informal proposal
steve912
infpropex.docx701 East Apache Boulevard
Tempe, Arizona 85281
October 1, 2018
Dr. Mark Jacobs
Vice Provost and Dean, Barrett, the Honors College
751 East Lemon Street
Tempe, Arizona 85281
Dear Dean Jacobs,
Purpose
As a Barrett student, thank you for the time and resources that you put into making Barrett, the Honors College a wonderful place to study. In this letter, I will propose a way to make Barrett an even better place to study.
To graduate from Barrett, students must complete The Human Event, an honors thesis, a 3.25 GPA, and 36 honors credits. During the season of class registration, the search for honors credits is on the mind of every Barrett student.
Some classes offer honors sections, which are times that the class is held only for honors students. Other classes offer honors contracts, which allow honors students to do supplementary work to receive honors credit in a non-honors class.
Many professors have recently begun to limit the offering of honors contracts to only classes that do not offer honors sections. For instance, if a marketing class offers an honors section, professors that teach the non-honors sections of the course are no longer offering to complete honors contracts with students.
Problem of Limiting Honors Contracts
Limiting the availability of honors contracts hinders students from being able to take advantage of the full Barrett experience. While the Honors College itself is not telling professors in writing that they cannot offer honors contracts to students taking the non-honors equivalent of an honors class, professors are telling students that since there is an honors section available, that the student should have taken that section to get honors credit.
Some problems that come with this include:
· Honors sections are offered less often
· Honors sections are offered almost exclusively at the Tempe campus, and they are not offered online
Honors Sections are Offered Less Often
The fact that honors sections are offered is not an appropriate excuse to not offer honors contracts. Honors sections are usually only offered at one time during the week. If that time conflicts with a student’s other classes, extracurricular activities, or personal responsibilities, the student has no choice but to enroll in a non-honors section of the course. The non-honors sections of courses are offered at many more times than their honors section counterparts.
For example, one can look at the number of honors sections offered in some classes in Spring of 2019 compared to the number of regular sections offered.
|
|
Regular Sections Offered in Person (300) |
Regular Sections Offered Online (300) |
Honors Sections Offered in Person (303) |
Honors Sections Offered Online (303) |
|
SCM300/303 |
7 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
|
MGT300/303 |
5 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
|
MKT300/303 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
|
FIN300/303 |
6 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total |
21 |
5 |
6 |
0 |
These four core business classes all offer honors sections, allowing the professors who teach the non-honors sections to refuse to do honors contracts with their students with the reasoning that the student should have enrolled in the honors section if they wanted honors credit. However, as seen above, scheduling conflicts prevent many students from being able to enroll in honors sections.
Only six of the 32 total sections of these classes in the Spring of 2019 are available for honors credit. This means that non-honors students get to pick from almost 80% more classes than their Barrett peers. This puts Barrett students at a competitive disadvantage in creating cohesive class schedules.
Honors Sections are Almost Exclusively Offered at the Tempe Campus
Not shown in the above table is the location of these classes. These are classes that are required for business degrees at multiple ASU campuses. For example, SCM300 is offered at four different campuses (five if you include online). SCM303, the honors counterpart to this class, is offered at ASU’s Tempe campus only.
If a student from another campus wants to receive honors credit for this class, they have two choice. The student can either enroll in SCM303 and commute to the Tempe campus once a week, or they can enroll in an SCM300 class in the hopes that their professor might allow honors contracts. there is absolutely no guarantee that the latter will work, though, because professors are not required to offer honors contracts.
SCM303, the honors section of SCM300, meets only once a week on Fridays. Other honors sections, such as MGT303, MKT303, and FIN303 meet twice a week, and are only offered in Tempe. This means that if a business student at the Polytechnic or West campuses wants to ensure they can receive honors credit for a class, they must commute to the Tempe campus twice a week. The campus shuttles take about an hour to move between campuses. Therefore, if a student at the Polytechnic or West campuses wants to take an honors section of some classes, they must commute around four hours each week just to attend the class. These four hours come out of time that could be better spent doing other activities such as homework or participating in extracurricular activities.
Honors Sections are Not Offered Online
Not offering honors sections of classes online again limits Barrett students’ ability to get their honors credits done. Further than not offering honors sections online, Barrett limits the number of honors credits that a student can earn from honors contracts in online classes to six credit hours. This discourages honors students from taking online courses, which many students prefer because of the schedule flexibility that online classes offer.
Solution to the Problem
If Barrett wants to enrich the honors experience further, it needs to expand the availability of honors sections and contracts to its students. This can be done by:
· Designating whether a professor offers honors contracts in a class or not
· Offering honors sections on all campuses
· Offering honors sections online and not limiting online honors credits
Designation of Honors Contract Availability
Honors students signing up for classes need to know whether they will be afforded the option to complete an honors contract at the time of class registration. If the student does not know whether or not they will be allowed to complete an honors contract in a class, they must either rely on other students’ past experiences or simply hope for the best.
When students click on the professor’s name in ASU Class Search while building their schedule, it takes the student to the professor’s iSearch faculty profile, which generally lists a professor’s CV and class offerings. Honors Contract availability designation can be completed easily by simply adding a section on faculty pages of ASU’s iSearch. Adding “Honors Contracts Available: Yes” or “Honors Contracts Available: No” will play a large role in a Barrett student’s scheduling decisions.
Offering Honors Sections on All Campuses
Adding more honors sections on the Polytechnic, Downtown, and West ASU campuses will drastically improve the experience of honors students on ASU campuses other than Tempe. Having more honors sections on the smaller campuses will decrease the frequency with which honors students commute to the Tempe campus to take honors sections of classes. This saves students valuable time.
Offering honors sections of more classes on the Polytechnic, Downtown, and West campuses will also allow Barrett students on other campuses to get to know each other better as well, since only Tempe has a Barrett Complex. Honors sections only have honors students in them, allowing honors students to create study groups and form beneficial relationships with their honors peers.
Offering Honors Sections Online and Not Limiting Online Honors Credits
Offering honors sections online will allow Barrett students more flexibility in completing their honors credits. This is especially appealing for honors students who commute to campus or must have more flexible schedules for a plethora of reasons. Learning is not one-size-fits all. Many students thrive in an online environment and should be allowed the option of enrolling in online honors classes.
Additionally, the limit on the number of honors credits earned through contracts online should be lifted. Online honors contracts have the same requirements as in person honors contracts; as such, they should be treated the same.
Conclusion
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at [email protected]. Thank you for your consideration and have a great day.
Best,
