Sean McMinn
smcminn@mustangdaily.net
It was standing room only at Tuesday’s Academic Senate meeting, as dozens of students attended to protest Cal Poly’s examination of ending the academic honors program.
The students directed their frustration at Provost Kathleen Enz Finken, who spoke to honors students this past week and told them she was moving to end the program.
As she entered the meeting, Enz Finken told Mustang Daily and the assembled crowd of questioning students, “They can keep their honors program. They can keep it. Nothing’s been decided.”
But during the meeting, Enz Finken clarified no distinct plans have been made yet. Something still needs to be done to change the honors program, she said, because she believes it has remained stagnant since its founding in 1999.
She questioned the long-term success of the program, saying something needs to change.
“I think what I’m being asked to do is tinker around the edges,” she said, “And I’m not sure that’s the best resolution.”
Students made it clear they disagreed, however.
At one point during the meeting, honors student and modern languages and literature junior Nicole Beaudoin defended the program to Enz Finken, saying she would like whatever decision is eventually made to involve honors students.
“We are told the honors program is not big enough,” she said. “It’s got more applicants than we can accept. And we have around 400 people in the program. We were also told the honors program is not sustainable. It has been around for 14 years.”
The students and faculty in attendance, some who were carrying signs to support the honors program, applauded as Beaudoin finished her speech.
Enz Finken responded to several of Beaudoin’s concerns, saying students within the program could still graduate with honors.
As it exists at Cal Poly, the honors program does not meet requirements to be considered an official program, Enz Finken said. She would not commit to continuing it in the long-term, but there are no plans to admit new students into the program next year.
“There are a lot of pieces there, when you talk about it being a program, that it really clearly isn’t a program,” Enz Finken said. “It is necessarily a series of very good experiences that aren’t necessarily tied together in any way.”
University President Jeffrey Armstrong, who was at the meeting Tuesday to address the Academic Senate, did not respond to Beaudoin or address the honors protestors.
The Academic Senate did not officially examine honors during today’s meeting, something Academic Senate Chair Steve Rein emphasized to the speakers in support of it. He said senators would likely address the topic at its next meeting in two weeks.
Several students carried signs, including one that read: “I came to Cal Poly for the Honors Program. I am not alone.” Multiple students said they decided to attend the meeting after receiving an email from industrial and manufacturing engineering professor Sema Alptekin, director of the honors program.
In the email, Alptekin urged students to come with their classmates and teachers to show support for the program.
“She (Enz Finken) thinks that there are only a few people who are very supportive of the program,” Alptekin wrote. “We need to show as much support as possible to have any chance of saving the honors program.”
The Honors Program is a fantastic program. It embodies the “Learn by Doing” method. You bring an idea to the Honors Department like an internship, a class you would like to see taught at Cal Poly, an art collective you want to start, a lecture you want to give, a class you would like to do more research into. And they give you support and guidance to do those things. You fill out paperwork to get credit — but beyond that, it’s the support that the Honors Department provides. You do write-ups for your internship, you document your research, you gift your first art piece to the honors department.
If anything, the honors program should be changed to accommodate more students based on academic achievement. Most schools have an honors program that students are automatically enrolled in based on a level of academic excellence. This is important for Cal Poly. We need to keep the honors program to stay on par with other institutions.
Renee Jain
rejain@calpoly.edu
The Honors Program is a great program to have because it enables one to meet various individuals who have similar interests. Honor students get the chance to interact with various students who one may not have interacted with if it were not for the program. There are many research programs that go on with the Honors Program, which offers great experience and knowledge that one may have not got elsewhere. The Honors Program is essentially a reward for students who excelled in High School and want to go beyond the average student at Cal Poly by joining the Honors Program; Honor students are truly unique, motivated, and want to be given unique opportunities beyond the average student at any college.
Crazy to end the Honors Program…true, it could be made better (wonderful models of Honors College programs at other universities out there for inspiration), but to eliminate is foolish. Strong students with both the brains and motivation to excel is a GREAT thing! Why not build on the very good program Cal Poly has than to take it away?
Offering high achieving high school students an Honors opportunity made Cal Poly a more appealing college choice. It’s one more thing to make this university stand out. Provost Kathleen Enz Finken would be wise to enhance rather than take away this program. If she feels it’s stagnant, she could make it a more substantial program where Cal Poly students have even more meaningful opportunities to shine – an honor and a privilege to be admitted, achieve the goals, and to graduate with honors.
I might agree with changing certain aspects of the Honors Program. But getting rid of it shouldn’t be the answer. A lot of people really enjoy this community and organization. Also honors sections could be made better, but have value as is.
As a community member who has been partnering with Honors program students for the past year in building up our small business, I have to say that we would be very disappointed to see this program phased out. It seems hasty to phase out a program that is working. Is it perfect, no. Could it be improved, always. These students have worked hard to get into this program, and they continue to work hard while in it.
For two years, our business worked on finding a contact at Cal Poly who would bring us into a partnership with Cal Poly students. It was not until we discovered the Service Learning Program run by Dr. Sema that we found a team of faculty willing and eager to become partners with us. If this program goes, the local community will lose a key point of access to and with Cal Poly students who want to put “learn by doing” into practice in their local community.
Work with the students to improve the program. They have demonstrated they are eager and willing. Make them partners in creating the kind of program they want to have. I think Cal Poly will find that there are community partners, like our business, who are willing and able to work with you on this. This is a program that deserves to be fought for…