MISSION

UHM Undergraduate Honors Program promotes a community and a culture of excellence by supporting students engaged and active on their voyage of learning

A VISION STATEMENT

"As the only public higher education institution in Hawai'i, the UH system bears a special responsibility to prepare a highly educated citizenry" (Entering the University’s Second Century, UH System Strategic Plan, 2002-2010, 4).

The University of Hawai'i remains committed to providing the best possible education to all segments of the people of Hawai'i. Having programs especially for the best and brightest high school students is consistent with this fundamental mission. A land-grant college, the University of Hawai'i at MAnoa must effectively serve all segments of its student population to fulfill its mission as a large and complex public institution for modern higher education.

The specific service of the Honors Program is to provide an enriched curriculum of study designed for the motivated and talented student. This curriculum creates a special college experience for the ablest tier of the state's high school graduates, as well as for qualified mainland and international graduates, thus advancing excellence in undergraduate education with enhanced learning opportunities.

UH Honors at Manoa represents excellence, community, and consistent engagement with one’s education.

The UHM Undergraduate Honors Program promotes a community and culture of excellence by supporting students who are engaged and active on their voyage of learning. This community of learners dedicated to excellence in large part is created through mentoring by peers as well as faculty.

The distinctiveness of Honors is its emphasis on teaching students how to become responsible for their own education, how to navigate their own voyages of learning. This essential trait is the engine for all its curricular and co-curricular vehicles.

By embracing the concept of learning how to be responsible for their own education, Honors students develop minds characterized by openness and curiosity. For them, critical thinking is the expectation, not the exception. Their willingness to consider new ideas and scrutinize long-held beliefs are expressions of minds open to the process of learning.

Each element of the UHM Undergraduate Honors Program contributes to its distinctiveness–critical thinking skills, the process of inquiry that defines research, interdisciplinary courses, faculty who mentor as well as teach students, and a living environment that is also a learning environment. All create a community and culture of excellence. The formal inquiry of research built into the Honors curriculum in particular represents a programmatic opportunity for students to explore their curiosity. The freedom to explore one’s curiosity provides motive on the voyage of learning, leading to the joy of discovery and the excitement of innovation.

The habit of life-long learning that comes from such an enriched undergraduate experience fosters leadership and creates an informed, engaged citizenry.