Honors Program Framework Adopted

Historic Meeting Highlights Compromise

At a historic meeting this past Wednesday, the Yeshiva College faculty formally approved the structure for an honors program which may be put in place as early as next year. The structure came out of months of tireless Honors Committee meetings among students, faculty, and administrators.

The program revolves around several components. Primary is the founding of an honors track devoted to academic enrichment of a select group of students. In concert with this goal is the generalized maturation of the YC curriculum through the development of both honors and non-honors courses that will be added the list of course offerings.

To achieve this, the University has committed to hiring new faculty members in all academic areas to fill both scholarship and curricular roles. In turn, existing faculty members will also receive additional assistance to help, in the words of the program's mission statement, "promote intellectual challenge to students." Finally, through the development of cultural enrichment programs, students and faculty together will have an opportunity to participate in and attend a variety of cultural events in and around New York City.

The academic structure of the honors program, which has been the source of close scrutiny over the past several months, includes avenues for allowing non-honors students to participate in the cultural events as well as take nearly any honors course offered within the College. In addition, course selections specific to honors-only students will help develop the tools of scholarship and sensitivity that are viewed as the hallmarks of the Yeshiva College honors education.

The honors curriculum is as follows: First year students will be required to take a series of survey courses, termed H1 and H2, that will supplant the current English composition distribution requirement. These courses will, though intensive writing and analysis assignments, develop tools of academic scholarship and composition in the areas of literature and humanities. A third survey course, H3, must be chosen as an elective in the following year from special honors survey courses in the natural or social sciences divisions, Jewish studies or mathematics. A total of six honors electives, beyond the survey courses, will be required., bringing the required number of honors courses to eight.

Beyond the required course load, honors program students "shall have substantial co-curricular experience during the summer." This may involve independent research or participation in some other culturally or educationally significant program. As a requirement for graduating, honors students must also complete a senior thesis. This may follow from an independent research project or from a cross-disciplinary "Capstone Course" to be offered to honors students during their senior year. As part of the thesis development, a new mentor program will be instituted. Mentors will work with students in their efforts to develop a thesis and advise students on educational and career opportunities.

In addition, while students are currently only required to take 84 credits on campus in order to graduate, honors students will be required to take 108 credits. This effectively requires students to remain on campus for at least seven semesters. However, to allay financial problems this may pose, tuition will likely be waived for students remaining on campus for more than six semesters.

Students and faculty reacted positively to the news of the honors program's formal acceptance. While some faculty noted the sense that the honors program was, in effect, "steam rolling its way into the structure and psyche of Yeshiva College," others were quick to view the program as a monumental step forward for the University. Assistant Dean Joyce Jesionowski noted the "pensive attitude and natural misgivings" that naturally accompany a major change in the way people view their surrounding environment. However, she was quick to emphasize the "spirit and comraderie that went into the development of this program." She pointed to the joint faculty and student meetings over the past few weeks which generally lasted, in the words of one student, until "the time of the reading of K'riat Shema had come."

Dr. Joanne Jacobson, a key player in the program's development, reiterated a statement at the final Honors Committee meeting that was echoed at the start of the entire process. She viewed the program as a "turning point" in the history of YU as a truly excellent academic institution. The sense of excitement which came with the program's acceptance, she noted, "was electric."

In all, the finalization of the honors program represents the start of a new era of academics at Yeshiva College. With revamped courses that will permeate the entire campus and a host of new cultural and extracurricular opportunities, the program seems likely to both enhance student life and provide students with a firm academic base.