The number of students in the honors program has increased this semester because of a push starting from a division dean.

Humanities division dean Ilder Betancourt Lopez, who has been at SJCC since last year, said he activated the program that had been dormant for a while and signed off on 75 honors contracts this semester.

“In the past two semesters that I have been here we weren’t really pushing it so we only saw about two or three contracts.” Lopez said.

The honors program gives the student a chance to design a project related to a student learning outcome for a class of their choosing. They are given guidance by the instructor of the class their project is based on, and they receive honors credit for the class.

The student, the instructor and Lopez must sign off on a contract in order for the student to officially be a part of the honors program.

There are also some other requirements for the student to be a part of the program.  According to the SJCC website, current students attempting to join must have above a 3.25 Grade Point Average, completed 12 units and are eligible or finished English 1A.

For students that are new to college, there are very similar prerequisites only they need not have completed 12 college level units.

Students can choose from many different types of projects to complete in the honors program. The honors contract lists research paper, art installation, experiment, class presentation and video as options.

“To be selected for this, I thought it was a great opportunity because throughout my whole school career, I was always an average student. “Darcy Domingo, 39, Construction technology major, said “I’ve never been in an honors program. I was excited.”

Domingo will present his project in the honors program. The presentation is going to be on a project he is a part of in one of his construction technology courses.

“We’re building a tiny house.” Domingo said about his project, which is a part of his construction technology course.

Cindy Huynh, an ethnic studies professor, is working with a student in the honors project.

“The project that they are doing is they are watching a film and then they’re doing an analysis of the different themes of the film,” Huynh said. “They are also developing their English language skills, as immigrant students, and so one of the ways that we felt would be beneficial to them was to practice and utilize their writing skills.”

“Our district and our college values include social justice and equity and I think that because we didn’t have an active honors program we were doing our students a disservice. “ Lopez said. “So in light of equity and social justice, I thought it was very important to provide this opportunity to the student population. “