Nontraditional Programs— Delta College/Honors Program/Clam

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Chapter V: Nontraditional Programs—Delta College/Honors Program/Clam

• Delta College
• The Honors Program
• Contractual Liberal Arts Major (CLAM)
• Special Programs and Internships
• Accelerated MBA Program (4+1)

Delta College

H-1 Cooper Hall
(585) 395-2291
Director: Sandra Holinbaugh
Fax (585) 395-5890
E-mail: sholinba@brockport.edu

The Program
Unique in the SUNY system, Delta College is an innovative undergraduate learning community that attracts adventurous students – those who demonstrate personal motivation, have confidence in their scholastic abilities, and display a keen interest in career preparation through internships. Considering these criteria, we limit enrollment in the program and, once accepted, expect students to take an active part in their collaborative environment. The Delta philosophy fosters a learner-centered education, with engaged faculty members who act as mentors as well as professors. The curriculum is an alternative to the traditional General Education program and consists of nine interdisciplinary and internationally focused liberal arts courses, which put a strong emphasis on writing, presenting, critical thinking, and creative expression. Whereas Delta College recruits “high parameter” students, the program also exercises considerable latitude when it comes to high school averages and SAT/ACT results. Consequently, Delta College gives the same weight to co-curricular activities as it does to standardized test scores.

Students complete the Delta College program along with any SUNY Brockport major. As an alternative to the traditional General Education requirements, Delta courses allow faculty to lecture less and make intensive use of interactive learning techniques and projects, while encouraging students to become independent thinkers and effective team members. Therefore, group work mirrors the working world, where cooperation and consensus matter as much as individual achievement. To achieve this, students report to faculty mentors who assist with career preparation, such as résumé and professional portfolio building, networking, and supervision of the field and international experiences. Delta is unique SUNY-wide in that it requires three successive internships at the local, national and international levels. Experiential learning not only jumpstarts a future career – acting as a mechanism to transform theory into application – but also provides the chance to spend a semester abroad or experience the “National Service to America” option. Either choice provides an exhilarating way to complete an undergraduate degree.

Finally, Delta College is also unique in the SUNY system with its time-shortened degree option that allows students with 36-credit majors to graduate in three years. Majors with more than 36 credits can also lend themselves to time-variable degrees. Many students opt to stay for the traditional fourth year to pursue a second major, undertake an additional field experience, or pursue additional “pleasure electives.” (Note: By its very nature, teaching certification does not allow for a time-shortened degree, as it involves student teaching).

As a Delta College student, you have a choice of completing one or two options. Both alternatives require students to demonstrate computer, statistics, and foreign language competencies.

Option I (time- and credit-variable) requires students to complete the Delta Interdisciplinary Core, the three Integrative Learning Seminars and corresponding Integrative Learning Experiences (i.e. internships), and a SUNY Brockport major.

Option II (time- and credit-shortened) requires students to complete the Delta Core, the same three Integrative Learning Seminars and Experiences, and the Global Studies Track in the International Studies major.

The mentoring tutorial is an orientation course that focuses on the adjustment to college, writing skills, and a “common hour” for special programming.

The interdisciplinary core courses are equivalent to the College’s General Education requirements, but offered in an interdisciplinary and accelerated fashion.

The Integrative Learning Seminars (DCC 225, 345 and 410) serve as the foundation for the mentoring component of Delta College, where students and their mentors prepare for and finalize contracts for each of the integrative learning experiences. These seminars also provide students with the knowledge and skills needed to address local, national and international issues, as well as meeting computer competencies.

Three required Integrative Learning Experiences (ILE-DCC 235, 355 and 420) provide students an opportunity to experience firsthand what they have been learning about in their course work. In the first two ILEs (summers), students work or volunteer at local, regional and/or national sites. In the third ILE (semester) students will work, volunteer and/or study in a foreign country. Similarly, the National Service to America semester option involves volunteering in a cross-cultural setting within the United States. Students may receive remuneration (e.g. stipends) for these experiences.

Option I: The Delta College Program and a SUNY Brockport Academic Major

This option is for students participating in the Delta College program who choose any SUNY Brockport major or contractual liberal arts major (CLAM). This is a time- and credit-variable option with variability based on total credits for a major and any prerequisites.

Integrative Learning Experiences (ILEs): (17–20 credits)
Delta College expects students to experience firsthand social, cultural, and global issues discussed throughout the course of their study. This experience is gained through a first-year, two-credit (summer) local or regional field experience (DCC 235), a second-year, three-credit (summer) regional or national field experience (DCC 355), and a third-year, 12–15 credit (spring semester) international experience (DCC 420). Students may receive remuneration for these experiences. The summer experiences require a minimum of 120 clock hours, which may be completed over a three- to 12-week period. The international experience or the National Service to America requires a minimum of 600 clock hours completed over a 12-15 week period. Course requirements are met off campus/on site. Written assignments are sent to mentors by postal or electronic mail.

Competency Requirements: Delta College students must demonstrate foreign language acquisition, either with one language at the intermediate college level or two languages at the beginner level. Computer competencies derive from the completion of the mentoring course and the Integrative Learning Seminars. Statistics competencies are met by successfully completing one of the following courses for three credits: ECN 204, MTH 243, PSH 202, or SOC 200.

Academic Major: Students may choose any SUNY Brockport major.

Credits/Time: Depending upon the major chosen—one with 36 credits or less—students may complete their degrees with as few as 99 credits and in as little as three years. (Note: By its very nature, teaching certification does not allow for this option.)

Option II: Delta Global Studies Track of International Studies Major

This is a three-year degree program option. With this option, students must complete the Delta College program and the Delta Global Studies Track in the International Studies major.

Delta Core Courses (DCC): (36 credits)
SAME AS OPTION I

Integrative Learning Experiences (ILE): (17–20 credits)
SAME AS OPTION I

Competency Requirements:
SAME AS OPTION I

Delta Global Studies Track Core (GSC): (18 credits)
See Listing for the Department of Political Science and International Studies in the Undergraduate Studies Catalogue for Delta courses that fulfill certain INS core courses. In this specialized major, students may select either geographic area or disciplinary focus.

Global Studies Specialization (GSS): (18 credits)
Students may select either a geographic area or disciplinary focus.

Areas of Specialization:

A. Geographic Areas (18 credits in one of the following): Africa, Asia, Canada, Europe or Latin America

B. Disciplinary Focus (18 credits in a discipline in which student has an interest)

Total Credits = 99**

**Prerequisite requirements or extra courses needed to meet competencies for writing, a foreign language, and statistics may affect completion of the program in six semesters.

Delta College Courses

The College Honors Program

219 Holmes Hall
Interim Director: Kenneth O’Brien
Associate Director: Donna Kowal
(585) 395-5400
Fax (585) 395-5046
E-mail: honors@brockport.edu

Brockport’s Honors program offers two unique programs, the College Honors Program and the Senior Honors Program, for students with excellent academic records. These Honors programs allow students to enrich their college experience by taking courses designed to deepen their academic study. Honors students select courses from the College’s wide variety of course offerings and also undertake in-depth research in a specific area of their college major. Both programs allow students to fulfill the College’s General Education requirements, by enrolling in special sections offered only for Honors Program students. Students in the Senior Honors Program will complete an Honors Thesis or Project in their major under the direction of a faculty member. Although students may be admitted into the Honors Program at any time during their first three years of college, students are strongly advised to begin as early as possible.

The College Honors Program is designed for entering freshmen. Students in the College Honors Program complete the College’s General Education requirements with a mixture of Honors courses and conventional courses. Unlike Honors programs at other colleges, which often require students to take a fixed sequence of core courses, SUNY Brockport’s College Honors Program gives students great flexibility and personal choice in selecting their courses. In their first two years at Brockport, students in College Honors take four Honors courses, roughly one course per semester, beginning with HON 112 Introduction to Honors in their first semester. Because of this flexibility, students can select both Honors courses and traditional courses according to their academic strengths, personal interests, college majors or minors, etc. As an added benefit, many courses taken in College Honors also satisfy the requirements in various majors. During their last two years, students complete the requirements for the Senior Honors Program: an Honors Contemporary Issues course; HON 395 Honors Colloquium (or an approved research course in their major); and HON 490 Honors Thesis.

The Senior Honors Program is our upper division program, designed especially for new transfer students and SUNY Brockport students who have achieved distinction in their first two years of college. While the Senior Honors Program allows college juniors and seniors to focus on courses in their majors, it facilitates greater depth and more individualized work with faculty members. Students in this program complete three upper-division courses (courses at the 300 and 400 level): an Honors Contemporary Issue course; HON 395 Honors Colloquium, a one credit introduction to research for the thesis (or an approved research course in their major); and HON 490 Honors Thesis. Most students easily fit these requirements into their last three or four semesters of college.

Honors Program Admissions and Graduation Requirements
Students must apply and be accepted into both the College Honors and Senior Honors program. Entering freshmen should have a high school grade-point-average of 91.0 and a SAT total of at least 1150 (or the equivalent ACT score). The most recent Honors freshmen averaged 94.6, with a mean SAT score of 1234. Transfer students and current SUNY Brockport students should have a college grade-point-average of at least 3.5, with the most recent entering class averaging 3.7. All students in the Honors Program need to maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 3.25 to remain in good standing and graduate with College Honors or Upper Division Honors.

Unique Features of Brockport’s Honors Program
Flexibility and personal choice in the selection of courses. Honors students select their courses from the complete range of college courses. The Honors Program tries to maintain a productive balance between the intimacy and challenge of small Honors courses and the diversity and flexibility of the College’s total course offerings. Moreover, Honors courses change every semester; new seminars are continually introduced, and students even have the opportunity to design their own Honors courses. Honors students are able to take those courses (both traditional courses and Honors courses) which best fit their personal interests, academic abilities, or professional goals.

Small Honors courses. The Honors courses are designed to promote an informal atmosphere, personalized learning, and active student participation, and are the heart of the Honors Program. They can be either a special section of a conventional course offered by a department or an entirely new course, designed especially for Honors students. All Honors courses have an enrollment limit of 20 students, but most enroll between 11 to 17 students.

Distinguished College faculty. Distinguished and dedicated faculty make the Honors courses rewarding experiences. Honors faculty are specially selected for the program, and many have received prestigious awards for their teaching, scholarship or artistic productions.

Student-centered learning. In Honors courses lecturing is rare, and informal discussions with faculty about their research and creative work are an invaluable part of Honors study. The Honors Thesis, in which the student works directly under the personal supervision of a faculty member in their major department, is the culmination of these close faculty-student relationships.

A closely knit cadre of Honors students within the larger college community. The Honors Program encourages personal relationships among students with similar interests and priorities, sponsors special social and cultural events, and even connects local students to Honors students at other colleges across the country through Honors conferences.

Honors Courses and Honors Program completed will be prominently indicated on a student’s college transcript and diploma. Such recognition is widely seen as an indication of both a student’s superior academic achievement and willingness to undertake a challenging course of study.

College Honors Program Courses:

HON 112 Introduction to Honors (A,D,H,W). Required of all students entering the College Honors Program and fulfills the General Education requirements for composition, academic planning, humanities, perspectives on women and diversity. Also offers students an introduction of studies in Honors. 4 Cr. Fall.

HON 395 Junior Colloquium (A). Required of all students in College Honors or Senior Honors. Designed for either the fall or spring of the junior year to prepare students for the research skills necessary to complete an Honors thesis. Students will select a thesis topic, identify a thesis advisor and draft a thesis proposal. 1 Cr. Fall and Spring.

HON 490 Senior Honors Thesis (A). Prerequisite: HON 395. Required of all students in College Honors and Senior Honors. Introduces students to the ideals and standards of excellence in scholarship and other creative endeavors under the close supervision of a faculty advisor. Provides students with the opportunity to extend current understanding of a problem with original research, to summarize existing research, to generate new knowledge, or to create new works. 3 Cr. Fall and Spring.

Contractual Liberal Arts Major (CLAM)

The Contractual Liberal Arts Major is an option that permits the student to design an individualized academic major drawn from the total academic offerings of SUNY Brockport. This option is intended to accommodate the interests of students whose academic goals would not be met by an existing academic major, a double major, or a major-minor combination, nor by an existing academic major plus a carefully planned sequence of electives. The CLAM must be related to an existing disciplinary major.

The CLAM option is open to all students in good academic standing at SUNY Brockport. Students wishing to exercise this option should seek appropriate faculty advisement. Once the program proposed by the student and faculty advisors has been approved by both the CLAM committee and the dean of the appropriate school or the Delta College director, it becomes a contract between the student and SUNY Brockport. Revision may be accomplished through the same procedure used in seeking initial approval.

The title of the CLAM, which must be distinct from that of any established major, is the title that will identify the student’s major on the student’s final transcript.

Special Programs and Internships

Alcohol and Substance Abuse Studies Program
See Department of Health Science, Chapter VII.

Athletic Training Concentration
See Department of Physical Education and Sport, Chapter VII.

Bilingual-Multicultural Concentration
See Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, Chapter VII.

Coaching Athletics Concentration
See Department of Physical Education and Sport, Chapter VII.

Educational Opportunity Program (EOP)
See Admissions and Finances, Chapter II.

Exercise Physiology/Adult Fitness Concentration
See Department of Physical Education and Sport, Chapter VII.

Information on the following four programs is available through the Office of Career Services, (585) 395-2468.

The Albany Semester Program is a full-semester experience allowing interns to work in one of the capital’s government offices as student project directors or administrative assistants. Students earn 15 credits in political science through internship and seminar courses, and receive a stipend for the semester. The program is open to juniors and seniors from all academic majors, and operates during the fall, spring, and summer. Deadlines are mid-October for the spring semester, late March for the summer session, and mid-July for the fall semester.

The Assembly Intern Program is a full-time, Albany-based program enabling students to learn the state legislative process through involvement with the New York State Assembly. During the spring semester, students work within the Assembly while researching data for legislation, analyzing proposed projects, and attending committee meetings and hearings. Students earn 15 credits in political science for internship and seminar course work, and receive a stipend. The program is open to juniors and seniors from all academic majors, and operates from January through May when the Assembly is in session. Applications are due November 1 for the following January session.

The NYS Senate Session Assistants Program provides students from New York state colleges and universities with full-time opportunities to work in Albany with state senators and participate on special committees. Policy issues such as agriculture, education, casino gambling and chemical wastes are researched, discussed and analyzed during each session. The program selects students with a strong orientation to public service who have demonstrated outstanding research and communication skills. Students earn 15 credits in political science, combining internship and seminar credit, and receive a stipend. The program is open to juniors and seniors from all academic majors, and operates from January through May when the Senate is in session. Applications are due October 25 for the following January.

The Brockport Career Exploration Course (BCEC) is a one-semester, variable (1–6)-credit elective course that encourages sophomores, juniors, and seniors to investigate a specific career area under the guidance of a faculty sponsor and the Office of Career Services. BCEC credit can be earned by working 40–250 (depending on credit) hours in a human service, education or local/county government or business placement.

Departmental Internships are available through many individual academic departments for career exploration and confirmation in addition to the experiential programs listed. Options exist in the Departments of Anthropology, Business Administration, Communication, Computer Science, Criminal Justice, Health Science, Political Science, Recreation and Leisure Studies, and Physical Education and Sport. In some majors, field experience internships are mandatory as part of a certification process. Professional programs or majors in nursing, recreation therapy, social work and teacher education require a specified number of hours in actual preprofessional work. Students are encouraged to refer to specific major listings in this catalog for details on internship courses and their prerequisites.

Accelerated MBA Program (4+1)

SUNY Brockport has established an agreement with the College of Business at Rochester Institute of Technology whereby certain master’s of business administration (MBA) foundation courses are waived for qualified students who have earned a bachelor degree from SUNY Brockport, allowing them to complete an MBA in one year. A grade of “B” or better in the designated undergraduate courses is needed to obtain the waiver. In addition, courses must also be no older than five years upon matriculation into the MBA program.

OR
PSH 325 Motivation or
PSH Social Psychology and
one chosen from the following:
SOC 350, SOC 351, SOC 352

ECN 204 Introduction to Statistics and
ECN 304 Intermediate Statistics

0106-782 Statistical Analysis for
Decision Making

MTH 441 Statistical Methods I and
MTH 442 Statistical Methods II

Must also pass the graduate statistics review exam, administered during orientation.

OR
MTH 346 Probability and Statistics I and
MTH 446 Probability and Statistics II
OR
ESC 350 Comp. Methods in the Field Sciences and
one chosen from the following

MTH 243, MTH 346, MTH 441, MTH 442, MTH 446
OR
BIO 437 Bio Investigation and Data Interpretation and
one chosen from the following
MTH 243, MTH 346, MTH 441, MTH 442, MTH 446