In order to be truly regarded as a fully developed Honors College, rather than just an Honors Program, there are many qualifications. These can range from characteristics of the staff involved to the courses offered and even to the residence halls available. At Southern Arkansas University, there is an Honors College, but is it really able to be recognized as such? Does SAU’s Honors College meet all of the criteria?
One of the characteristics of a fully developed Honors College is that the head should be a dean who reports directly to the chief academic officer of the institution and serves as a full member of the Council of Deans. Also, the dean should be appointed full time for 12 months. At Southern Arkansas University, Dr. Ed Kardas is the head of the Honors College. He is a professor of psychology, but he’s not a dean. This situation means that Dr. Kardas is not a full member of the Council of the Deans. Therefore, in this aspect, SAU cannot be recognized as having an Honors College.
However, is having a dean in charge really of the utmost importance? Perhaps Dr. Kardas is just as well, or even more so, qualified as a dean at another university. If he seems to be teaching his classes well, and students are learning, then there is no reason why it should not be considered a legitimate Honors College.
All in all, technically Southern Arkansas University’s Honors College is not really an Honors College at all. Although it meets some of the requirements, it doesn’t meet them all. This is unfortunate because the Honors College at SAU seems to be fully functioning and well ordered. It also seems to be developing rapidly, so perhaps within the next few years, it will become a complete Honors College. In the meantime, it still sounds and looks prestigious.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Liu, Simin. (2009). Honors Alumni Needed
As far as I am concerned, SAU Honors College is not fully involved in alumni affairs and development and doesn’t have an external advisory board. The reason for this is obvious, that it simply doesn’t have an external advisory board, and at least up till now I haven’t been introduced to any honors college alumni. To me, alumni are very important resources to an institution, because they can be models for current students, provide external connections, and make donations to the improvement of the university. Also, alumni can teach the current students things that can’t be learned in textbooks or at school, but only through real life experiences. In terms of this aspect, College of Business actually does a good job. I take American Enterprise in College of Business this semester. We have three classes a week, but usually only two of them are spent in class on the knowledge from the textbook. Instead of studying solely from the textbook, we watch videos of the success stories of different entrepreneurs and corporations, and listen to lectures given by alumni. Three weeks ago, shortly after we learned the term “entrepreneurship,” College of Business invited an alumnus who graduated in 2002 to tell us about his story. He told us about his graduate study at University of Arkansas, fast promotion as a manager in a company, and finally, bored with the long-distance travel from home to work, he decided to be his own boss. He elaborated on his experience as an entrepreneur, which to me was a much more vivid and correct explanation than whatever a dictionary or textbook gives. Besides, this month is the College of Business’ Professional Development Month. Many outside speakers are invited to College of Business to give lectures, which can be considered as a precious outside advisory resource. For example, the president of Bancorp South came to give a lecture last week. He gave a lot of savings advice and explanations of services provided by banks, which is very beneficial for college students to have a good awareness of money and savings. I feel this is quite important because some of my friends really don’t have a conception of money, which is horrible.
To be honest, as a current honors student, I’m pretty interested in the development of honors graduates. However, I know that Honors College is not a specialized college such as the College of Business, and it is hard to have an outside speakers introduce something that is beneficial to all the honors students in different majors. Still, Honors College can make efforts to have an alumni advisory board to introduce their experience in Honors College, and give advice in general career development that is important in their experience.
To be honest, as a current honors student, I’m pretty interested in the development of honors graduates. However, I know that Honors College is not a specialized college such as the College of Business, and it is hard to have an outside speakers introduce something that is beneficial to all the honors students in different majors. Still, Honors College can make efforts to have an alumni advisory board to introduce their experience in Honors College, and give advice in general career development that is important in their experience.
Bower, Ben. (2009). Honors Hall
The SAU Honors College is a great program. It offers many of the basic characteristics of a developed honors college. I would like to discuss the residential component, which SAU does a magnificent job of offering.
The Honors Hall building is a completely separate building from all the other halls. It is also one of the newest buildings on the SAU campus. The Honors College does have to share the hall with the leadership college, but honors students are housed in higher quality rooms. Honors students enjoy larger rooms, suite style showers, and better windows, all of which actually open. These accommodations may encourage others who have the ability to be honors students to apply, enroll and reach their full potential in school.
Also, separating the Honors Hall from the other halls is a good idea because most honor students like to be around people like themselves. Honors students are at a different level intellectually and socially from most other students, so for them to best develop they should be around each other. Living together will also keep them from feeling as if they don’t belong because they will always be around people similar to them. Feeling accepted is a basic human comfort, so to put them in a place where they are around similar students just seems to make sense. As well as comfort, honors students generally take the same classes especially the first two years of college, so putting them in a building together makes it easier for the students to work together on projects or other group assignments.
The Honors Hall building is a completely separate building from all the other halls. It is also one of the newest buildings on the SAU campus. The Honors College does have to share the hall with the leadership college, but honors students are housed in higher quality rooms. Honors students enjoy larger rooms, suite style showers, and better windows, all of which actually open. These accommodations may encourage others who have the ability to be honors students to apply, enroll and reach their full potential in school.
Also, separating the Honors Hall from the other halls is a good idea because most honor students like to be around people like themselves. Honors students are at a different level intellectually and socially from most other students, so for them to best develop they should be around each other. Living together will also keep them from feeling as if they don’t belong because they will always be around people similar to them. Feeling accepted is a basic human comfort, so to put them in a place where they are around similar students just seems to make sense. As well as comfort, honors students generally take the same classes especially the first two years of college, so putting them in a building together makes it easier for the students to work together on projects or other group assignments.
Novotny, Alex. (2009). Honors Requirements
All colleges have a targeted student population: the smart kids. Intelligent students are flocked with letters from various institutions all over the country once the summer before their senior year begins. A really smart pupil would go through them all and pick one that has a respectable honors college that they can see themselves excelling in. Southern Arkansas University is a university that possesses a prestigious honors college. All one has to do is look at the requirements needed to be a part of the program. A seeking undergraduate must have a 26 on the ACT and at least a 3.5 high school G.P.A. In addition to those prerequisites, they must also provide an essay they have written for a class, a letter describing why they want to even be a part of such a program and what they could bring to it, and two letters of recommendation: one personal and one academic. According to the National Collegiate Honors Council, a fully developed honors program should require certain standards that all students must meet before being able to join. Southern Arkansas University meets this standard because of the above stated prerequisites.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Faulkner, Ashley. (2009). Admissions to Honors College
In today’s society admissions into college is no easy feat; likewise admissions into an Honors College is even harder. To be a fully functioning Honors College it must require certain standards from the its applicants. Among these requirements are separate admissions than the regular college, appropriate size of the entering class, minimum GPA’s and SAT/ACT scores, written essays, and expectations for retention in the Honors College.
Because the Honors College is a college inside of the university, admission to it is required as well as a separate admission to the Honors College. SAU’s Honor College meets this standard by requiring applicants to fill out a separate application for admission. To keep the Honors College a sacred and honored institution limiting the entering class size is an important factor. If the incoming class is too large it may seem like the College is too easy to enter or that its standards are low enough such that more students can meet them. At SAU the average entering class is around 30 students. This number is a good one for the College. Assuming that all the Honors College’s students remained enrolled for the full four years there would be 120 Honors College students out of the 3,000 who attend SAU. This ratio makes the Honors College look like a high society made up of only the brightest students at SAU.
Criteria for the applicants includes meeting certain requirements. Most honors colleges require a minimum GPA, usually above a 3.0, and students must retain a certain GPA to stay enrolled in the college. SAT/ACT scores are also a major requirement for admission to any honors college. SAU uses students’ ACT scores; they must have a composite score of 26 or higher to be considered for admission. Written essays are required for many normal college applications, however for admissions into honor colleges students are required to submit other materials. SAU’s Honors College requires two additional essays. One is a piece already written for a high school class, the other is a paper explaining their interest in the Honors College and what they believe they will bring to that community. In addition to the two essays, SAU also requires two letters of recommendation: one academic and one personal. To remain in the honors college students must keep a GPA of 3.25 or higher and complete at least 15 hours per semester and 24 total honors hours before graduation.
All in all, SAU’s Honors College meets all the admission requirements to be considered a fully functioning honors college. It requires separate admissions, regulates incoming class sizes, imposes minimum GPAs and SAT/ACT scores, obtains written essays, and states requirements for retention in the college. The SAU Honors College meets the national standards for admissions.
Because the Honors College is a college inside of the university, admission to it is required as well as a separate admission to the Honors College. SAU’s Honor College meets this standard by requiring applicants to fill out a separate application for admission. To keep the Honors College a sacred and honored institution limiting the entering class size is an important factor. If the incoming class is too large it may seem like the College is too easy to enter or that its standards are low enough such that more students can meet them. At SAU the average entering class is around 30 students. This number is a good one for the College. Assuming that all the Honors College’s students remained enrolled for the full four years there would be 120 Honors College students out of the 3,000 who attend SAU. This ratio makes the Honors College look like a high society made up of only the brightest students at SAU.
Criteria for the applicants includes meeting certain requirements. Most honors colleges require a minimum GPA, usually above a 3.0, and students must retain a certain GPA to stay enrolled in the college. SAT/ACT scores are also a major requirement for admission to any honors college. SAU uses students’ ACT scores; they must have a composite score of 26 or higher to be considered for admission. Written essays are required for many normal college applications, however for admissions into honor colleges students are required to submit other materials. SAU’s Honors College requires two additional essays. One is a piece already written for a high school class, the other is a paper explaining their interest in the Honors College and what they believe they will bring to that community. In addition to the two essays, SAU also requires two letters of recommendation: one academic and one personal. To remain in the honors college students must keep a GPA of 3.25 or higher and complete at least 15 hours per semester and 24 total honors hours before graduation.
All in all, SAU’s Honors College meets all the admission requirements to be considered a fully functioning honors college. It requires separate admissions, regulates incoming class sizes, imposes minimum GPAs and SAT/ACT scores, obtains written essays, and states requirements for retention in the college. The SAU Honors College meets the national standards for admissions.
Kasper, Daniel. (2009). Honors College Needs a Dean
The National Collegiate Honors Council has put out a list of qualifications that it deems are necessary in an Honors College, such as the one at Southern Arkansas University at Magnolia. One of these qualifications is that the head of the Honors College should be a dean who reports directly to the president of the university. It is here, sadly, that SAU falls behind on the qualifications.
A dean, according to Merriam Webster Online, is simply “the head of a division, faculty, college, or school of a university.” But if that were the only qualification of a dean, the SAU Honors College would fulfill its requirements. However, Dr. Ed Kardas, who is the head of the college, is not a dean. He is a director. And his time is split between directing the Honors College and being a full Professor of Psychology: one quarter with the Honors College and the rest teaching. And Mr. David Wingfield, titled “Assistant to English and Foreign Languages/Honors College” by the university, also splits his time between two positions.
What does this mean for the Honors College? Not a great deal, yet. It is still early in the life of the College: we only opened our doors in 2004 after all. But in order for this Honors College to function as it should, a full time dean is necessary.
Not having a dean is a detriment to the students. It is more difficult to get the attention of someone juggling two positions. The head of the Honors College should make the Honors College their first priority, which is why the dean system was put into place. Deans can work whole-heartedly with their colleges in order to get things done. Further, it is unfair to ask someone to fulfill two positions in a university setting. The stress of one job is enough for one person; no one should be required to wear too many hats. As far as I can tell, Dr. Kardas and Mr. Wingfield are doing an excellent job with the Honors College. But I feel that if the university asks too much of them, they are going to burn out, and that would be an injury done to the university.
Having a dean is one of the most important things a fully functional Honors College should have. There is nothing as important as having someone in the arena for the college, so to speak. And unless SAU gets a full time dean soon, the Honors College will eventually suffer for it.
A dean, according to Merriam Webster Online, is simply “the head of a division, faculty, college, or school of a university.” But if that were the only qualification of a dean, the SAU Honors College would fulfill its requirements. However, Dr. Ed Kardas, who is the head of the college, is not a dean. He is a director. And his time is split between directing the Honors College and being a full Professor of Psychology: one quarter with the Honors College and the rest teaching. And Mr. David Wingfield, titled “Assistant to English and Foreign Languages/Honors College” by the university, also splits his time between two positions.
What does this mean for the Honors College? Not a great deal, yet. It is still early in the life of the College: we only opened our doors in 2004 after all. But in order for this Honors College to function as it should, a full time dean is necessary.
Not having a dean is a detriment to the students. It is more difficult to get the attention of someone juggling two positions. The head of the Honors College should make the Honors College their first priority, which is why the dean system was put into place. Deans can work whole-heartedly with their colleges in order to get things done. Further, it is unfair to ask someone to fulfill two positions in a university setting. The stress of one job is enough for one person; no one should be required to wear too many hats. As far as I can tell, Dr. Kardas and Mr. Wingfield are doing an excellent job with the Honors College. But I feel that if the university asks too much of them, they are going to burn out, and that would be an injury done to the university.
Having a dean is one of the most important things a fully functional Honors College should have. There is nothing as important as having someone in the arena for the college, so to speak. And unless SAU gets a full time dean soon, the Honors College will eventually suffer for it.
Tubbs, Chardai. (2009). Not Quite Honors College Yet
Southern Arkansas University has developed and sustained an elite Honors Program. It offers numerous honors-level courses, provide top-notch housing, and challenges the IQ’s of all accepted. I am not convinced, however, that it can be called an Honors College just yet.
The first and most important differentiating factor between the SAU Honors program and any Honors College is the fact that SAU does not employ an Honors College Dean. Having a full-time dean is one of the criteria for an Honors College. While SAU does have an Honors College Director, because he is not full-time and does not have the title of Dean, the program cannot be classified as a college.
Another separating factor is that at SAU, the Honors Program is not credited as an equal collegiate structure. Its name does not stand among the ranks with the College of Business, Science and Technology, and all the other ones. Maybe this can be attributed to the fact that the SAU Honors Program is fairly new. Until the Honors Program can be just as significant as all the other colleges at the multi-collegiate university that SAU is, it cannot have the Honors College title.
The last lacking characteristic in the Southern Arkansas University Honors Program is alumni. Because the SAU Honors Program is so new, there is not an abundance of alumni for support. It takes awhile for any program to grow and flourish and with time, the SAU Honors Program will gain the alumni that it needs to satisfy this criterion of an Honors College.
All in all, the SAU Honors Program, although very satisfactory, cannot be called an Honors College. While it does meet many of the goals of a full Honors College, it lacks completion of some of the bigger ones. Given time, I believe the SAU Honors Program will grow and be able to stand among the best. Maybe then will it be able to be call SAU Honors College.
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