About Ferris Honors

About the Honors Program

The Honors program was founded in 1997 with the charge of creating a program “that had an international focus, was residential in nature, and would encourage attendance at cultural events by providing tickets to the students free of charge.”

Purpose Statement

The purpose of the Honors Program at Ferris State University is to provide intellectual challenges, resources and support to highly able and motivated students, while encouraging service and leadership for the public good.

Four Columns

In order to make an explicit connection between the purpose of the Program and the requirements, the Director undertook the project of creating a statement of commitment that would make a clear connection between the values of the Honors Program, the requirements the students complete and the outcomes by which we measure progress.

Working with the Honors Student Council, ‘Four columns’ were produced and adopted by the Honors Student Council on October 7, 2014.

We, as Honors students at Ferris State University, aspire to achieve excellence through out commitments to:

• Strive for intellectual autonomy and academic excellence so that we may be prepared to contribute to the advancement of our chosen professions by completing at least 20% of our Ferris coursework in the Honors Program;
• Contribute our time and energy to advance the public good so that we develop as citizens by completing 15 hours of community service per semester, joining a Registered Student Organization and ultimately leading our peers;
• Explore cultural and ethical horizons to engage a global society through attending cultural events and seeking out challenging opportunities for service and leadership;
• Participate in the honors community, abiding by the honor code, to foster curiosity, dialogue and intellectual rigor in ourselves and others.

Vision Statement

As the program matures, it has refined its vision of itself. This is encapsulated in the Vision and Strategic Plan, which was adopted by the Alumni Advisory Board on 12/7/2016:

The Honors College will complement and extend the career-oriented education of Ferris state by providing a holistic undergraduate experience that integrates curricular, co-curricular and residential experiences to develop and foster excellence.