Before the Syracuse University administration attempts to increase enrollment or renovate the facilities in the Renee Crown University Honors Program, being an honors student must carry greater value.

The honors program was revamped in 2004-05, but it still needs restructuring and must refocus on exclusivity instead of expansion.

Though 900 students are enrolled in the honors program, the percentage of students who graduate from it is low compared to other universities. On average, 42 percent of students enrolled in the program graduate from it.

This large dropout rate is an issue that could possibly be remedied by reorganizing individual capstone development and focusing on a smaller number of students.

For freshman and sophomore honors students, the perks of the program mainly lie in the early class enrollment dates and honors-only courses that are both creative and challenging. But the last two years of honors students’ undergraduate careers is fraught with completing an overwhelming capstone project.

To alleviate this imbalance, the program should be restructured to include elements of capstone work during all four undergraduate years.

This will allow completing the capstone to be a more feasible goal for students partaking in the program, and will therefore possibly decrease the rate of incompletion.

Making the program more prestigious and supplying greater benefits could also decrease the dropout rate.

By scaling back on the number of students enrolled in the honors program, university officials could reallocate where its resources are used. Resources could be directed toward truly devoted students who can work on capstones that continue to push and challenge them for all four years.

Beyond this, university officials must concentrate on increasing the prestige of graduating with honors. Students must see the honors program as a greater asset. By working to develop benefits and worth for years of difficult academics, the program’s retention numbers and significance of holding an honors degree might increase.

In revamping the academics and exclusivity of the program, the university might also be able to attract more top prospective students to SU.

Though the cramped physical spaces students in the honors program use need to be improved in the future, the program itself must first become more elite. Once this is achieved, the university can set its sights on honors expansion.

Published on April 22, 2013 at 1:35 am

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