Davis Honors Challenge
Jessica Utts, statistics professor
With the creation of the University Honors Program, students in Davis Honors Challenge must now keep their GPA at 3.25 or above to continue participating – or they must be granted an exception. The honors challenge, created in 1996, is often referred to as a "non-traditional honors program," says Wood. Unlike Integrated Studies, all incoming and on-campus freshmen are eligible to apply. Acceptance is not based on high school grades or SAT scores, but on answers to a series of essay questions.
"We're looking for students who take initiative and are creative thinkers," said program director Jessica Utts, a statistics professor.
Once accepted, honors challenge students have the option of living in the program's new building in Tercero South during their freshman year. They are expected to participate in a number of honors classes, seminars, special sections to regular classes and independent projects, culminating in a yearlong team project to be completed in the fourth year.
‘We're looking for students who take initiative and are creative thinkers.’
Jessica Utts, program director and statistics professor
Unlike the Integrated Studies honors thesis, which is more research-oriented, students completing the Davis Honors Challenge project learn how to work with others to solve real-world problems.
Kirstin Woody, a neurobiology and classics double major who graduated last spring, did one such project. Working on a team with four other students, Woody spent her fourth year laying the foundation for a class to help incoming students get comfortable with the university. The group, sponsored by Vice Provost Wood and Diane Russell, associate student housing director, dubbed their proposed class "University 101: Understanding the Research University." They completed their year-long project in spring, 2005, and saw their efforts bear fruit a year later with the debut of a freshman seminar carrying the same title.
Woody said the experience of working closely with a group to accomplish a goal was a rewarding one.
"It was a full team experience," she said. "We were so grateful that we were working together. We all felt that the person to the left of us did just as much as us."