Apply to Pike Honors

Any student whose cumulative GPA is 3.50 or higher and who would spend at least three semesters as a full-time student under the Pike Program may apply.

Application

1. Contact your primary faculty advisor or the Pike program director to consider your goals and the possibilities of achieving them creatively with a Pike program proposal. See the Process below on this page.
2. Use the fillable Microsoft Word templates to organize your proposal for clear consideration as a major, minor or concentration. The forms are both a draft—to organize your ideas, and also used as the proposal format as it takes shape.
3. Use the Cover Page for original advisor signatures and then deliver a packaged proposal digitally to your academic advisor, second faculty reader, and to the Pike program director.

A COMPLETED PROPOSAL SHOULD INCLUDE:

• Application Cover Sheet signed by your advisor (Print this sheet only.)
• A Major or a Minor/Concentration Proposal form
  • Program Plan by Category
  • Four-Year Study Plan Calendar (chronological sequence)
  • Proposal Essay
  • Documentation of coursework or other academic experiences you propose to take at institutions other than Gordon College
  • Comparison programs for reference, as applicable.

Application Timeline

There is no official application deadline, but students are strongly encouraged to begin the application process very early in the semester, and to submit a fall semester application by November 1, or a spring semester application by the Tuesday following spring recess. A student whose proposal is approved can enter the Pike Program in the semester that follows.

The Process

1. Consult and set goals with your current advisor, other relevant faculty members, and the Pike program director. The Pike program director serves as your "ideas coach," and can help organize your imagination and planning.
2. Research available options and similar programs elsewhere.
3. Organize a plan for your courses for all four years of College. Use the draft/proposal templates.
4. Write your proposal essay: why you propose this program, and how it relates to your sense of scholarship, vocation, your faith, and your possible future goals.
5. Submit all application materials as a package.
6. The three-person Pike faculty review committee reviews your proposal.
7. Accepted Pike proposals are recommended to the Academic Programs Committee (APC) for acceptance as a program of study.
8. Students proceed on their course of study and make any updates or revisions.
9. Students graduate as a Kenneth L. Pike Scholar with honors in their designed degree.

Pike faculty advisor, faculty reader and Pike coordinator's roles

Faculty advisor: Every proposal should come with the support of at least one faculty advisor. The faculty advisor is the primary sponsor of your program of study, and will lend their experience to the development of the proposal and thereafter for any program updates or necessary changes to an approved Pike program of study.

Faculty reader: Each proposal should identify one other faculty reader to lend an objective voice to the proposed program and its fit for the student's goals and for its fit within the paradigms of undergraduate study at Gordon College.

Pike coordinator: Coordinates the proposal preparation and faculty review process, recommendation and presentation to Academic Programs Committee for approval, and administers program updates and performance reviews through completion of the program.