FAQ

The OTC Honors Program is an academic program that provides academically motivated high-achieving students who conduct themselves in a responsible and respectful manner the opportunity to engage with a community of scholars through a variety of individualized or learner-directed experiences. These experiences may include collaboration with instructors and peers, enhanced or additional learning environments, and real-world experiences both in the classroom and beyond to explore learning that is broader, deeper, unique, or more complex than traditional educational experiences.

No application is required to join the OTC Honors Program. To pursue the Honors Program as a part of any OTC degree, enroll in an Honors course of your choice, email honors@otc.edu to request an invite to the Honors Program Canvas site, or speak with your OTC Navigator. The Honors Program can be completed as a part of any OTC degree through a combination of traditional Honors courses/sections and individualized Honors Contract courses completed in regular courses/sections in any area of the College.

• A unique, individualized, and learner-directed educational experience.
• Create lasting connections with like-minded Honors students and dedicated instructors.
• Scholarship opportunities at OTC and at other colleges/universities upon transfer.
• Honors Program graduates earn distinction on their Associate degree at commencement, and on their diploma and transcript upon graduation, a merit earned by less than 1% of OTC graduates.
• Earn honors credits that are transferable to Honors Colleges at many universities including Missouri State, Drury, Missouri Southern, the University of Missouri, and many others.

All new Honors students at OTC should receive an invite to the HONORS PROGRAM course on Canvas – the student portal used by OTC. This is where we will put important information about events, scholarships, and resources. These will be announced multiple times in the weeks before it occurs. When we post these announcements, you should also receive an email sent to your OTC email address.

If you are a current Honors student and do not have HONORS PROGRAM on your canvas page, please contact us at honors@otc.edu to be added.

When you apply for OTC Foundation scholarships, they check to see if you are eligible for any of the Honors scholarships. To apply for OTC scholarships, please click here.

If you have any other questions about the Honors Program, please email us at Honors@otc.edu or call us at 417-447-8905.

For completion of the Honors Program, you must fulfill the following requirements,

• • Complete HON-101: Honors Seminar (3 credits)
    • Offered online each FA/SP/SU Semester
    • Optional “Prior Learning Credit” opportunity available through Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society
  • Complete 12 additional Honors credits
    • May Include:
      • HON-290: Honors Service-Learning
      • HON-195/199: Phi Theta Kappa Officer Development
      • HON-295: Honors Selected Topics
      • Any Honors course/section offered with HON in the section number
        • Ex. COM-105-HON1, ENG-295-HHON1, BIO-135-WHON1
      • Honors Contract Courses supervised by the Honors Office, in which the student works with an instructor in a regular class/section to add honors elements and earn honors credit.
  • Complete an OTC sanctioned Service-Learning Experience
    • Either by completing HON-290: Honors Service-Learning (also counts towards the 15 Honors credits needed to complete the program) or a Service-Learning component in a traditional course/section facilitated by the OTC Office of Service-Learning.

   

  *All classes must be completed with a letter grade of ‘B’ or above to be considered a completed Honors course and count toward the OTC Honors Program completion requirements.

  * For more information about Phi Theta Kappa “Prior Learning Credit”, Honors Contract Courses, or adding a Service-Learning component, please visit Honors Program – Course Substitutes.

  * Receiving Honors distinction is dependent on fulfilling all requirements for completion of the Honors Program and maintaining a cumulative OTC GPA of 3.5 or above.

The OTC Honors Program offers members of Phi Theta Kappa the opportunity to earn OTC Honors credit. PTK members can earn three (3) hours of Honors credit for completing 4 of 5 PTK Edge courses and the Leadership Development Studies training course.

For more information on how to take advantage of this opportunity or how to claim the Honors credits, please visit Honors Program – Course Substitutes.

An Honors Contract is a unique individualized learner-centered educational experience where, based on need, a student may enroll in a regular OTC course/section and with the assistance of the course/section instructor complete additional readings/writings/presentations/etc. in the course to earn honors credit for that non-honors course/section. Honors Contract approval is at the sole discretion of the Honors Program Director and participating faculty member.

For more information on completing an Honors Contract, please visit Honors Program – Course Substitutes.