Honors Aggie Core Values Faculty Fellows
Dear Faculty,
I am excited to share with you our plans for the new Honors Academy and the associated Honors minor that will be rolled out in Fall 2025 and invite you to join us in shaping this experience for the next generation of Honors students at Texas A&M!
The minor, which was approved by the Faculty Senate in December, will replace the existing institutional transcript distinction, Honors Fellows, as the university-level Honors distinction open to undergraduates from all majors.
The Honors minor will enhance the undergraduate Honors experience by streamlining requirements, focusing efforts in small seminar experiences with faculty, and building on the six university Aggie Core Values (ACV). The minor also provides an advantage to students in that it makes course work taken to complete minor requirements eligible for federal financial aid.
The Honors minor course of study will consist of 18 hours, including 13 hours of Honors courses in the student’s major or major-aligned courses. The remaining 5 hours will come from new seminars built around the Aggie Core Values of Respect, Excellence, Leadership, Loyalty, Integrity, and Selfless Service. Students will cover all of these values survey-style in a first-year seminar, followed by deeper exploration in seminars dedicated to their choice of the values.
Both the survey and focused seminars will have a common reading with a menu of suggestions for additional readings, but there is the opportunity for Honors ACV Faculty Fellows to customize the experience based on their interests and expertise. For example, “Groundwork on the Metaphysics of Morals” by Kant might be a common read to set up a discussion of Respect for all students in the first seminar. “Thinking in Systems” by Meadows might be a common read for Excellence. An index of suggested readings and associated reflections can be found at ACV Suggested Readings-Rationales-Reflections.xlsx. Example syllabi can be found at HONR Example Syllabi.pdf.
The first cohort of Honors ACV Faculty Fellows selected to teach these seminars will be instrumental in bringing this vision to life through a collaborative process. Faculty Fellows will be invited to form a committee to determine the common readings and finalize reflection rubrics. Committee participation is not mandatory.
If selected as an Honors ACV Faculty Fellow, you would be expected to attend a 2-day preparatory workshop in Spring 2025 and teach HONR 101 in Fall 2025 and HONR 102 in Spring 2026 (1 credit/semester) as an overload. Preference will be given to applicants who indicate willingness to teach in Fall 2026/Spring 2027, as well. The expected payment will be $2000/semester.
Informational sessions are scheduled on Tuesday, January 21 from 9:00-10:00 AM in Henderson Hall Room 103, and Wednesday, February 5, 9:00-10:00 AM in JKW Administration Building Room102.
Application
https://tamu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bPlOyD4SwOqNwto
Timeline
Honors Aggie Core Values Faculty Fellow application opens: February 1, 2025
I look forward to addressing any questions you might have and receiving your application!
Best,
Jon Kotinek ‘99
Director
I am excited to share with you our plans for the new Honors Academy and the associated Honors minor that will be rolled out in Fall 2025 and invite you to join us in shaping this experience for the next generation of Honors students at Texas A&M!
The minor, which was approved by the Faculty Senate in December, will replace the existing institutional transcript distinction, Honors Fellows, as the university-level Honors distinction open to undergraduates from all majors.
The Honors minor will enhance the undergraduate Honors experience by streamlining requirements, focusing efforts in small seminar experiences with faculty, and building on the six university Aggie Core Values (ACV). The minor also provides an advantage to students in that it makes course work taken to complete minor requirements eligible for federal financial aid.
The Honors minor course of study will consist of 18 hours, including 13 hours of Honors courses in the student’s major or major-aligned courses. The remaining 5 hours will come from new seminars built around the Aggie Core Values of Respect, Excellence, Leadership, Loyalty, Integrity, and Selfless Service. Students will cover all of these values survey-style in a first-year seminar, followed by deeper exploration in seminars dedicated to their choice of the values.
Both the survey and focused seminars will have a common reading with a menu of suggestions for additional readings, but there is the opportunity for Honors ACV Faculty Fellows to customize the experience based on their interests and expertise. For example, “Groundwork on the Metaphysics of Morals” by Kant might be a common read to set up a discussion of Respect for all students in the first seminar. “Thinking in Systems” by Meadows might be a common read for Excellence. An index of suggested readings and associated reflections can be found at ACV Suggested Readings-Rationales-Reflections.xlsx. Example syllabi can be found at HONR Example Syllabi.pdf.
The first cohort of Honors ACV Faculty Fellows selected to teach these seminars will be instrumental in bringing this vision to life through a collaborative process. Faculty Fellows will be invited to form a committee to determine the common readings and finalize reflection rubrics. Committee participation is not mandatory.
If selected as an Honors ACV Faculty Fellow, you would be expected to attend a 2-day preparatory workshop in Spring 2025 and teach HONR 101 in Fall 2025 and HONR 102 in Spring 2026 (1 credit/semester) as an overload. Preference will be given to applicants who indicate willingness to teach in Fall 2026/Spring 2027, as well. The expected payment will be $2000/semester.
Informational sessions are scheduled on Tuesday, January 21 from 9:00-10:00 AM in Henderson Hall Room 103, and Wednesday, February 5, 9:00-10:00 AM in JKW Administration Building Room102.
Application
https://tamu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bPlOyD4SwOqNwto
Timeline
Honors Aggie Core Values Faculty Fellow application opens: February 1, 2025
- Application closes: March 1, 2025
- Faculty Selected: April, 2025
- Inaugural faculty cohort planning meetings: April-May 2025
I look forward to addressing any questions you might have and receiving your application!
Best,
Jon Kotinek ‘99
Director