Honors Program

The Dominican Honors Program offers a meaningful learner-directed academic experience that promotes the talents and interests of students dedicated to intellectual and personal growth in becoming socially responsible global citizens.

The Dominican Honors Program is one of Dominican’s many paths to excellence.  It incorporates the University’s Institutional Learning Outcomes to offer a distinctive plan of study for students who are dedicated to achieving exceptional academic and personal standards.

The close-knit Honors learning community is rooted in the Dominican pillars of study, reflection, community, and service while upholding the values of the University as shaped by its history and Californian identity. 

There are many benefits to participation in the Honors Program:

  • Students assume leadership roles as representatives on the Honors Board or Student Honors Board to directly shape Honors programming.
  • Students may register during the first day of priority registration along with senior-year students.
  • Juniors and seniors may take graduate courses (with instructor permission).
  • Students have exclusive access to the Honors Room in the Alemany Library, providing  additional quiet space to work on projects or study.

Curriculum

Honors courses are taught as experiential learning seminars where students have considerable control regarding the issues they address and the ways to address them, providing an alternative to the University-wide core-curriculum requirements.

Courses are designed to be both curricular and co-curricular, offering students authentic, hands-on opportunities to fine tune their skills, put their ideas into practice, and gain the skills and knowledge to become engaged global citizens.

With an emphasis on civic learning and community engagement, the Honors curriculum creates an environment where the student can be an active and thoughtful learner. The Honors co-curriculum requirements focus on global learning and leadership opportunities such as faculty-led Honors trips and place-based projects that aim to foster intercultural knowledge, cultural humility, social responsibility, and global interconnectivity.
 

The Honors Program is administered by the Honors Director and the Honors Board. The Honors Board is tasked with forming policies for Honors admissions, curriculum and co-curriculum, academic standards, assessment, awarding Honors scholarships, and program branding and communications. 

The Student Honors Board (SHB) represents the Honors Students of Ó£ÌÒÊÓƵ of California. There are eight members on the SHB, each with a specific title and duty. Class representatives and Member-At-Large serve on the Honors Board as well.

  • Freshman Class Representative: Caitlyn Perales, Nursing
  • Sophomore Class Representative: Joanne Nguyen, Nursing
  • Junior Class Representative: Mikaela Pescasio, Nursing
  • Senior Class Representative: Abby Mae Dalman, Nursing
  • School of Liberal Arts and Education Representative: Jacquelyn Torres, International Studies
  • Barowsky School of Business Representative: Julia Rydel, Business Administration
  • School of Health and Natural Sciences Representative: Jasmyn Jansen, Nursing
  • Member-At-Large: Sachie Ohara, Nursing

To graduate from the Honors Program a student must complete the following:

  • 20 units of Honors Core courses
  • a Co-Curricular Experience
  • a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.5

Honors unit requirements may be prorated for transfer students or students who join the program after their first semester at Dominican.

View our flyer for more information about the Honors Program.

students on graduation day

National Collegiate Honors Council

The Honors Program has institutional membership in the National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC) at the regional and national levels.

Faculty and Staff

Lynn Sondag headshot

Lynn Sondag

Professor of Art Honors Program Director
George Faithful headshot

George Faithful, PhD

Associate Professor of Religion and Philosophy
Gigi Gokcek headshot

Gigi Gokcek, PhD

Dean, School of Liberal Arts and Education Professor of Political Science
Gay Lynch headshot

Gay Lynch, PhD

Assistant Professor, Humanities
Leslie Ross headshot

Leslie Ross, PhD

Professor and Chair of Art History and Visual Studies
Julia van der Ryn headshot

Julia van der Ryn, MA

Executive Director Center for Community Engagement and Partnerships Associate Professor, Philosophy and Social Justice
Amy Wong headshot

Amy R. Wong, PhD

Associate Professor of English, ADC Literary and Intercultural Studies Contact Chair of Literature, Language, and Humanities

Honors Program in the News