Problems, Concerns, Limitations
AU Honors College:
2008 & Beyond
HONORS CERTIFICATES, 2002-2006
150
100
50
112
80
32
34
0
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Fewer than desirable stick it out!
Junior
certificate
Senior
certificate
500
450
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
FOR EXAMPLE
Incoming Class
in 2002
458
182
Earn
94
Earn
34
Apply
Enroll
Jr.
Cert.
Sr.
Cert.
2004
2006
1994-2005
Only 253 total: 3.5%
Honors Enrollment
University
Honors
Scholars
Total # of
Honors
students
FAR TOO FEW HONORS STUDENTS BECOME
UNIVERSITY HONORS SCHOLARS
What explains the attrition?
200
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
Class of
2006
Big Deal—Or Empty Promise?
• “The absolute worst
crime is when a
university touts its
Honors program as a
big deal and then
Honors students and
their families quickly
realize there is not
really that much to it.”
Dr. Ted Estiss
Dean
Honors College
University of Houston
COMMENTS FROM CURRENT AU HONORS STUDENTS
All for what?!
“After having been in the program for a year,
the only true reason I am still part of it is so
that I can register early… and there I find the
problem. There is no real incentive to be in
the Honors program. The classes are more
challenging (read, “harder”), and the Honors
housing is in many respects substandard and
full to overcrowded. And all for what? Early
registration?! …
All for what?
“…If this Honors program is truly to
succeed in its mission, it must begin to
offer some REAL incentive, some REAL
recognition, and some REAL reward.”
--Junior Aerospace Engineering student
Improved Image
“What could best be improved in the
Honors program is its image. Whenever
people hear the name, they think, “Oh,
no, it’s just more work.”
--Sophomore Architecture major
Extreme makeover
“Beyond the registration there is no real
“perk” associated with it, and that
should be changed. The grade policy, a
3.2 cumulative, is also somewhat
disappointing. Some of the smartest
kids I know are having trouble staying
in the Honors program because of their
major (non-Honors classes)….
Extreme makeover
“ I also know that within the Honors program
there are discrepancies in the expectations of
students. I have been in the H.P. for two
years now and do not feel I have gained
much from it. I would like for the H.P. to be
more organized, more smoothly-run. I think it
needs an extreme makeover.”
--Junior UNSM student
Not doing me much good
“An amazing change in the Honors program
would be somehow weighing the GPA of
Honors classes. Because right now I’m taking
Honors classes that take up more time and
effort and don’t really have anything to show
for it. It seems like it’s not doing me much
good to do Honors.”
---Freshman Architecture major
More Courses
“I think the Honors College would be
better if the Honors course selection
was wider, meaning more courses could
be counted towards completion of the
Honors program.”
--Sophomore Math major
Larger course selection
“The Honors College needs a larger
course selection and more contact with
its students in regards to scheduling.
Students should have the opportunity to
enroll in more Honors courses outside
of the standard curriculum.”
--Freshman PWRE student
More offerings
“There should be more Honors classes
offered in the School of Math and
Science. I had numerous choices of
Honors Music Appreciation classes but
no choices for Honors Biology.”
--Freshman UNSM student
Extra incentive
“The Honors program could be
improved by adding extra incentive for
people to take the classes. Honors
classes are more challenging than
regular classes so people should be
rewarded for doing well, such as adding
more to their GPA.”
--Sophomore PIE student
Honors past the Core
“The Honors program could be
improved by offering Honors classes
past Core courses. Some majors seem
to do more for Honors students than
others. I’d like to be in Honors
Engineering classes.”
--Sophomore ME student
Not enough difference
“I would like to see more difference between
my Honors and regular courses. I enjoy the
smaller number of students in the classroom
but I feel in many of my courses there is not
enough difference in Honors and regular.
Maybe a research project that would
challenge us to work harder.”
--Sophomore Electrical Engineering major
What explains the attrition?
200
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
Class of
2006
Other Factors Involved
1. Belief that requirements for Senior Program/Thesis will add
significantly to the workload and difficulty of finishing a major.
Other Factors Involved
1. Belief that requirements for Senior Program/Thesis will add
significantly to the workload and difficulty of finishing a major.
2. Advisers within colleges actually advising students to drop out
of the Honors program.
Other Factors Involved
1. Belief that requirements for Senior Program/Thesis will add
significantly to the workload and difficulty of finishing a major.
2. Advisers within colleges actually advising students to drop out
of the Honors program.
3. Faculty in the majors not encouraging their students to
complete a thesis. Not enough faculty “buy-in.”
Other Factors Involved
1. Belief that requirements for Senior Program/Thesis will add
significantly to the workload and difficulty of finishing a major.
2. Advisers within colleges actually advising students to drop out
of the Honors program.
3. Faculty in the majors not encouraging their students to
complete a thesis. Not enough faculty “buy-in.”
4. Insufficient coordination between senior capstone projects
in a major and work on the Honors Thesis. No reason they have
to be two different projects.
Other Factors Involved
1. Belief that requirements for Senior Program/Thesis will add
significantly to the workload and difficulty of finishing a major.
2. Advisers within colleges actually advising students to drop out
of the Honors program.
3. Faculty in the majors not encouraging their students to
complete a thesis. Not enough faculty “buy-in.”
4. Insufficient coordination between senior capstone projects
in a major and work on the Honors Thesis. No reason they have
to be two different projects.
But how “fixed” do want it?


How many Honors Theses per year can
the faculty accommodate?
Concept of President Gogue/Graduate
Dean George Flowers:

4-year Bachelors/Master’s program


Freshmen arriving with mega-AP
5-year Bachelors/Master’s program
Vision for the Future
Underlying Principle
Instrument for
Individual
Development
HONORS
COLLEGE
Instrument for
Institutional
Development
Artist’s rendition of Shelby Center
For Engineering Technology
TOTAL HONORS SCHOLARSHIP MONEY:
$117K PER YEAR FOR 750 STUDENTS =
$156 PER STUDENT!
Honors is an institution’s
very public face
“Multiplier Effect”
“The directly visible effects of dollars spent on Honors
is greater than spending those dollars anywhere else
on campus.”
--National Collegiate Honors Council
Honors needs to be appropriately integrated
within the overall mission of the land-grant
university.
Inclusive—Non-Elitist—Permeable—Enlivening—
Enriching—Available—Accessible
“Dipping into the Curriculum”
On a space-available
basis, open Honors
courses to enrollment
to undergraduates with
a “B” average or better.
– Try to get 200 to 300
students per year to sample
Honors courses
Curriculum
Long Term/Innovation
Use the Honors Curriculum
partly as a learning
laboratory, where new
course ideas and new ways
of teaching constantly
stimulate teachers and
students.
– Special (interdisciplinary)
seminars
– Build bridges between parts
of the curriculum that are
too often experienced in
isolation from one another.
“Honors With a Difference”
Use Honors to spearhead a
university-wide commitment
to providing as stimulating
and enriching an academic
environment as can be found
on any college campus in
America, for all students.
Inclusive—Non-Elitist—Permeable—
Enlivening—Enriching—Available—Accessible
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Office of Distinguished Scholarships
National Prestigious Scholarships
At A.U., responsibility for administration falls
to half-time Honors College Director
Rhodes
Marshall
Truman
Goldwater
Total
U. of Georgia
19
4
13
26
62
U. of Arkansas
10
6
11
30
57
Ol’ Miss
24
2
11
8
45
U. of Alabama
15
0
9
15
39
LSU
14
4
2
15
35
So. Carolina
1
1
4
26
32
U Tenn
3
6
4
11
24
Miss St
0
0
14
9
23
Auburn
0
1
0
21
22
Kentucky
0
2
12
3
17
U. of Florida
1
0
3
3
7
Vanderbilt
Data collected in 2005 by MSU Honors Program for 1990-2004
Proposal to Dr. Glaze
Appoint Associate
Director for National
Prestigious
Scholarships (Honors
College), to develop a
much more effective
system for mentoring
student applicants and
earning a greater
number of distinguished
external scholarships.
Rhodes
Paul with students at Univ of Muenster
Dr. Paul Harris
Office of Undergraduate Research
Connect AU’s Undergraduate
Research Program to Honors College?
“One of the worst places at the university to situate
an Undergraduate Research Program is within the
Office for the Vice President for Research. The
OVPR has absolutely no regular contact with
undergraduate students.”
Undergraduate Research Fellowship
Office of the Vice President for Research
Dr. Ted Estiss
Dean
Honors College
University of Houston
Center for Undergraduate Excellence (A.U.)
Honors College
Center for Undergraduate Excellence (A.U.)
Honors College
Center for Undergraduate Excellence (A.U.)
Honors College
Auburn
Leanne K. Lamke
Center for Undergraduate Excellence (A.U.)
Honors College
Auburn
Biggio Center
for the Enhancement
of Teaching And Learning
James Groccia
Leanne K. Lamke
Center for Undergraduate Excellence (A.U.)
Auburn
Honors College
Biggio Center
for the Enhancement
of Teaching And Learning
Leanne K. Lamke
James Groccia
Center for Undergraduate Excellence (A.U.)
Auburn
Honors College
Biggio Center
for the Enhancement
of Teaching And Learning
Leanne K. Lamke
James Groccia
Center for Undergraduate Excellence (A.U.)
Auburn
Honors College
Biggio Center
for the Enhancement
of Teaching And Learning
Leanne K. Lamke
James Groccia
Honors needs very strong benediction from above
“Icing on the Cake”
• “Superstars” of
campus lecture series
• Cultural travel tours,
i.e., NYC, San
Francisco, Montreal,
Mexico City
• Book clubs led by
retired faculty,
eminent alums,
accomplished
community leaders
“Bread and butter”
• Honors Core courses
• Honors work in major