Center, 4.1110.0

• 11 a.m.- 2 p.m. • San Gabriel Campus • San Gabriel Accelerator

Wednesday, October 15

• 10 a.m - 1 p.m. • Riverside Campus • Room 9108

• 1 p.m - 4 p.m. • Round Rock Campus • Round Rock Campus Accelerator

Thursday, October 16

• 9 a.m -12 p.m.  • Rio Grande Campus • Rio Grande Campus Accelerator

• 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. • Highland Campus • Career and Transfer Center, 4.1110.0

• 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. Cypress Creek Campus • Room 2109 (Learning Lab)

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Two Intern Positions for ACC Educating Character Initiative

The Educating Character Initiative at ACC is hiring two paid student interns to join a faculty-led project for Spring 2026:

• Program Coordination & Outreach Intern:  Help plan weekly events, coordinate logistics, and support community engagement across campuses.  Perfect for students interested in event planning, education, or project management.

• Research & Documentation Intern:  Gain hands-on experience in academic research, data collection, and project coordination while supporting faculty in developing educational materials.  Ideal for students exploring careers in education, research, or public service.

Full job descriptions and applications are linked below.  

Both positions are open to current ACC students only, with an application deadline of Monday, October 20, 2025.

• Program Coordination & Outreach Intern:  job description and application

• Research & Documentation Intern:  job description and application

Questions? Contact Arun John (ajohn@austincc.edu), Ted Hadzi-Antich (thadzian@austincc.edu), or Kelly Greenwood (kgreenwo@austincc.edu).

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College Contact Hiring Mentors

I am excited to bring this opportunity to you, as it provides valuable training and work experience--it's a really nice résumé-builder, and the purpose is simply to mentor high school students who aspire to enroll in college. Here is the link for the application, which includes the eligibility requirements. Although it is not stated in the application, the preference is for applicants who are of "traditional" college age (e.g. 18-21).

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2026 MLK Oratory Competition Volunteer Opportunities

Need to fulfill the service requirement for the Honors Scholar tier? The organizers of the MLK Oratory competition, a speech competition for 4th, 5th, and 6th graders, need volunteers to help with event planning and preparation, as well as outreach to area schools. The event is 21 years old, and this year it will be held on January 15th at the ACC Truth, Community Healing & Transformation Center at Highland Campus from 6:30-8:00 pm. For students who are interested in additional service opportunities, there is also a possibility of volunteering at the MLK March and Festival (held at Huston-Tillotson University).  

Please contact Yvette Crawford-Lee (phillicia.crawford-lee@austincc.edu) if you are interested in helping out. Identify yourself as a member of the ACC Honors Program. 

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Richard Macksey National Undergraduate Symposium at Johns Hopkins

Last year, Honors student Eva Ritchie's paper, “Good Grief! Confucius and Cicero’s Expressions of Bereavement,” was accepted for inclusion in the 2025 Richard Macksey National Undergraduate Humanities Research Symposium, which showcases student work across all fields of the humanities. Eva, a Government major who wrote the essay for Dr. Wendy Elle’s Honors World Literature I class, traveled to Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore to present it. The 2026 conference will take place on March 19-21, and the deadline for submission is December 1st. 

Unlike most of the opportunities I promote, this one does not include funding, so please keep that in mind if you decide to apply. 

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Smith College Virtual Transfer Info Sessions

Did you know that ACC Honors Program students transfer to Ivy League School, "little Ivies," and top 10 public schools? In the last couple of years, we've had students transfer to Yale, Brown, Columbia, Cornell, and a wide variety of competitive public universities across the country, UT among them. So when I send out opportunities that seem to be beyond your reach, please don't immediately discount them. I'd like to see you really examine the opportunities--especially if funding is offered. This week we're featuring Smith College, a women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts that is quite generous with financial aid (and has pledged to provide free tuition beginning in Fall 2026 for those who have annual family incomes of $150,000 or less). Here are a few highlights:

• Transfers can apply with 16 - 64 credits: we consider carefully each transfer's academic record on a case-by-case basis and provide a full credit evaluation at the time of admission.

• We also have a program for non-traditional transfers: Ada Comstock Scholars are 24 or older and can apply with 48 to 64 credits.

• All transfers are eligible for generous financial aid: We meet 100% of each student's demonstrated financial need without loans. 

• Unique housing system: Our 41 self-governed student houses are age-diverse and foster an immediate sense of belonging.  

• Five College Consortium: Our partnership in the Five College Consortium provides access to over 7,000 courses on our partner campuses plus additional clubs, libraries and special collections.  

Smith will be hosting virtual transfer info sessions in October and November. Go here, scroll to "Virtual Transfer Q&A" and then click the calendar to find the links for these dates (note that the times listed are Eastern Standard Time):

• Oct 16th from 6-7pm (ET)

• Oct 27th from 5-6pm (ET)

• Nov 7th from 3-4pm (ET)

• Nov 13th from 6-7pm (ET)

You are also encouraged to fill out Smith's Information Request Form. 

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Ready to Become an Honors Scholar?

While taking an Honors class can certainly enhance your transfer applications, becoming an Honors Scholar--a student who takes at least three honors courses, maintains a 3.5 GPA, and engages in select leadership and service activities--can set you apart from your peers in ways that admissions committees find appealing. Becoming an Honors Scholar, for example, will grant you automatic admission to the UT Dallas Hobson Wildenthal Honors College. (We should have that transfer agreement finalized by the end of the fall semester.) 

Honors Scholars receive recognition on their transcripts, a digital badge, and honor stoles for graduation ceremonies. Students who are on track to fulfill the requirements are eligible to apply for the Honors Program scholarship--it is not necessary to have completed all of them to apply. See details below. (If you are applying for the scholarship, please first register your intention to become an Honors Scholar at honors@austincc.edu.) For an explanation of the kinds of leadership and service activities required, visit the Honors Scholar page. 

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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 2025-2026 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 digital badge 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! Seriously, we only had 18 eligible applicants last year!) The applications will be reviewed by a committee composed of Honors faculty and the HSO 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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