Structured Mentoring Opportunities
The Honors Structured Mentoring Opportunity (SMO) offers students a way to gain practical and/or applied experiences while earning credit toward fulfilling Honors Program requirements. The facilitators of these opportunities offer students hands-on, experiential learning opportunities within a specific context/expertise/field. These are small groups of students who select into the experience, and the facilitator is an expert within the specific context/expertise/field. There are a range of experiences offered, and they rotate every semester. Previous experiences include: Newsletter Staff, Alumni Board, Creative Writing Workshops, Alumni Connections, Chamber Music (shown above with Dr. Megan Bellamy-Lanz), Scholarships–finding and applying for competitive scholarships, web design, and theater.
SMOs count toward Honors program requirement in the same ways departmental Honors class or an Honors Contract course works. Track 1 student need 6-credits of these Honors-enhanced courses while Track 2 students need either 15 or 18 credits. This is a great way to further enhance your Honors experience outside of seminars, build strong connections within the Honors community, and build a portfolio.
These are variable credit courses, but most of them are one-credit, meaning one hour per week. Please check with the instructor if the course will be more than one-credit (up to three credits).
Structured Mentoring Offered in Fall 2026
| SMO Title | Course | Section | CRN | Days | Time | Instructor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newsletter | 397 | 1 | 77835 | arranged | arranged | Alyson Huff (P) |
| Facilitation Training | 397 | 2 | 77836 | M W | 01:00 PM - 01:50 PM | Martin Carcasson (P) |
| Pine Beetles are Back | 397 | 3 | 77837 | W | 03:00 PM - 04:15 PM | Jana Raadik Cottrell (P) |