About the Academic Enhancement Award

 

Honors Academic Enhancement Awards provide funding of up to $2,000.00 to Honors students in good standing to defray the costs of participating in study abroad, research, and professional development activities. Students are eligible for a maximum of three Academic Enhancement Awards. A student may only receive an Academic Enhancement Award once per academic year. Awards are intended to partially reimburse and lessen the financial burden for students participating in these academic opportunities.

The Academic Enhancement Award is granted in three categories:

    • Study Abroad
    • Research
    • Professional Development (conferences, internships, and other professionally enriching opportunities)

Deadlines

For research, creative works, conference travel, and professional development activities, applications are due on the following dates:

    • November 1st for Spring funding
    • April 1st for Summer funding
    • July 1st for Fall funding

If approved, funding is not available until the start of the intended semester. Financial Aid requirements may impact funding availability. We will inform you of the outcome once the review process is complete.

 

Eligibility

    • Applicants must be in good standing in the Honors Program and must be registered full-time during the semester that the award is granted. Read more about what 'good standing in Honors' entails here. Your application will be reviewed in consideration of your academic, civic, and extracurricular engagement with the Honors Program.
    • A student can only be awarded a SOURCE Bridge Grant, Honors Academic Enhancement Grant (only honors students are eligible) or other University Grant and cannot be awarded any of these grants at the same time.
    • For Professional Development requests, applicants presenting their research or creative work at a conference will be given priority consideration. Students who plan to attend a conference at which they will not present can also apply.

 

How to Apply

    1. Submit an application outlining your proposed activity and provide a summary budget of costs you would incur. These items should include all foreseeable costs.
    2. For Research and Professional Development awards, you will need a recommendation from a mentor. When you apply, they will receive a form link to fill out a recommendation.
    3. Honors will review your application and recommendation and notify you of the outcome when the review process is complete.
    4. Honors will disburse your full award amount directly to your bursar account. You are not required to submit receipts.
    5. Go take advantage of your amazing opportunity!
    6. Come back and fill out an Award Report. We require this step to share this data with the donors who make this possible, and to learn about how these opportunities benefit students.

Additional Responsibilities

In addition to the Award Report, students who receive funding from the Honors Program will be asked to present at the Honors Research Fair, Honors Community Events and other campus programs.

Ready to Submit your Award Report?

Submit your Award Report at the link to the right. The questionnaire will ask you open ended questions about your experience and your award. Honors will publish your report as a post to this website, and also share with donors who provide these awards. You can browse the posts here on the right as examples of how you answer the questions in the report questionnaire.

Academic Enhancement Award Experiences

Maryn Ascher

Maryn Ascher I used my Professional Development Grant to fund my tuition for the Jucu…

Mark Nzasi

Mark Nzasi I would like to thank those who made it possible for me to…

Anjana Dasam

Anjana Dasam I traveled to Santiago, Chile, to attend and participate in UNESCO’s World Press…

Phil Lockitt

Phil Lockitt The Honors Professional Development Grant helped fund an annual benchmark trip for the…

Grace Ripperger

Grace Ripperger For two weeks in July 2023, I stayed at Skidmore College in Saratoga…

Tynan Weathers

Tynan Weathers Utilizing my research done for my “Baseball in American Culture” final paper, I…

MJ Gray

MJ Gray Hosting the Orange Trial Tournament Open (OTTO) Mock Trial competition is a monumental…

Victoria Knight

Victoria Knight

I was able to travel to Israel and the Palestine Authority with the Hillel Center.…

Catherine Wallace

Catherine Wallace

The American Chemical Society (ACS) holds two national conferences each year, and this year, the…

Ella Farrell

Ella Farrell

The Innovate Ireland program allowed me to experience the wonders of Ireland while learning about…