Honors College Resolution

Background

The Academic Affairs Committee (AAC) received a charge from the NBFC Executive Committee to examine issues that were being raised in connection with equity and diversity in the Honors College. As soon as AAC began looking at these issues and communicating with the administration of the Honors College and the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, it became clear to the AAC that there were numerous challenges with the way in which first year honors programs in New Brunswick are organized. In order to try to understand these complexities and challenges, we consulted with a broad range of administrative staff and faculty associated directly or indirectly with first year honors programs.

Students who apply to schools in NB are not provided with clear information about the various honors programs that may be available to them. Even after they are admitted they are not given the opportunity to indicate their interest in honors programs in general, or the Honors College specifically. Which invitations they get (i.e., Honors College, SASHP, SOE, SEBS, etc.) depend on the criteria set by the deans of those honors communities. Admission to the Honors College is determined by the allocation of available merit scholarship funds from the schools aligned with the College: SAS, SOE, RBS, SEBS, EMSOP, and MGSA. So, the Honors College has virtually no input into who is admitted to the Honors College. Procedures should be put in place to increase communication between these schools and the Honors College.

Another problem that has become more serious now that Rutgers is test optional is not having enough personnel to do the holistic evaluations necessary for honors candidates.

A related issue is that schools that have honors programs are often forced by budgetary and institutional constraints (i.e., RCM) from making sufficient faculty teaching and time available to honors offerings. These limits make the schools seem proprietary or reluctant to contribute. A resulting problem is that there are not enough faculty providing the level of mentoring and academic enhancement of the Honors College and first year honors programs. Mechanisms must be developed to encourage and reward faculty participation in both honors admissions and academics. Faculties with incentives, support, and recognition would better recruit, support, and retain diverse honors students at New Brunswick.

Questions of equity and diversity in the Honors College and first year honors programs in general were the issues that we were originally asked to address. While these questions can be very complex, they are of paramount importance as Rutgers moves forward. One specific suggestion we make is that procedures should be put in place to increase allocations of scholarships according to agreed upon diversity and equity priorities, with coordination between faculty and administrators of schools with first year honors programs as well as the Honors College.

Resolution

Whereas we could make additional specific and narrow suggestions and

Whereas it is our view that some of the problems in NB honors programs are too broad and complex for our committee to tackle and

Whereas a search for a new dean for the Honors College is currently underway.

Be it Resolved that the New Brunswick Faculty Council urges Chancellor Provost Conway to appoint a special committee of faculty and honors program administrative staff to investigate and create solutions to the problems associated with first year honors programs in New Brunswick.