| << Front page | Commentary | November 16, 2007 |
Watch for Changes in Honors at Graduation
To the Editors:
The College Faculty’s Honors at Graduation Committee intends to bring to the College Faculty the following motion to change the Honors program.
General Honors shall be awarded in the College of Arts & Sciences at Oberlin College, beginning for diplomas presented at the spring 2009 Commencement ceremony. The total number of students awarded General Honors shall not exceed 25 percent of the graduating class. Students shall be awarded General Honors based on the overall GPA at the beginning of their final semester at Oberlin:
Summa Cum Laude 3.90 and higher (top 3% of students)
Magna Cum Laude 3.78 – 3.89 (next 7% of students)
Cum Laude 3.64 – 3.77 (next 15% of students).
Department Honors shall be awarded in the College of Arts & Sciences at Oberlin College with regard only to the honors project and any other criteria set by the department/program beginning for diplomas presented at the spring 2009 Commencement ceremony. The College no longer shall establish/enforce major GPA requirements for level of honors (Honors, High Honors, Highest Honors). Departments/programs may set major GPA guidelines or use major/overall GPA as a criterion at their discretion.
(We also plan to ask the College Faculty to move the administration out of the Honors programs from the Committee to the Dean’s Office and then to disband the Committee.)
What do these changes mean for you? (1) The Oberlin community strives for excellence. What better way to support this culture of excellence than to have an honor that rewards excellence in coursework. If you earn high grades, you will receive General Honors on your diploma and transcript. Currently, you must complete a year-long, senior project to receive Honors from the College. Some deserving students cannot, for a variety of reasons, do so, and thus are denied recognition for their achievements. Under the new plan all high-achieving students will be honored. (2) Most of our peer institutions have a program like the proposed General Honors. That means that your peers at Kenyon and Williams can put “summa cum laude” on their resumes and transcripts, but you cannot. That may put you at a slight disadvantage in the eyes of some employers and graduate fellowship panels. The proposal would rectify this unfortunate situation. (3) The level of honors awarded for completion of the Department Honors would no longer have a required link to the major GPA or performance in earlier coursework. We feel that Department Honors should be based on the quality of the senior project, thesis or performance, oral/written exam, and major GPA if an individual department sees fit. Students who blossom academically senior year and display considerable talent for independent work are limited by major GPA guidelines in the degree of Department Honors they can attain or even in their participation. Under the new plan departments and programs would have more latitude in honoring deserving students. (4) One thing that would not change under the new plan is the student culture that we cherish. Students would not change from learning-lovers to grade-lovers. The proposal would not change our admissions’ policies, and there is no evidence that students would change their course-taking behavior based on some coveted award. Oberlin students would continue to be Oberlin students, but high achievers would be more fairly and deservedly honored and the playing field for jobs and post-graduate positions would be leveled. We ask for your support of our proposal. A vote on the motions was scheduled for the November College Faculty meeting, but at the request of your Student Senator, Colin Koffel, we postponed the vote until December. We have asked Mr. Koffel to schedule a student forum, if the Senate thinks that is warranted. Please be attentive to an announcement of a meeting and please attend if you want to voice support/concerns or have questions of the Committee. Thanks for your kind consideration.
–Robert Q. Thompson
Chair, College Faculty’s Honors at Graduation Committee
The College Faculty’s Honors at Graduation Committee intends to bring to the College Faculty the following motion to change the Honors program.
General Honors shall be awarded in the College of Arts & Sciences at Oberlin College, beginning for diplomas presented at the spring 2009 Commencement ceremony. The total number of students awarded General Honors shall not exceed 25 percent of the graduating class. Students shall be awarded General Honors based on the overall GPA at the beginning of their final semester at Oberlin:
Summa Cum Laude 3.90 and higher (top 3% of students)
Magna Cum Laude 3.78 – 3.89 (next 7% of students)
Cum Laude 3.64 – 3.77 (next 15% of students).
Department Honors shall be awarded in the College of Arts & Sciences at Oberlin College with regard only to the honors project and any other criteria set by the department/program beginning for diplomas presented at the spring 2009 Commencement ceremony. The College no longer shall establish/enforce major GPA requirements for level of honors (Honors, High Honors, Highest Honors). Departments/programs may set major GPA guidelines or use major/overall GPA as a criterion at their discretion.
(We also plan to ask the College Faculty to move the administration out of the Honors programs from the Committee to the Dean’s Office and then to disband the Committee.)
What do these changes mean for you? (1) The Oberlin community strives for excellence. What better way to support this culture of excellence than to have an honor that rewards excellence in coursework. If you earn high grades, you will receive General Honors on your diploma and transcript. Currently, you must complete a year-long, senior project to receive Honors from the College. Some deserving students cannot, for a variety of reasons, do so, and thus are denied recognition for their achievements. Under the new plan all high-achieving students will be honored. (2) Most of our peer institutions have a program like the proposed General Honors. That means that your peers at Kenyon and Williams can put “summa cum laude” on their resumes and transcripts, but you cannot. That may put you at a slight disadvantage in the eyes of some employers and graduate fellowship panels. The proposal would rectify this unfortunate situation. (3) The level of honors awarded for completion of the Department Honors would no longer have a required link to the major GPA or performance in earlier coursework. We feel that Department Honors should be based on the quality of the senior project, thesis or performance, oral/written exam, and major GPA if an individual department sees fit. Students who blossom academically senior year and display considerable talent for independent work are limited by major GPA guidelines in the degree of Department Honors they can attain or even in their participation. Under the new plan departments and programs would have more latitude in honoring deserving students. (4) One thing that would not change under the new plan is the student culture that we cherish. Students would not change from learning-lovers to grade-lovers. The proposal would not change our admissions’ policies, and there is no evidence that students would change their course-taking behavior based on some coveted award. Oberlin students would continue to be Oberlin students, but high achievers would be more fairly and deservedly honored and the playing field for jobs and post-graduate positions would be leveled. We ask for your support of our proposal. A vote on the motions was scheduled for the November College Faculty meeting, but at the request of your Student Senator, Colin Koffel, we postponed the vote until December. We have asked Mr. Koffel to schedule a student forum, if the Senate thinks that is warranted. Please be attentive to an announcement of a meeting and please attend if you want to voice support/concerns or have questions of the Committee. Thanks for your kind consideration.
–Robert Q. Thompson
Chair, College Faculty’s Honors at Graduation Committee
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