The start of the 2024 fall semester marked 10 years since the Madison College Honors Program took off. The Honors Program gives motivated students the opportunity to work one on one with a faculty member on a project in their discipline.
Among the listed benefits of the Honors Program are a competitive edge on academic applications and in the job market, developing relationships with the faculty advisors, and learning more about the chosen skill or concept at the center of the project.
In the 10 years of the Honors Program, there have been many projects. Two Honors Program alumni took time to share their honors project stories.
Troy Wilson, a current public affairs specialist working at the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM), completed three honors projects at Madison College. His first project was a literature review. He used this as a basis for his second project, another literature review and a research paper focusing on the correlation between redlining and urban food deserts in Madison.
Wilson used these research skills and grounding in terminology when he transferred to UW-Madison where he completed his master’s degree. Wilson recalled during his first two projects his faculty mentor asked the question, “Why should I care?” which Wilson explained is a key question that he had to be able to answer.
Andrew Alison graduated from the automotive technician program at Madison College. While working with the Honors Program, he completed two projects. His first project focused on using Peltier devices to replace the normal refrigerant cycle used in cars. According to Alison, “We cooled it down by a few degrees, but it definitely could be more efficient.” His second project was applying circuitry and programming knowledge to release nitrous into a car.
Alison now works supervising a nuclear reactor. He explained how his background in automotive, learning how to troubleshoot and time in the Honors program, honed those skills, and, by applying them to more complex projects, the skills have had tremendous carryover into his career, “Whether it be issues with a car or issues with a nuclear reactor, there’s a decent amount of carryover.”
Wilson and Alison advocated for participating in the Honors Competition at the end of the Fall and Spring semesters. Alison stressed that even if someone doesn’t see themselves being in a people facing role in the future it is an important skill to have and one that the Honors Program is great at developing.
If you are interested in joining the Honors Program, reach out to Honors Program Director Julia Haseleu at [email protected] or visit https://students.madisoncollege.edu/academics/honors#accordion-item-2 for more information.