Students seeking to enrich their learning experiences through challenging courses emphasizing critical and creative thinking now have a new option for honors courses at Carroll Community College. The college is introducing the Hills Scholars Program, with applications being accepted for Fall 2007 admission.

The Hill Scholars Program, named after college donors Martin K.P. and Kelly W. Hill, is a selective admissions, honors cohort program for entering first-year college students. The cohort is a group of 20 to 24 students who take two or more honors courses together, plus a one-credit honors seminar, each semester. Students must meet competitive academic criteria in order to be accepted into the program. In addition to the common courses and seminars, students will participate in co-curricular enrichment opportunities that seek to create the community feeling of a residential program without the dorms. The core curriculum of the Hill Scholars Program includes courses in English composition, literature, history, philosophy, fine arts, anthropology, and psychology.

Students take courses for their individual majors separately. At the end of the two-year program, students will have earned an associate degree as well as the designation of Hill Scholar.

“We are both fortunate and deeply grateful to Martin K.P. and Kelly W. Hill for the funding to establish an honors program. This honors program will provide generous scholarship opportunities for academically gifted students to experience rewarding learning opportunities at Carroll Community College,” said college President Dr. Faye Pappalardo.

“In addition to an exceptional core curriculum taught by select faculty and a slate of enrichment activities created specifically for Hill Scholars, we are establishing special transfer articulation agreements with prestigious independent colleges and state universities. This will afford qualifying Hill Scholars opportunities to obtain a baccalaureate degree from prestigious colleges at far lower cost over a four-year period,” said Dr. James Ball, vice president of Academic and Student Affairs and dean of the faculty.

“There is a national trend of high- achieving students enrolling at their local community college for their first two years. Carroll has always had a rich educational program and now we are introducing a new program for the academically talented student. Students who excelled in high school, as well as highly- motivated nontraditional students, are invited to apply to the program,” said Kristie Crumley, director of the Honors Program and a mathematics faculty member at Carroll.

“Carroll wants students to enjoy the opportunity for enriched learning experiences during their terms of study,” said Crumley. “The intent of this new honors program is to foster intellectual inquiry, critical thinking skills, and a passion for life-long learning.”

The application process will begin in the fall of 2006 for the inaugural Hills Scholars Program class to be admitted for the 2007-2008 school year. Hill Scholars may be competitively eligible for partial to full scholarship awards applied each year towards tuition, fees and books. For more information about the Martin K.P. and Kelly W. Hill Scholars Program, contact Kristie Crumley at 410-386-8572. More details on the program can be found on the college website at www.carrollcc.edu.

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