Bunker Hill Community College

Information for Students

The Honors Program

The BHCC Commonwealth Honors Program:
An Invitation to Excellence

The Commonwealth Honors Program offers students the opportunity to study and learn in an academically challenging and enriching learning environment. Students benefit from a learning community with small class sizes, teacher-to-student mentoring, team-taught interdisciplinary courses and access to an Honors Center. Commonwealth Honors students have many opportunities to do research, participate in the statewide undergraduate conference, present their work and/or publish their writings in the Honors journal, Kaleidoscope. Commonwealth Honors Program students receive special recognition at graduation and Honors designation on their transcripts. The Commonwealth Honors Program is affiliated with the National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC) and The Northeast Regional NCHC.

Honors Coursework
Honors work is an additional component of a traditional course in which a Commonwealth Honors Program student works with the course professor to design enriching personalized experiences that earn Honors credit. Examples might be special research in a chemistry or psychology course, an art portfolio or an analysis of an authors works. Honors components may also include local internships at such places as the Museum of Science and/or Service Learning Experiences.

The Honors Seminar is an interdisciplinary three-credit course that focuses each semester on a selected theme. Students explore the semester theme from the perspectives of the natural sciences, social sciences, and the humanities. Students study with fellow honors students from different degree concentrations and programs and develop research skills through individual and group projects.
Recent topics included “The Middle East,” “Prospects and Possibilities of a New Millennium,” “Denial of Diversity - Genocide in the Twentieth Century” and “Boston as a Center of Creativity - Past, Present and Future.” Honors courses are research-oriented, subject-specific courses that are open only to Commonwealth Honors Program students. These courses provide Commonwealth Honors Program students with the opportunity to study a subject in depth and to develop research skills.

Admissions and Program Requirements
Students may be eligible for this program immediately out of high school, after studying at Bunker Hill Community College or studying at another college. To apply to the program, complete an application form available from the Enrollment Services Center and provide two letters of reference.
To be eligible to apply to the Commonwealth Honors Program, students must satisfy at least one of the following criteria:

• Be a current BHCC student and have earned at least 12 credits.
• Be a recent high school graduate with a minimum B+ average.
• Be a transfer student from another college with a minimum 3.50 cumulative GPA. and at least 12 earned credits.
Be a transfer student who has satisfactorily completed work in another college Honors program.

To fulfill the requirement to graduate as a Commonwealth Honors Program Scholar, students must:

• Meet all requirements for your associate degree program;
• Earn a minimum 3.50 cumulative GPA at BHCC;
• Complete at least three courses that include an Honors component;
• Complete the Honors Seminar in which you are required to develop an Honors project and present the results of your research at the Honors Seminar Presentation Program.

Scholarships
The College awards two scholarships to eligible Commonwealth Honors Program students - one to a returning student, and one to a graduating student. Visiting Scholarships page for more information.
For more information about the Commonwealth Honors Program, contact the program co-directors at 617-228-2327, 617-228-3249 or the Enrollment Services Center.

The Writing Place

The Writing Place is a tutoring service sponsored by the English Department. Students come to the Writing Place to work with peer tutors on specific writing tasks, including brainstorming ideas for college writing assignments, organizing rough drafts, revising, editing, and doing library research. The Writing Place tutors are students who have successfully completed their College English program and are taking a course that prepares them to provide effective feedback and assistance. Specific materials and computer resources are available in the Writing Place to supplement class instruction and develop composition skills. The Writing Place, located in E-142, is open during the fall and spring semesters, Monday through Fridays. Hours may vary from semester to semester, depending on tutor availability. Students are encouraged to visit the Writing Place in E142 to schedule weekly sessions with a tutor. Tutoring sessions can also be arranged by contacting the Writing Place at 617-228-3244.

Commonwealth Transfer Compact

What do I need to do?
• Enroll in and graduate with an Associate in Arts degree from BHCC.
• Complete at least 35 credits of General Education courses.

What will I get out of it?
• When accepted to a four-year Massachusetts public college or university, you will be able to transfer a minimum of 60 credits for most majors.

The Commonwealth Transfer Compact is an articulation agreement between the community colleges and all four-year state colleges and universities in Massachusetts. It assists community college students to transfer to upper-division colleges with minimal loss of associate degree credit. The Board of Higher Education approved the current Compact, effective January 1990. Students are eligible for Transfer Compact status if they meet the following requirements:
1. Complete an associate degree with a minimum of 60 credit hours, exclusive of developmental courses,
2. Achieve a cumulative grade point average of 2.00 (in a 4.0 system) or better at the community college awarding the degree,
3. Complete the following minimum general education core, exclusive of developmental courses:
• English composition/writing: six credit hours.
• Behavioral and social science: nine credit hours.
• Humanities and fine arts: nine credit hours.
• Natural and physical science: eight credit hours.
• Mathematics: three credit hours.
The College reviews each graduate's transcript for certification under the Transfer Compact. If the graduate is eligible, the Commonwealth Transfer Compact is noted on the transcript.