UB's Honors Program came under examination this past Wednesday at a Faculty Senate Executive Committee when program director Kip Herreid and Administrative Director Josie Capuana discussed both flaws and initiatives for the honors crowd.
Currently in its 25th year, the Honors Program has over 1,000 undergraduate students enrolled. The purpose of the program is to attract exceptional students who may otherwise attend schools like Harvard, Yale or UB's largest competitor, Cornell.
"Students come to Buffalo because it is an inexpensive place to begin with," Capuana said. "In addition to that, we provide financial support."
The financial support ranges from the $3000 a year, which the bulk of honors students receive, to a full ride offered to a select few. A high school GPA of at least 93 and an SAT score of 1300 is required for admission. For students not accepted as freshmen, at the end of sophomore year those with a GPA of 3.5 or higher are invited into the program; however, they are not offered the financial benefits.
Honors students are required to maintain a 3.2 GPA their freshman year, and a 3.5 after that. These standards prove too much for some students, and the retention rate of students in the program was a key concern of faculty.
"We probably lose about 10 percent of freshmen class and 10 percent of sophomores," Herreid said. "Eighty percent stay at UB who are entered (into it)."
Many also see a flaw in the lack of minority students in the program.
"We're terrible," Herreid said about minority enrollment. "The pool (those who meet the minimum requirements) is so much smaller. We looked at the numbers last year, nationally, and it was 1500 across the nation. And you know they're not going to choose us. They're going to Harvard, Yale."
When asked what could be done about the problem, the honors officials described an uphill battle.
"Part of the issue is the old Buffalo issue," Capuana said. "It's hard to attract kids from downstate. It's not that we're not trying, but that it's very, very difficult."
Dr. Michael Cain, the new dean of the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, believes that in order for the school to be successful, administrators need to focus on teaching, research and practice.
"We have to look at the School of Medicine as an institution that needs to be a triple threat institution," he said. "We are not an outstanding institution if we fail to meet those three."
However, Cain said that the past practice, where each faculty member's time was divided between the three areas, does not mesh with today's world. He compared the faculty to World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals.
"There are nine people who play baseball, and they're all super-specialized," Cain said. "The pitcher is excellent at pitching, the first baseman super specialized at playing first base - but you don't want a first baseman pitching and vice-versa."
The committee also discussed the fallout from the School of Informatics dissolution at length, with a report from the Faculty Senate Academic Planning Committee Chair Diane Christian. The biggest complaint, according to Christian, was not the dissolution itself but rather how it was announced.
"Most of them (faculty and staff from Library Sciences and Communication) have said to us they are happy to separate," Christian said. "But they're not happy with the way the dissolution was announced. The faculty was surprised, disturbed, upset."
The faculty from the Master's in Library Sciences program has expressed interest in writing a proposal for their department's next move.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
