UB Offers Advanced Honors Program For Juniors And Seniors

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- An Advanced Honors Program designed to draw new students into the honors category, as well as better serve current honors students in their junior and senior years, will begin this fall at the University at Buffalo, administrators with the University Honors Program have announced.

Although the advanced program is open to current honors students, its primary thrust is to bring new students into the honors program, administrators say, adding that the expanded program will help UB recruit quality students, as well as retain them once they come to the university.

Clyde F. Herreid, academic director of the University Honors Program, noted that the traditional honors program has been "front-loaded," focusing on students' first two years of study. Although students remain in the program as juniors and seniors, they are "largely abandoned, in a sense, to the departments," said Herreid, SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Nicolas Goodman, UB vice provost for undergraduate education, agreed the traditional honors program "does nothing significant in enhancing the (academic) experience for students in their junior and senior years. This (the advanced program) is a significant step forward," he said.

With the institution of the advanced program, "I'm looking forward to an even larger role for the honors program in enhancing the academic quality of the university," Goodman said.

Josephine Capuana, administrative director of the honors program, called the advanced program a "second stage to the honors program." Students moving from the traditional honors program to the advanced program will move from a program that is broad-based to one that is more focused, she said, adding that students will determine that focus.

The program will be open to all students who have completed 60 hours of university credits with a grade-point average of at least 3.5. Students with a GPA of 3.25 to 3.49 may petition for an exemption from this requirement.

Students will be selected for the program based on two letters of reference from UB faculty members and personal letters from the applicants addressing the reasons for their applications and outlining their plans for the future and their areas of specialty.

The application deadline is Oct. 1 for the fall semester; March 1 for the Spring 2000 semester.

Once admitted to the program, students will receive all the "perks" of the traditional honors program, including priority registration, library registration, transcript notation, graduate-school advising, summer research information, an online newsletter and evening programs with faculty.

To complete the program, students must maintain the 3.5 GPA, complete a senior thesis or project, complete three honors or graduate courses at the 300 level or higher with a grade at least a "B" and fulfill a "breadth requirement," which entails participation in such things as a second major or a minor, study abroad, co-op programs, internships, community service, involvement in a campus organization and research in areas outside the student's major.

Students successfully completing the Advanced Honors Program will receive a special transcript notation signifying the honors status.

Establishing an honors program geared toward upper division-students will allow UB to serve many excellent students who cannot be served by the traditional honors program, Herreid said. He pointed out that while there are more than 2,000 students with GPAs of 3.5 or higher, less than a quarter of them are members of the honors program. Many of these high-achievers are "late bloomers" who did not qualify for the honors program as freshmen, he said, adding that the advanced program was crafted "with these serious scholars in mind."

It is expected to "open the door to many more excellent students and greatly enhance the reputation of UB as an outstanding undergraduate institution," Capuana said.

Begun in 1981 by then-President Robert Ketter, the University Honors Program has produced more than 1,000 graduates, most of whom have gone on to graduate and professional schools. The program has grown substantially, particularly in the past few years. The fall 1997 freshman class included 150 students, with the classes for 1998 and 1999 each containing 200 students. Currently, more than 600 students are members of the program.