Honors College | Westmoreland County Community College, Youngwood, Pennsylvania

Challenge Yourself in the Honors College

The Honors College at Westmoreland provides all students the opportunity to challenge themselves academically. Undergraduate Research, the Honors Program, and the academic honorary societies PTK and Psi Beta provide different ways for students to distinguish themselves. Participation in some facets of the Honors College requires a certain GPA but not everything, so all students are invited to explore what the Honors College offers.

APPLY TO HONORS COLLEGE

Students studying at the Science Innovation Center, Youngwood campus

Honors Program

Each semester’s course schedule includes honors courses. They have smaller class sizes than regular sections, allowing students and their instructors to explore academic material in more depth. It is also possible to complete honors-by-contract courses by seeking permission from the instructor of any class to do honors-level work in regular courses. An additional way to earn honors credit is by taking the Honors Seminar class which is a special topics course offered periodically.

Students who earn 12 honors credits and complete 20 hours of community service earn special recognition at commencement and have a designation on their transcript to indicate the achievement.

Any student may sign up for a regularly scheduled honors class. With limits to the class size, preference will be given to Honors College members. Westmoreland believes there are many attributes that lead to success.

Therefore, there is more than one way to be considered for the Honors College. One way is by strong academic performance as represented by a 3.25 high school or previous college grade-point average. Alternatively, you may submit evidence of a particular area of interest or strength that you wish to develop by submitting a short written explanation along with (optionally) any other evidence you have (photographs, recordings, portfolios, newspaper clippings, etc.). 

Honors Program Advisor:  Contact Brian Dunst via email%20or by phone at 724-925-4114.

Undergraduate Research 

Undergraduate Research is a committee of faculty, administrators, and staff who work to support students in research projects at the college. Research may be descriptive, correlative, and/or experimental. The committee supports students in attending conferences and symposiums including the National Conference on Undergraduate Research, Posters on the Hill, or a conference in a student’s respective field of study or interest. Students are paired with individual mentors for enhanced research experiences. The committee is also branching out to support in-class research projects, to fundraise with activities including the Chase the Wolf 5k, and to host events such as a college-wide annual Scholarly Evening and joint activities with other community colleges such as a practice presentation conference.

Undergraduate Research Advisor: Contact Dr. Amanda Reamer via email or by phone at 724-925-4233

Honor Societies

Westmoreland hosts multiple honor societies that celebrate students' academic accomplishments. Click here for more information on recognized honor societies.