Vol. 19, No. 29 |
May 4, 2000 |
Faculty Senate approves new Honors designations
| The University Faculty Senate Monday overwhelmingly approved the establishment of a General Honors Award, a redesign of the Honors degree and the establishment of a third degree option–the Honors Degree with Distinction.
The General Honors Award, which replaces the current First-Year Honors Certificate, will be awarded to students who have earned 18 credit hours of Honors coursework in their first two years of study at the University and achieved a minimum GPA of 3.0. The new Honors degree requires 30 credits of honors courses, a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.4 and a complement of coursework at the 300-level or above, including a senior seminar or capstone course. It replaces the current Advanced Honors Certificate and dovetails with the University's recent general education reform proposal by emphasizing discovery-learning opportunities that upper-division students can pursue. The new Honors Degree with Distinction enables students who are interested in completing a senior research thesis or creative project, in addition to Honors coursework, to receive degree recognition for that combination of challenges. Ann Ardis, program director, said the new Honors degree provides departments with an opportunity to take "more ownership" in the design of students' upper-division honors enrichment experiences. Moreover, she said, because students accumulate Honors credits to satisfy University requirements as well as requirements for multiple majors and minors, "no single department is solely responsible for providing its primary majors with all their Honors credits." In other business, senators passed a resolution supporting the "Building Responsibility Coalition" in which the University and the city of Newark, with the support of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, are seeking to protect the safety of students and the quality of life on the campus and in the community by reducing high-risk drinking among students. "I think the Faculty Senate voice on this matter is an important one, and I'm very appreciative of their endorsement of our efforts," said John B. Bishop, assistant vice president for student life and director of UD's Robert Wood Johnson Foundation program. "I think the resolution helps highlight the importance of how the misuse of alcohol affects our campus and our community." Senators also approved permanent status for a major in biological sciences with a biotechnology concentration and the major in environmental science within the College of Arts and Science. Extended deadlines for permanent approval were accepted for the environmental engineering degree and major and for majors in history and foreign languages, German and political science, Spanish and political science and French and political science. A third and fourth year of an elementary teacher education program to be offered in the Milford School District also was approved. As part of a funded initiative from the state, the program will be assessed by the Undergraduate Studies Committee in 2003. In its annual elections, senators chose James G. Richards, health and exercise sciences, as president-elect. Richards will assume the senate presidency in the academic year 2001-2002, following Judith Van Name, consumer studies, who takes over the office this fall. Charles E. Mason, entomology and applied ecology, was elected vice president, and Ken Lomax, bioresources engineering, was named chairperson of the Committee on Committees and Nominations. –Cornelia Weil In appreciation
Carol E. Hoffecker and Faculty Senate President Mark Huddleston
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