Since the college is housed on its own separate campus, it is almost exclusively made up by faculty and staff that only serve the Honors College. Although students typically have no need to take classes in FAU's other ten academic colleges, they have access to complete additional coursework at the university's flagship campus in Boca Raton. The Jupiter campus library serving the Honors College remains a part of the central FAU Library system housed in Boca Raton.[7]
Academics
Overview
The Wilkes Honors College distinguishes itself from Florida Atlantic University's standards for traditional students and upper-division honors program by adding thesis, internship, research, and class type requirements for its honors college students. The college usually maintains an approximate 1:15 faculty-student ratio.[8] It offers its honors students 32 major concentrations and 20 minor concentrations in the liberal arts and sciences.[9] Honors students may also pursue a minor in business in collaboration with the FAU College of Business.[9] The Honors College classifies its degrees differently from traditional FAU students. They offer a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees in Liberal Arts and Sciences and Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees in Biological and Physical Sciences.[10]
A tradition unique to the Honors College is the Honors College Symposium for Scholarly and Creative Research, also referred to as "Symposium Day" or "Research Day." It is an annual conference-type event that features public talks, poster sessions, research and visual arts presentations.[13][14] Symposium Day usually includes a keynote speaker from a leader outside the university. Past speakers include Florida District Appeals Judge Carole Y. Taylor and Canadian science philosopher Dr. Michael Ruse.[15]
