Elon Fellows

The Elon Fellows program recognizes high-achieving high school students and, in many cases, provides a merit-based scholarship to encourage their future eduacational goals and experiences at Elon University. High school seniors who apply are invited to compete in Fellows' Weekend, usually in early March, to narrow the field down and simultaneously act as an Orientation Weekend, assuming the students choose to enroll in the fall. Students are informed of their status in the programs they applied for within the next couple weeks.

Communications Fellows

Communication Fellows are students who are interested in majoring in Journalism, Strategic Communications, Media Arts & Entertainment, or Communication Science. Those interests are translated into real-world experience through the student-run newspaper: The Pendulum, the campus radio station, Elon Television, and other programs. Communications Fellows have the opportunity to gain these experiences very early in their undergraduate years. To back up these real-world experiences, fellows take courses such as Communications in a Global Society, Digital Media Convergence, and Media Writing. An integral part of being a Communications Fellow is to present undergraduate research along with other fellows. Such undergraduate research is done with a faculty adviser who has experience as well as contacts in the communications industry. Communications Fellows also have the opportunity to go beyond the classroom. Internships, an Elon Experiential Learning requirement, play a huge role in gaining experience. Past and current fellows have had internships with CNN, BET, ESPN, and prominent public relations agencies. As well as internships, fellows participate in annual trips to Atlanta and Los Angeles to learn and observe the communications industry.

Honors Fellows

The Honors Fellows Program is a program designed to intellectually challenge students' critical thinking and writing skills. Since the Honors program is open to all majors except for engineering, interdisciplinary honors courses are taken to broaden perspectives on the arts and sciences. These courses are only open to honors students, making classes sizes range from 15 to 20 students. Most of the courses also fulfill Elon University's General Studies requirements. One of the requirements is Elon 101, taken during freshman year. Honors fellows take Elon 101 together to aid in the transition from high school to college. Elon 101 also acts as an advisory forum for students to discuss with their adviser their four year plans. Another program within the Honors Fellows program is the peer mentoring system. Every year, FreshMen fellows are matched with a sophomore mentor. Throughout the four years, Honors Fellows are required to complete a Colloquium program where students attend cultural events and speakers. The capstone of the Honors Fellows program is to mold and present an independent thesis. Work on the thesis usually begins during students' junior year. Fellows work individually with a selected faculty mentor. To fund undergraduate research, grants of up to $700 are available.

Isabella Cannon Leadership Fellows

Named after the first female mayor of Raleigh, North Carolina, this fellows program works on developing the potential for leadership in students selected. The development is categorized into four different phases that define the student's development at Elon University. Phase I, Emerging Leaders, encourages participation in on-campus activities and a development of the personal leadership style of the student. Students are also enrolled in a unique GST 110 course directed towards their leadership potential. Phase II, Collaboration, occurs during the students' sophomore year. Students are expected to attend a "How to Lead" retreat and work alongside a professor to have a leadership laboratory experience. They also continue the academic portion of their leadership studies with Group Dynamics and Leadership and a Winter Term course that includes a travel experience. Phase III holds even more responsibilities for the students, beginning with the planning of the Emerging Leaders Program. Students are also expected to have completed a personal and organizational change project and have attended a leadership conference. By Phase IV, students have emerged as leaders capable of directing change in a group. Students coordinate the "How to Lead" retreat, complete a community project, attend capstone discussions, and present a leadership legacy paper. Academically, students take Ethics and Decision Making or the Psychology of Leadership. By effectively completing these steps, students graduate from Elon University and the Isabella Cannon Leadership Fellows program.

North Carolina Teaching Fellows

North Carolina Teaching Fellows is a program directed specifically at the students planning on majoring in Education and remaining in the North Carolina area after graduation to teach in a public school. Students are immersed in the renowned Elon teaching program, and have many different opportunities to study abroad, both internationally and within the United States. During winter term of the fellows' freshman year, they travel to historic cities along the Eastern coast. Spring semester of their sophomore year, students are strongly encouraged to study abroad in either London or Costa Rica, or, if they plan on teaching a language, in a country that speaks the language. Throughout their experience at Elon, students are also highly involved in the seminars and programs of the local school districts, and may intern at one such institution.

Business Fellows

Through Elon University's Martha and Spencer Love School of Business, Business Fellows get first-hand experience in business, non-profit organization, and government careers. Business Fellows must major in business administration, economics, or accounting. What separates Business Fellows from other Fellows is their introduction into the business world which begins as early as freshman year. Freshmen have the opportunity to visit local corporations and study abroad. Every semester, Fellows are required to take a course exclusively for Business Fellows. Such courses emphasize leadership and development of analytical skills that are important in business careers. During junior year, Business Fellows take a course called "Personal Mastery" focusing on professional development. The course focuses on building a resume, practicing interviewing, developing networking skills, and producing a portfolio. At the end of the course, each student must complete an internship in a major firm. With two capstone goals to choose from, Fellows can either manage a portion of Elon's endowment by investing in the STOCK market or work with local and regional companies by providing strategic consulting advice.

Elon College Fellows

Elon College Fellows take part in a four-year long program that focuses on undergraduate research. The students fall into three sub-cateogories, Arts & Humanities Fellows, Social Sciences Fellows, and Mathematical and Natural Sciences Fellows. These three branches mimic the division of Elon College, the Arts and Sciences Department Of Elon University. The Fellows program is a part of normal coursework during the undergraduate years. Freshman Elon College Fellows take an Elon 101 course together in the fall, and then take GST 110 with more of the Fellows. In the winter term of their freshman year, they take ECF 111, Paths of Inquiry into the Arts and Sciences, a course that analyzes how to build a research question and includes a week-long trip to Washington, D.C. to see the Arts and Sciences in action. During the next years at Elon University, they continue on with the development of their undergraduate research, taking seminars with like-minded Fellows their sophomore and junior years. The program culminates with an overarching research project alongside a faculty member. Fellows are expected to publicly present this research in a forum like SURF (Student Undergraduate Research Forum) or NCUR (National Conference for Undergraduate Research).