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| Dr. Thom Brooks (left), executive vice president for instruction and student services at Southwestern Community College, and Cheryl Contino-Conner, executive director of student success, review several Memorandums of Understanding that Southwestern has with universities across the state. |
When Southwestern Community College launched its honors program six years ago, it consisted of one Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Western Carolina University, four students, four contracts and two founding instructors: Dr. Mike Burnette and Dr. Allan Grant.
Six years of exponential growth later, SCC’s honors program now engages 124 students with a total of 264 approved contracts. Seventy-eight faculty mentors are connected to the program, which now boasts partnerships with 16 universities.
“We are forever thankful to WCU for agreeing to our first Honors Program partnership,” said Cheryl Contino-Conner, SCC’s executive director of student success and director of the honors program. “It just seemed like the right thing to do when considering the spirit of the Comprehensive Articulation Agreement, which makes it fairly painless for students to move from NC community colleges to NC universities – we should provide a similar path for the best and brightest students who choose to start their post-secondary education at SCC.
“Budgets are extremely tight these days, and the cost of an education is sky-rocketing,” added Conner, who will transition to dean of students in January following Dr. Phil Weast’s retirement. “Whatever your career goal is beyond high school, Southwestern is positioned to assist any student, at any level. The feedback we are receiving from our MOU partners is rewarding. They are impressed with the rigor of SCC’s Honors Program and are thrilled to receive our Honor students.”
Since the program’s inception, 20 students have graduated from Southwestern with medallion status. SCC’s “Honor Guard” – a status achieved by faculty members after mentoring a minimum of six hours of honor projects) now includes 53 members.
“I continue to be so impressed with how our faculty members embrace this program,” said Dr. Thom Brooks, executive vice president for instruction and student services. “The fact we have so much involvement and buy-in is just further evidence of how important student success is to everyone at our institution.
Regional four-year institutions that have honors program partnerships with SCC include WCU, Appalachian State, Mars Hill, UNC Asheville and Lees-McRae.
Charlotte, N.C. State, UNC Wilmington, UNC Greensboro, UNC Pembroke and North Carolina A&T also have partnerships with Southwestern as do Lenoir-Rhyne, Greensboro College, Gardner-Webb, University of Mount Olive and Johnson and Wales University.
“SCC Honors Program is a community of scholarship – where student and teacher come together to customize an education which strengthens the traditional teaching, exploration and learning of the classroom,” Conner said. “This program best cultivates the academic excellence that is the single variable in defining Southwestern Community College. Southwestern does not host athletics or intramural sports – our focus is solely on three things: academics, developing students to maximize a skill to be an effective worker within our region, and developing student leadership.”
For more information about the honors program at SCC, contact Conner at 828.339.4245 or cheryl@southwesterncc.edu.
