How Winthrop University plans to boost its profile by investing in a well-known program
As high school students finalize their college plans this spring, Winthrop University hopes to sway top talent with a brand-new offering: an honors college.
Winthrop became one of the first universities in the nation to implement an honors program in 1960, but the revamped program will offer exclusive benefits intended to foster community, leadership and research when students come to campus this August. Honors work supplements their usual bachelors degree.
The Rock Hill-based university has about 6,100 undergraduate and graduate students. About 450 are in honors.
The changes — and the new designation as a separate college — could attract more students who are looking for an academic challenge.
“I do think it’s an easier sell,” said Nicholas Grossoehme, dean of the Honors College. “When they look at a university, and if they don’t see ‘Honors College,’ it’s an immediate dismissal. We’re not even considered.”
Winthrop Honors College focuses on leadership
While the college is still seeking final approval for its curriculum, Grossoehme said he has a good idea of what students can expect. The core mission is to build future leaders.
Each honors cohort will take a leadership course every fall semester with a different focus, Grossoehme said. Freshman students will study businessman Stephen R. Covey’s seven habits of highly effective people, which were popularized in his 1989 book of the same name and widely regarded as a foundational leadership and self-improvement framework.
The sophomore course will have students looking inward and discussing charisma, understanding others and synergy.
Junior students will focus on leadership through action. Grossoehme said he’d like to partner with a York County Regional Chamber program that pairs small groups with local philanthropy for hands-on problem-solving experience.
Ava Wagner, a York resident who will study education in the inaugural Honors College class, said the focus on leadership was a draw for her as an aspiring teacher.
“I want to be able to show my kids and my students how to be a person, and how to live life, and how to come out of their shell and express themselves,” said Wagner, who will major in education. “Those leadership classes and all of the focus on it with the Honors College is going to help grow that and allow me to be a better example.”
The college is also building capacity for a mentorship program that would pair students with industry professionals. The program will operate by request only for the time being.
Building community
Honors students will continue to receive priority course registration, smaller class sizes, first-year research and internship opportunities and apartment-style housing, which are already hallmark benefits of the program.
But most classes haven’t been designed specifically for honors students, Grossoehme said. Students currently work with their professors on an individual, course-by-course basis to add projects that earn them honors credit for general classes.
“It doesn’t play to the honors community, which we’re trying to build,” Grossoehme said. “That’s where we can take that model and make it better.”
The new structure will group honors students by cohort in each major for a few classes that cater specifically to their level.
Seth McElveen, a Hartsville resident who will study philosophy and religion on the pre-law track this fall, said Withrop was not his top choice before he got accepted into the Honors College. He was attracted by the other student’s self-driven mindsets when he visited campus for an admitted honors student event this spring.
“It takes a certain type of student to be motivated enough to get the grades and get the extracurriculars to be accepted into the Honors College, and then to choose to spend their college experience in such a rigorous environment,” McElveen said. “You can learn a lot from those students.”
The Honors Center underwent a remodeling this winter and is equipped with new furniture, a fresh coat of paint and a big screen TV. It’s ready to welcome a host of students for pizza parties, movie nights and study sessions.
“I think in the next 5 or 10 years, the direction they’re going, how dedicated the staff are, it’ll be a lot higher profile of a school than it might be right now,” McElveen said. “It won’t be long until the Winthrop Honors College is something most students are aware of and a lot of people want to be a part of.”
What are the Winthrop Honors College requirements?
Grossoehme honors enrollment will remain steady for the next couple of years as Winthrop builds up the new college while keeping standards high, but he doesn’t have specific enrollment goals.
Students applying from states that use a 4.0 scale should have at least a 3.5 grade point average. Students in South Carolina, which uses a different GPA scale, should generally have a 4.25 GPA.
But any student who believes they can demonstrate they are a good fit for the program is invited to apply.
“Those advertised numbers certainly get your foot in the door, but they’re not the only way to open the door,” Grossoehme said.
