Middlesex Community College: MCC's Honors Program Continues To Expand To Meet Students' Needs

Press release from the Middlesex Community College:

Caitlin Buckley

10/5/2021

In the Fall 2021 semester, Middlesex Community College is offering the first honors class focused on diversity and equity issues, according to Binnur Ercem, MCC’s Director of the Commonwealth Honors Program (CHP) and Professor of Sociology & Cultural Anthropology.

“Students need to have a deeper understanding of historical and current injustices in our society,” Ercem said. “It is our obligation as educators – especially as the CHP – to do our part in educating our students about these sensitive and difficult issues in a direct, open and honest way, and to contribute to creating an equitable society.”

For over 10 years, the CHP at Middlesex has provided students with opportunities for academic, professional and personal advancement. The new honors course will cover topics related to race, ethnicity, gender, class, sexuality and religion. Students will be able to look at these issues from both a socio-cultural and historical perspective.

Brooke Stevenson, MCC’s 2021-2022 Student Trustee and Criminal and Social Justice and Paralegal Studies major, enjoys the discussion-based courses the CHP offers. The classes create a safe space for everyone to share their opinion and connect on important topics and lessons.

“One of the best things I have done is sit back and really listen to what my peers’ ideas are,” Stevenson said. “Everyone has different backgrounds and I think it is very important to try to understand where others are coming from.”

The CHP has continued to expand and adapt to meet students’ needs. In the Fall 2020 semester, MCC opened honors-level classes to all students, while the Summer 2021 semester marked the first time honors classes were offered in the summer. Middlesex also held its first virtual Honors Research Conference in Spring 2021 to allow students to present their research and skills amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

These experiences provide students with transferable tools they can take with them in future academic and professional pursuits. From maintaining partnerships with institutions such as UMass Lowell to improving critical thinking skills, Stevenson believes MCC’s CHP provides “so many more opportunities” and the chance to look at the world through “many lenses.”

“We all make choices in our lives whether at school, work or within our own families that affect others,” Stevenson said. “Knowing how to analyze situations and problems is something the CHP has helped me navigate and improve on.”

Each honors classroom has been set up with desks with chairs to allow for more flexibility and “to accommodate different teaching and learning styles,” according to Ercem.

Ercem has also worked on developing new honors options to help students understand what is available to them at the college, how they can fit honors courses into their schedules, and “make the honors program more visible and accessible to our students.”

The current honors options include Nursing, Communications, Computer Science, Literature, Biology, Fine and Performing Arts for Music, Performing Arts for Music and World Languages, and History, Politics and Global Studies.

During the Fall 2021 semester, the CHP will host a virtual speaker series featuring Zophia Edwards of Rhode Island College at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, October 6. Ercem is also making plans to host the Spring 2022 Honors Research Conference and publish the CHP’s first student journal with a debut issue coming out in early Spring 2022.

For Stevenson, the CHP serves as another place at Middlesex for students to come together and challenge themselves.

“The CHP truly feels like a family since you travel from class to class with the same group of students,” she said. “It is nice to feel a part of something bigger than yourself and have a sense of belonging to a community.”

CHP provides advanced-level course options and seminar-style classes for students who have at least a 3.2 GPA upon applying to the program. MCC students gain an increased opportunity for scholarships, guaranteed transfer to any CHP or Honors College in Massachusetts, and an enhanced prospect for acceptance to private four-year colleges and universities.

Visit www.middlesex.mass.edu/honors/ for more information on MCC’s Commonwealth Honors Program or contact the department at honors@middlesex.mass.edu or 781-280-3553.

Registration is open for MCC’s accelerated Mini-mester II, which starts on November 1. Visit www.middlesex.mass.edu/registration/ or call 1-800-818-3434 to register for classes.

Discover your path at Middlesex Community College. As one of the largest, most comprehensive community colleges in Massachusetts, MCC has been a proven leader in online education for more than 20 years. We educate, engage and empower a diverse community of learners, offering more than 80 degree and certificate programs – plus hundreds of noncredit courses. Middlesex Community College: Student success starts here!

This press release was produced by the Middlesex Community College. The views expressed here are the author’s own.