University Studies

University College provides oversight and operations for the following University-wide programs and academic support services (each housed in the Department of University Studies):

English as a Second Language (ESL) Study and Tutorial Center
Honors Program
Joint Enrollment Honors Program
KSU 4401/Senior Year Experience
Learning Support Programs
Math Lab
Supplemental Instruction

The ESL (English as a Second Language) Program/ESL Study and Tutorial Center

The ESL Program in the Department of University Studies (University College) houses the ESL Study and Tutorial Center—an attractive, comfortable space that provides students computers for academic work and an extensive selection of ESL textbooks. At the Center, international students are offered tutoring in reading, writing, pronunciation, and Regents’ test preparation. General education academic advisement, registration assistance, grammar and Alternative Regents’ workshops, and extended-time testing (by appointment) are also available.

An important program coordinated through the ESL Study and Tutorial Center is the Conversation Partners Program. This program gives international students the opportunity to practice speaking and listening in informal settings outside the classroom, as well as learn more about campus and American cultures. Improving retention as well as helping to internationalize our campus, this popular program is offered both fall and spring semesters.

Testing is also an important part of the program coordinated through the ESL Study and Tutorial Center. Both the Alternative Regents tests and the Michigan Test of English Language Proficiency (MTELP), an alternative to TOEFL, are offered to international students and applicants.

Honors Program

The award-winning Honors Program at Kennesaw State University has two divisions. For recently matriculated or currently enrolled undergraduates, the Undergraduate Honors Program offers a flexible array of excellent Honors experiences designed to challenge exceptional students. For high school juniors or seniors who want to complete college courses for dual credit, the Joint Enrollment Honors Program (JEHP) provides an opportunity to get a head start on college. Students may choose to complete their entire freshman year of college before graduating from high school. Both programs provide honors students with exciting academic challenges, intense mentoring relationships with faculty, connection to the student honors community, and applied learning that reflects the students’ level of accomplishment.

Undergraduate Honors Program Admission Criteria

Students who consistently exceed the expectations of their instructors, and therefore, need and want the challenge of academic experiences qualitatively different from those provided in most existing courses, can find a home in the outstanding KSU Undergraduate Honors Program. Those admitted to the program will need to match one of the following profiles:

Students who have recently graduated from high school, are entering Kennesaw State as first-year students, have a high school grade point average of 3.7 or better in their academic courses, and have made a composite score of 1100 or better on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (equivalent ACT scores also accepted)
Currently enrolled students (including those who have transferred from other institutions) who have earned a cumulative grade point average of 3.7 or better in no fewer than 30 hours and no more than 60 hours of KSU course work.

The Honors Director may waive these eligibility criteria for candidates who can present a convincing and substantive case of their motivation and potential to succeed in the Undergraduate Honors Program.

Students identified as Honors prospects should receive an invitation to join the program. Others should contact the Honors Director at (678) 797-2364 if they think they are eligible and have not received any communication from the Honors Office. This is an outstanding, competitive program and you are encouraged to submit materials early.

Undergraduate Honors Program Fundamentals

The Undergraduate Honors Program is organized around three fundamentals providing students with a rounded academic experience: Honors Faculty mentorship, formal Honors Experiences, and the Honors Colloquium.

Fundamental One - Honors Faculty Mentorship: Honors students are carefully matched with individual faculty mentors who are chosen from the ranks of the Honors Faculty and share their advisees’ academic interests and professional objectives. Honors mentors are more than academic advisors (though they play that role, too). The active intellectual exchange between mentors and their students is designed to foster a peer relationship that helps the students to achieve their potential as well as gain a faculty advocate.
Fundamental Two - Honors Experiences: Honors students must complete four Honors Experiences.
1. Honors Experience I is based in traditional course work. Students may fulfill this requirement by taking an Honors Seminar (Honors 2290 or 4490) with other Honors students; by establishing an Honors contract in a non-Honors course; or by completing the requirements of an Honors Directed Study (Honors 4400) with one faculty member; or by taking an Honors section of a general education course embedded in an Honors learning community or offered independently.
2. Honors Experience II has an applied focus, in which students use the knowledge and skills they have learned in their major academic disciplines in contexts that model the laboratory or workplace. This experience may be conducted on or off campus and must be qualitatively different from similar experiences already offered in the major. Students especially enjoy having the opportunity to work closely with individuals in their discipline in a “hands-on” environment.
3. Honors Experience III may be a second course work or applied learning experience. Again, students gain intensive experience in their major by going more deeply than their non-Honors peers into an area of their choice.
4. Honors Experience IV is the Senior Capstone Experience, an original research project growing out of the student’s major concentration; a project based in applied research that provides new insights into that discipline; an original synthesis of information or research already available in the discipline; or an extensive service learning project for which the student is the primary coordinator; or an original creative work.
Fundamental Three - The Honors Colloquium: Honors students must successfully complete two Honors Colloquia or one Honors Colloquium and one Honors Seminar. Honors 3000, the Honors Colloquium, is a one-hour course in which Honors students interact with each other and with members of the Honors Faculty in an informal setting designed to build and nurture an Honors community exploring an interdisciplinary topic. Honors 2290 or 4490 (more formal three-hour Honors seminar courses) may be substituted for one Honors Colloquium.

To help students develop a perspective on their work that will be useful in employment after graduation, all Honors students are required to keep the products of their Honors Experiences and Honors Colloquia (research papers, journals, documentation of exhibits, etc.) in an Honors Portfolio. To be designated an Honors Scholar, a student must complete all four Honors Experiences with an A or a B (or the equivalent); must complete each Honors Colloquium with a “Satisfactory” grade; and must receive the Honors Council’s approval for both the Senior Capstone project and the Honors Portfolio. The Honors Portfolio serves not only as a marker of the students’ accomplishments, but is also an outstanding resource after graduation.

Students in KSU’s Undergraduate Honors Program receive advanced priority registration as long as they maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or better; see their Honors mentors at least once a semester; and perform satisfactorily in their Honors Experiences and Honors Colloquia. Each semester, Honors students have the opportunity to participate in special Honors events. Honors Scholars receive a special designation on their transcripts and diplomas and are recognized at graduation. We are proud of our Honors Program and believe it provides students the opportunity to advance their learning in an applied, individualized context.

Joint Enrollment Honors Program Admission Criteria

Rising high school juniors and seniors are eligible for the Joint Enrollment Honors Program if they:

a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better in their academic course work and are on track to complete the College Preparatory requirements
AND
a composite score of 1100 on the SAT, with minimum subparts of 530 verbal and 530 math; or an ACT score of at least 25 composite with subpart minimums of 24 English and 24 math.

Joint Enrollment Honors Program (JEHP) Fundamentals

JEHP enables high school students to take approved college courses in lieu of their high school requirements. Students may also take additional college courses, not needed for high school graduation, to get a greater head start on college.
Students may attend KSU full-time (taking 12-16 hours of course work; 4-5 courses) or part-time (taking fewer than 12 hours of course work; 1-3 courses), with remaining courses being taken at the high school.
Students may choose regular sections of KSU courses or honors sections offered in English, Math, Economics and Political Science. Students needing a fourth unit of a subject for high school graduation must take two college courses in that subject. JEHP students are also eligible to take most 1000- or 2000-level courses in core curriculum areas listed in the undergraduate catalog if they satisfy course prerequisites and receive the approval of both their high school counselors and their KSU Honors advisor.
Tuition, most mandatory student fees, and a book allowance of up to $150 per semester are paid for by the Accel program of the HOPE Scholarship. Students attending public and private high schools in Georgia, as well home-schooled students affiliated with accredited home-school centers are eligible for Accel funding. Students must meet Accel residency and eligibility requirements.
JEHP students enjoy advanced priority registration, special advising and orientation sessions, priority enrollment in Honors classes, and a guaranteed space in regular KSU classes if they enroll at their appointed registration time.

For information regarding admission to the Joint Enrollment Honors Program, interested high school juniors or seniors should contact the Office of Admissions at (770) 423-6300 and ask for the Joint Enrollment Admissions Counselor, or visit www.kennesaw.edu/admissions and click on the link to Joint Enrollment. After they are admitted to the program, JEHP students should contact the director of Pre-College Programs for information regarding orientation and advising, course offerings, and other academic aspects of being a Joint Enrollment student at (770) 423-6116.

KSU 4401/Senior-Year Experience

A ”bookend” to the First-Year Experience, the Senior-Year Experience is a program designed around an institutional capstone course, KSU 4401, which offers upper classmen an opportunity to learn how best to prepare for the ”post-university” experience. With its director and team of designated faculty, the Senior-Year Experience Program focuses on career development, graduate school explorations, and community service opportunities. Students earn three hours of upper-level elective credit, develop a portfolio that highlights their skills and experience, and collaborate with peer teams and experienced faculty.

Learning Support Programs

Learning Support Programs have a specific mission: providing academic support to those students whose entrance and placement scores indicate that they need remedial instruction before they enroll in regular credit classes. Students whose SAT or ACT scores are in the lower quadrant of all applicants are required to take the corresponding sub-tests of COMPASS (Computer –Adaptive Placement Assessment and Support System). The Office of Admissions, the CAPS Center, or the Department of University Studies will contact students needing to take these courses. According to these placement scores, students may be placed in Learning Support courses in English, math, or reading. These are non-credit courses such as English 0099 (grammar and composition), Math 0097 (Elementary Algebra), Math 0098 (Intermediate Algebra), and Reading 0099 (Reading Comprehension and Vocabulary Skills). Learning Support courses are designed so that students may complete all requirements in an area in a maximum of two semesters.

Since these are academic assistance courses, there are certain restrictions placed by the Board of Regents and/or by Kennesaw State University upon students enrolled in these courses. The following restrictions apply to all Learning Support students: Students must register for the LSP courses they are required to take each semester of enrollment at KSU before they are eligible to register for any regular credit courses. If they do choose to take credit courses at the same time, these courses must not have LSP courses as prerequisites. They may not, however, accumulate more than 20 hours of academic credit before completing all Learning Support requirements. They also may not attempt any Learning Support discipline more than two times. Students may not withdraw from their Learning Support courses unless they withdraw from credit courses as well. Although these courses do not carry degree credit, students do receive institutional credit and thus may satisfy requirements for VA benefits and other financial assistance. Unsuccessful completion of Learning Support requirements by students will result in exclusion from further study at KSU. Also, the program offers two courses in Regents test preparation, RGTR 0198 - Reading and RGTE 0199 - English. In addition, the program provides a variety of tutorial services, including ESL tutoring for non-native speakers, math tutoring for math students and writing assistance for non-traditional students.

The Math Lab

The Math Lab is a free, on campus tutoring service available to all currently enrolled KSU students. Services are on a first-come, first-serve basis. Access to videos, software, such as Scientific Notebook, Workplace, NovaNet, and other math-related computer software is also available. Tutors assist students with the understanding of math concepts, analysis of math problems, and skill building. All tutors have had Calculus I or higher and have completed the KSU tutor training workshop.

The lab is located on the 4th floor of the Library in room 433. For other information about the Math Lab, call 770-423-6044.

Supplemental Instruction

Supplemental Instruction (SI) is a program whereby students in selected “high-risk” courses (courses with a high “D”, “F”, “W” rate) are provided the opportunity to receive additional instruction facilitated by students who have been successful in those courses in previous semesters. They receive content instruction as well as help in analysis, critical thinking, and problem solving as it relates to the subject matter. National studies have shown that students who take advantage of this opportunity generally perform better than matched students who do not avail themselves of the service. SI is coordinated within the Department of University Studies with the cooperation of the discipline departments in which the selected courses are housed.