Honors Program needs revision

editorial cartoon by Stephanie Lesniak
editorial cartoon by Stephanie Lesniak

Graduating from college with honors seems like a noble feat for those students selected to be the elite intellectual leaders on any college campus. However, at the University of La Verne, according to many current and former honors students, the enrichment courses on campus need serious revision.

The Honors Program is designed to allow students who excel in their coursework to take interdisciplinary courses for general education credit. Most honors students are recruited out of high school and convinced that the program will provide them with benefits which will enhance their college careers and enable them to quickly get a good job after graduation in their chosen fields.

Some other benefits of the Honors Program are that students register early, they get the word “honors” on their transcripts upon graduation, which could be extremely helpful when applying to graduate schools, and they have a lower accumulated grade point average to be considered for scholarships. For example, honors students can be considered for a presidents scholarship with only a 3.6 GPA, instead of the standard 3.8.

However, students are complaining that this just is not enough, and that the mere two choices of upper division and slightly accelerated classes offered each semester are not widespread enough in topic or content to satisfy the diverse interests of the students taking them.

Students are required to take a total of four honors classes and three one-unit colloquium classes, which include group visits to various cultural events. A big complaint is that of all the classes offered, most fulfill only humanities requirements. If a student has already fulfilled this requirement elsewhere, he or she must take another honors class which may not spark his or her interest. Also, most of the classes offered are interdisciplinary seminars on specialized subjects, and the two teachers teaching them may be better skilled in teaching other subjects, according to student input.

Many students say that the classes are a waste of time because they are irrelevant to many majors.

Furthermore, in the past, senior honor students were required to take a senior seminar more difficult than any other honors seminar. This year, however, exceptions have been made for seniors who could not fit the seminar into their schedules, and some seniors are taking regular honors seminars for senior seminar credit. This is unfair for the students who could fit it into their schedules. Also, the senior seminars can be taken for 1-4 units, but the workload is the same regardless.

For all these reasons, students are dropping out of the program, preferring to pursue their academic interests among the regular course offerings. Perhaps the program does need to be fine-tuned to fit the needs of students who are still in it. A growing number of students have already dropped honors because of dissatisfaction with the unorganized implementation of the program itself. Listening to the needs and interests of students about classes they want to see made available could be a good start. Also, hiring part-time instructors from other colleges who specialize in some of the subjects offered might raise student enthusiasm within classrooms where there is now virtually none.

Other Stories

Unsigned editorials represent the opinion of the Campus Times Editorial Board.

Stephanie Lesniak

Latest Stories

Related articles

La Verne students and faculty have mixed feelings about gradeless option

While some University of La Verne students think first semester freshmen should be able to take all of their classes pass/fail, or ungraded, the majority responding to an informal survey said they prefer letter grades for all. 

Letter to the Editor

As a graduate of the University of La Verne and an adjunct professor here for the past 26 years, I would like to express my opinions regarding certain issues I feel are important to the University.

Natural science students present research

Dozens of students presented their senior research findings to other students, faculty and staff at the Natural Science Division’s Research Conference and Reception on May 15 in the Campus Center Ballroom.

Faculty grapple with AI’s increasing ubiquity

Artificial intelligence, with its rapid development and increasingly easy access the past few years, has crept into the college classroom, causing many within and outside of education to question what this may mean for the future.