Report of the Honors Committee
2004-2005 Academic Year

Committee Members: Linda Bakken, Don Malzahn, J.C. Combs, Dong Cho, Dharam Chropra, Anthony Gythiel, Ann Hunter, Jay Mandt (ex officio)(chair)

Meeting Schedule: The committee will have met 5-6 times by the end of the year.

Summary of Issues/Concerns:

The committee reviewed and approved a number of proposed departmental honors tracks. It also approved a new Honors advising initiative presented by the director, and changes in the program's admissions criteria. Late in the spring semester, the committee will serve as the search committee for the next Honors Faculty Fellow appointment.

The committee received periodic reports from the director on issues facing the program and the efforts underway to deal with them. There were several wide-ranging discussions of issues facing honors education and the program's development.

The committee was pleased that Vice President Hutchinson was able to resolve several long standing budgetary and staffing issues, notably, providing the program with a regular budget line for lecturers, and the transformation of the half-time associate director's position into two one quarter time Honors Faculty Fellows positions. The committee was also pleased to learn that cooperation between Honors and Admissions in recruiting had advanced greatly this year, and that a number of joint initiatives are underway.

Honors Advising
Beginning this fall, freshmen in the program will be required to schedule an Honors advising appointment during their first semester at the University to review their long-range academic goals and their plans for pursuing high academic achievement. Program advisors will use these sessions to encourage students to pursue research opportunities and major national fellowships as well as to improve their selection of courses. Students whose work falls short of Honors expectations will also be scheduled for counseling sessions. These additional advising services will be accomplished by reallocating the time of existing staff.

Change in Program Admission Criteria
A 3.5 GPA in high school will continue to assure a student admission to the program. However, a 26 ACT score will do so only if the student has at least a 3.25 GPA. Otherwise, an interview with the director will be required. These changes reflect an analysis of data on student performance in the program. High ACT, low GPA admits have a high "failure" rate in their Honors work.