A lot of changes need to be made in the honors program at Ohio State, said Undergraduate Student Government President Eddie Pauline yesterday in his State of the University speech.
Pauline said about 20 percent of students at OSU are in the honors program, and he would like to see that number cut in half.
About 1,200 freshmen are admitted to the honors program every year at OSU, which is a number far greater than the enrollment at similar institutions like the University of Texas, which admits 186 freshmen annually, he said.
“It should be an honor to be an honors student, and it doesn’t seem to be that way,” Pauline said. “Right now, the honors program is little more than a recruiting tool designed to cure the university’s insecurity that top-quality students slightly below an honors caliber would not attend Ohio State without an honors program.”
Chris Hempfling, speaker of the senate for USG, agreed with Pauline’s statements.
“I think he is exactly right,” Hempfling said. “The honors program right now is flawed, and it does need some revisions.”
A way to cut the admittance percent in half would be to admit only about 5 percent of the incoming freshman class instead of the usual 20 percent, Pauline said. Another 5 percent could be admitted into the honors program after taking classes at OSU, for a total of 10 percent of admitted freshmen.
The honors program should not simply be a reward for students who performed well in high school, but should be available to students who have done well since enrolling at OSU, Pauline said. Some students are admitted into the honors program during their sophomore or junior years, but the majority are admitted as incoming freshmen.
Pauline said the greatest flaw in the honors system is that it hurts the education of the other students. The large number of honors courses for classes like Economics 200 often leads to long waitlists for normal sections of the class.
He also said it was unfair that honors freshmen schedule before seniors and suggested that honors seniors should schedule before the rest of the seniors, but that seniors should schedule before the rest of the students.
“I think it would be good if the changes could benefit the whole university, not just the honors program,” said Chris Bolte, a senior in economics. “I think it would benefit my education if the money was distributed properly.”
Pauline also recommended all freshmen at OSU should be able to take a freshman seminar class in which a faculty member would teach an intensive class of no more than 25 students.
Pauline said many students do not interact with their professors until their junior year, and freshman seminars would give them an opportunity to interact with their professors during their first quarter on campus.
