The Owen and Elizabeth Cooper Institute of Missions
Anthony Casey, Ph.D., Director
Named for the outstanding Mississippi Baptist industrialist Owen Cooper and his wife Elizabeth, the institute promotes missions awareness, conducts missions seminars, provides training, assists with planning of university affiliated mission trips, and evaluates the disbursement of missions funds. By providing opportunities for local, national, and international mission experiences, the institute prepares students to communicate the Gospel responsibly in an intercultural context. Owen Cooper was the only Mississippian to serve as the president of the Southern Baptist Convention and one of only two laymen to serve in that position.
The Presidential Honors Program
The Presidential Honors Program at William Carey University is designed for academically advanced students whom the university administration recognizes as Carey Scholars. Students in this program demonstrate abilities for advanced academic pursuits, interdisciplinary study, critical thinking, and independent research. The format of the program fosters the formation of a close-knit community of scholars who are learning how to develop their highest potential in scholarship, leadership, and service.
General Aspects of the Honors Program
This program is only available to Carey Scholars (recipients of the comprehensive WCU scholarship), and all Carey Scholars are required to participate. Carey Scholars must complete all core curriculum requirements of the university, but selected “honors” core curriculum courses are required. Honors courses reflect an accelerated academic pace, as well as a higher level of thought and analysis. The completion of the honors program requirements allows a student to receive an honors diploma.
The curriculum in the honors program is composed of selected core curriculum courses offered in an honors format, as well as required honors colloquium courses.
Honors Curriculum Requirements
Scholars must complete a total of 21 hours of honors coursework, as follows:
18 Hours of Honors Core Curriculum:
3 Hours Total of Honors Colloquium:
(HON 100 , HON 200 , HON 300 )
Throughout the academic year, scholars will participate in a variety of events that are designed to enrich their undergraduate education. The university will provide opportunities for scholars to:
- discuss important ideas, books, or current events, often in conjunction with invited speakers;
- be exposed to cultural offerings of the university and the greater community;
- engage in a group service project. Students will receive one hour of semester credit for participation in honors colloquium activities throughout the academic year. A total of three hours of credit in honors colloquium is required for Carey Scholars.
Students will receive one hour of semester credit for participation in honors colloquium activities throughout the academic year. A total of three hours of credit in honors colloquium is required for Carey Scholars.
The Center for Creative Scholars
Mary Read Diket, Ph.D., Coordinator
Located on the Hattiesburg campus, the Center for Creative Scholars provides an array of workshops, seminars, and professional development resources for students, teachers, and other education professionals.
Creativity Exploration Workshops are designed for participants ranging from second grade to high school. Area teachers assist in designing unique creative environments from the second through sixth grades and provides a variety of classes that offer students an array of diverse opportunities for out-of-school learning. The Teachers Exchange meets the needs of teachers of the gifted by providing collegial and resource support. Exchanges bring teachers to the campus to share curriculum ideas, unit plans, and to meet with representatives from museums, libraries, and other community resources.
As part of the university emphasis on student-oriented professional research, the center provides extended support for student-oriented projects. Scholarly undergraduates at William Carey University design projects which lead to in-depth understanding of cutting edge topics in their respective fields. Graduate students, particularly those in education, conduct group and individual research projects and benefit from the publication focus of the Center. Professional documents published through the Center for Creative Scholars appear on the ERIC database and as journals. The center also provides opportunities for work-study students to develop expertise in publishing and editing. Technological opportunities with the center include Creativity Workshop publication on the Internet by teenage contributors from Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama.
Bachelor of General Studies
Requirements
The Bachelor of General Studies degree is a flexible degree oriented toward the nontraditional student. The B.G.S. degree serves the nontraditional student with a diversity of educational experiences. It also serves the student from technical and other backgrounds not easily integrated into a traditional degree program.
The B.G.S. degree requires 36 semester hours in one area or two areas of 18 semester hours each, excluding hours in clinical courses. Courses must be taken from approved majors or minors or departmental concentrations. No special/specific courses are required in the general studies concentration(s). Credit may be given for transfer students from technical programs. In the concentration(s), 50 percent of the courses must be upper-level courses.
The Bachelor of General Studies degree is not available for students who must meet state or national certification (i.e. nursing, teacher licensure).
Foreign Studies
William Carey University offers study tours to Europe, Israel, Asia, the Near East, and Latin America. In addition, William Carey students enter competition for Fulbright, Rotary, and other prestigious programs, for foreign study. Students may also attend programs of study at the University of Seville in Spain and at Linyi University in China. Additional programs are available through the Consortium for Global Education (CGE).
Credit for a course taken by a student enrolled in a foreign university course of study (including course number, lectures, examinations) will be treated the same as transfer credit from another institution in this country.
Courses of foreign study, limited to six hours toward degree requirements, require prior approval by the vice president of academic affairs, and they are counted as elective credit.
Office of Student Assistance
Student Assistance at William Carey University is designed to provide resources to students to aid in successful matriculation through the university. Services include a computer laboratory, tutorial services, and academic advisement. Student Assistance is located in Lawrence Hall, Room 135 on the Hattiesburg campus.
English Language Center (ELC)
Laine Bourdene, Ph.D., Coordinator
The English Language Center (ELC) at William Carey University is designed to assist prospective undergraduate international students in meeting English language proficiency requirements in order to attend an American institution of higher learning. This is a highly skilled, noncredit, content-based English language instruction program in the main areas of reading/vocabulary, writing/grammar, and listening/speaking at the beginning, intermediate, and advanced ELC levels.
Students interested in participating in this program are required to attend three ELC classes daily, for one entire trimester (10 weeks) or more, as ELC instructors deem necessary, for a total of 20 classroom hours per week (four classroom hours per day). In addition to attending mandatory class meetings, students are also expected and required to complete daily homework assignments. ELC courses cannot be used as electives at William Carey University.
Service Members Opportunity Colleges
William Carey University has met criteria established by the Department of Defense to be recognized as a Servicemembers Opportunity College; therefore, active duty military personnel are extended educational opportunities that are sometimes distinct from common institutional practice. Policy stipulates flexibility essential to the improvement of access by servicemembers to undergraduate educational programs, and further, that institutional policies and practices be fair, equitable, and effective in recognizing special and often limiting conditions faced by military students. Academic residency is satisfied by 30 hours of the undergraduate degree courses being completed with William Carey University.
Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC)
William Carey University does not host its own ROTC program but cooperates with the Army and Air Force ROTC programs in cross-town agreements with The University of Southern Mississippi and Tulane University to make courses available in military leadership and aerospace studies Courses from those ROTC programs are accepted in transfer at WCU. For more information, see the USM ROTC website at https://www.usm.edu/aerospace-studies/ and the Tulane website at www.det320.com.
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