Student Information
Work alongside peers from diverse disciplines, engage with leading campus experts, and develop collaborative solutions to real-world challenges. The 2027 Grand Challenges cohort invites students to examine the complexity of community health and well-being through multiple academic lenses.
- What does it take to build a community that promotes health and well-being?
- How do you make sure people have access to healthy food?
- What does it mean to design healthy public spaces?
- How are animals and pets connected to human health?
- How can you, as a K-State student, tackle these issues on campus and beyond?
Participating students will be a part of a cohort of scholars who are interested in community well-being, dedicated to meaningful civic engagement, and eager to develop collaborative solutions.
Courses
UHP 289: Health, Well-being, and the Community
In Spring 2027, UHP 289 will be led by Dr. Drew Pearl. UHP 289 will be offered at 1:05-2:20 p.m. on Tuesday/Thursdays. Enrollment will be limited to 25 students, and participants will receive a $1000 scholarship and the opportunity to take UHP 389 the following semester.
UHP 389: Engaging with Grand Challenges
Designed as a community engaged research experience that will allow students to apply what they learned in UHP 289, students will collaborate with a community organization that addresses issues connected to.
UHP 389 will be offered in Fall 2027. Students must complete UHP 289 before taking UHP 389, and participants will receive an additional $1,000 scholarship for Fall 2027.
How to Apply
To be accepted into the cohort, students must be in good standing with the Honors Program, as detailed in the Progress and Performance Policy, at the time of application.
Application will go live September 2026. The application will be available via the University Honors Program Canvas page.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Grand Challenges courses (UHP 289 Grand Challenges: Health, Well-Being, and the Community & UHP 389: Engaging with Grand Challenges) offer Honors students an opportunity to learn about a societal problem from multiple disciplinary perspectives and work with a community partner to research, develop, and execute a project that seeks to address an aspect of that problem. The sequence provides applied, community-based, and transdisciplinary learning.
The foundation of the course, regardless of topic, is to learn transdisciplinary problem solving, critical thinking, and how to ethically and effectively work with community partners. The topic changes every year and relates to one of the opportunity agenda areas in the K-State strategic plan: Community Health and Well-Being, Enabling Technologies, Global Food and Biosecurity, and Sustainability.
The 2027 section will cover community health and well-being.
By addressing a real-world problem you will learn how your field of study intersects with other disciplines, the role you play in addressing social challenges, how to effectively communicate with multiple community stakeholder, and how to build community.
They will satisfy two of the four honors courses required of UHP students. UHP 389 is also designed as an Applied Learning Experience (ALE) course, subject to approval by the ALE course team. The scholarship will also help cover tuition cost for the course.
No. Honors students are not required to take either course, and only a small percentage of students will be able to.
Students are required to have a 3.5+ K-State cumulative GPA in additon to current enrollment in or completion of UHP 189.
No! Interest in the topic is more important than prior experience.
At maximum enrollment, the class will have 25 students.
We hope you will take UHP 389, but it is not required.
Name, email, major, anticipated graduation year and two short essay questions about your interest in the program.
The application will be available on the University Honors Program Canvas page. If you do not have access to the canvas page, reach out to the Honors program for assistance.
University Honors Program
Boyd Hall
1306 Petticoat Ln.
Manhattan, KS 66506