Honors Program

Honors Program Mission

The Bentley University Honors Program offers a distinctive learning experience to a diverse community of Bentley’s highest academically achieving students who are passionate about exploring the world, are invigorated by inquiry, and driven to expand their horizons while giving back to their community both within and beyond Bentley.

Vision

The Honors Program provides participating students with an interdisciplinary curriculum designed to foster advanced intellectual growth and lays a foundation for lifelong learning. In a unique business school that values a strong liberal arts education, Honors students are enriched by their exposure to interdisciplinary approaches, experiential learning, and academic research. Honors students are expected to demonstrate leadership and initiative in their curricular and extra-curricular endeavors. Honors students have opportunities to integrate their academic life with an array of experiences that enhance their broader individualized learning experience.

Student Learning Goals

The Bentley University Honors Program empowers students to develop a lifelong commitment to intellectual curiosity and civic engagement while fostering an inclusive and supportive community to promote students’ success and well-being.

Intellectual Curiosity

• Honors students engage in a challenging curriculum that prepares them to excel in their chosen field of study while utilizing a cross-disciplinary framework to develop creative solutions to complex problems.
• Honors students continually seek opportunities to expand their breadth and depth of knowledge by participating in experiential learning, academic research, interdisciplinary study, global experience learning, and professional development.
• Honors students produce an original Pathway project that allows for deeper exploration of a topic that they are especially passionate about. Honors students develop and deliver a presentation at the annual Honors Research Conference to educate the Bentley University community about their Pathway work.

Social and Ethical Responsibility and Civic Engagement

• Honors students make a positive impact in their communities, both within and beyond Bentley, by completing a required service-learning experience and practicing the Core Values of Bentley University.
• Honors students demonstrate integrity both inside and outside of the classroom by acting respectfully and honestly – Honors students follow the Honors Program Academic Integrity Guidelines and are expected to voluntarily report academic integrity charges to the Honors Program Director.
• Honors students expand their cultural knowledge by completing a global experience.
• Honors students may serve on the Honors Student Council and take on a leadership role by collaborating with the Honors Leadership Administration team, planning social and service events, and administrating student committees.

Fostering an Inclusive and Supportive Community to Promote Student Success and Well-being

• Honors students value the opportunity to engage with a diverse group of students, faculty, and staff – the Honors Program provides numerous academic, social, and service events to promote students success, learning, and well-being.
• Honors students create a welcoming and inclusive environment for all to participate fully.
• Honors students demonstrate a commitment to their holistic wellness by prioritizing their physical health, mental health, and personal well-being.
• The Honors Program creates a community of care by providing a dedicated staff member to help students navigate and engage with appropriate campus and community resources to promote success both inside and outside of the classroom.

Students in the Honors Program must complete the Honors curriculum:

• Three Foundations of Success courses (9 credits)

• Five Honors Electives (15 credits)

Please note, some majors may have specific honors required courses. 

• Honors Pathway (3 credits) 

The pathway options include the Creative Pathway, Community Service/Engagement Pathway, Business Immersion Pathway, Analytics Pathway, Economics Pathway, and Research Pathway.

• Complete the Service-Learning Requirement

• Meeting the overall GPA requirements:

End of the first full semester at Bentley University: 3.3
End of the second full semester at Bentley University 3.3
End of the third full semester at Bentley University 3.4
End of the fourth full semester at Bentley University 3.4
End of the fifth full semester at Bentley University to graduation: 3.5*

* All Honors students must graduate with at least a 3.50 overall GPA, regardless of circumstances.

For further policy information, please see the Honors Handbook.

Essential benefits to all Bentley University Honors Program students include:

• Smaller classes and the opportunity to work closely with faculty on research projects
• Participation in undergraduate research through the Honors Pathway project
• Access to events and activities to promote community engagement
• Opportunity to gain leadership experience by serving on the Honors Student Council
• Honors student research funding, including travel to conferences
• Early class registration on your assigned day
• Honors specific career service counseling
• Dedicated Honors Program lounges and Defined Living communities
• Honors specific events on and off campus

Conferences

Many of our honors students present their Pathway and other research projects in conferences outside Bentley. Every year, the Honors Leadership team grants a small stipend to a few selected students working on their honors Pathway projects. Students have also received travel funds to conduct research as well as to present their projects in local, national, and even international conferences.

Honors students at Bentley are innovating, motivated and dynamic. Therefore, many of our students attain position on campus, from student government, resident assistants, club and academic groups, Greek life, student ambassadors, or athletics to name a few. 

Leadership opportunities also exist within the Honors Program as well. The Program has a Student Honors Council (SHC) composed of a President, Vice-President, Chief of External Affairs, IT and Academic Consultant, Historian, and various committees. The Council is selected during the fall and is part of the decision-making process of the program. As such, the SHC acts as a liaison between honors students and the administration. In addition, the Council has various student committees, such as the Event Planning Committee, Mentorship Committee, Columnas Committee, Dresses to Dream Committee, DE&I Committee, and Recruitment Committee.

The Undergraduate Research Day Conference typically takes place on the third Friday of April each year, and provides an opportunity for students to present the findings of their Pathway research projects in a formal setting in front of family, friends, faculty and peers. It is an enriching opportunity to take stock of the hard work throughout their four years at Bentley, and in particular celebrates the challenging yet rewarding conclusion to the Pathway research project.

To encourage the collaborative nature of the research process, all honors students are expected to participate in the conference, by both presenting and attending sessions. Family, friends, faculty and the broader Bentley community are encouraged to attend as well. Following the concurrent sessions which run during the day is a reception, in which students display summaries of their projects and have the opportunity to mingle with family, friends and faculty. 

Honors Leadership
 Christian Rubio, Director
 Jordan Dubina, Associate Director
 Valerie Como, Honors Advisor

Honors Faculty Council   
 Amanda Sargent, Management, Chair of the Honors Faculty Council 
 Rob DeLeo, Global Studies
 Jacob Crane, English and Media Studies
 Betsy Stoner, Natural and Applied Sciences
 Laura Jackson Young, Economics
 Heather Li, Accounting

Student Honors Council

• Executive Board
• Columnas Committee
• Dresses to Dream Committee
• DE&I Committee
• Events Committee
• Mentorship Committee
• Recruitment Committee