The Integrated Studies
Honors Program

Welcome | What's New | Current Program | Admissions

For Incoming Regents' Scholars

Congratulations and welcome to the Integrated Studies Honors Program! If you're not sure you'd like to enroll, feel free to look around our web site or contact our Program Manager, Jenny Moody (jhmoody@ucdavis.edu); if you know you want to join, an official welcome letter and the required paperwork can be found here.

Overview

The Integrated Studies Honors Program (ISHP) focuses on the freshman year, laying the groundwork for doing individual research projects in the upper division. The ISHP program is compatible with any major.

Background

The ISHP is an invitational, residential program for between 114 and 171 first-year students. Founded in 1969, the ISHP is the oldest continuous residential learning community in the UC system. ISHP classes are taught by 15 faculty members who are disciplinary specialists with a particular interest in how their field is related to other disciplines and to contemporary issues.

Goals

The goals of the Integrated Studies Honors Program are:

1. To help high-achieving students integrate knowledge gained from science & engineering, arts & humanities, and the social sciences;
2. To provide excellent teaching for selected freshmen in small, personalized learning communities;
3. To provide students with challenging, interdisciplinary learning experiences;
4. To provide, within a large research university, an academic residential community similar to those of the best small colleges;
5. To provide exposure to contemporary scholarly methodology and to encourage students to participate in undergraduate research;
6. To encourage student-faculty interactions on a more personal level than that realized in many large-classroom learning situations common to public research universities;
7. To provide effective, personalized advising on academic matters.

Privileges

Integrated Studies Honors Program students recieve two important privileges traditionally available to Regents' Scholars. In the ISHP, these privileges are available to non-RS students as well:

1. Priority registration is provided to a small number of students on campus. The ability to gain access to fast-filling classes is especially beneficial in the freshman year.
2. Graduate student-level library borrowing privileges are extended to all students in the ISHP; all ISHP students are able to check out books for one quarter rather than two weeks. The additional time can be most helpful in preparing term papers and research projects.