San Jac offers students a variety of Honors courses across their campuses. Honors courses are built to provide enriched educational experiences for students and leadership opportunities. San Jac specifically offer Honors Biology 1 and 2 courses for non-STEM majors.
“[The course] fulfills the natural science requirements for a non-science major degree plan and helps give the Honors students the needed number of honors courses to graduate with honors,” says Dr. Russ, Professor of Honors Biology 1 and 2.
Students can register to take Honors Biology 1 or 2 for non- science majors during the Spring 2025 semester. Dr. Russ recommends every student enroll in an honors course.
“[Students] may not know the extent of their academic abilities until they try. Why not step up and challenge [themselves] in an honors class,” says Russ.
Taking an Honors course will provide students with classroom benefits such as more attention from their instructor as Honors classrooms are limited to 15 students, improved critical thinking skills, better collaboration experiences with peers, and demonstrate to future employers their willingness to challenge themselves.
The Honors Biology for non-majors and regular Biology for non-majors aren’t different content-wise. Both courses will teach students the foundation of biological concepts and their applications in the real world. The only difference is Honors courses require students to do an Honors project.
During the Fall 2024 semester, Dr. Russ’s Honors Biology 1 and 2 courses conducted their honors projects at Armand Bayou Nature Center, located in Pasadena, Texas. The Honors Biology 1 class participated in fieldwork on a pontoon boat, analyzing the water quality of three different locations of the bayou. In Honors Biology 2, students did an ecological survey of the bayou and nature center.
The goal of the Honors Biology for non-majors is to get more students interested in science.
“Every semester, I get students coming up to me saying they are scared and not sure if they will be successful in a science course. I want to remove this fear so the students can truly appreciate science”, says Russ.
Students interested in taking one of these courses must first apply to be in San Jac’s Honors program by visiting https://www.sanjac.edu/programs/honors/, if they are not already a part of the program. Once the student is accepted, they can enroll in either course using the course catalog provided by their campus honors coordinator.
For more information on Honors Biology for non-majors courses, contact Dr. Russ via email at [email protected], visit the Honors Program website, and check out the Honors program’s recent visit to Spain.
