Charting the Future:
University Honors Program
Takes Part in Comprehensive Planning at UNC

The University of Northern Colorado embarked on a comprehensive planning process last fall called Charting the Future. Almost all units on campus were asked to write a report in which they summarized the history of their various programs, addressed the state of their current operations, and focused on dreams and visions for the future of their programs and the campus at-large.

The report for the University Honors Program was prepared by the Honors Director and Assistant Director, Richard Trahan and Debra Holman. In writing the report, input was gathered from a variety of folks involved with Honors at UNC. Meetings were held to gather input from the Honors Coordinating Committee, the Student Honors Council, and the Directors of both Presidential Leadership and the McNair Scholars programs. The Spring 2003 report of the external evaluation of UNC’s Honors Program by Rosalie Otero and Robert Spurrier, former National Collegiate Honors Council presidents, also provided valuable information and recommendations in preparing the Honors’ Charting the Future report.

When the report was submitted to the Charting the Future Design Team in late November, it contained six recommendations for future directions in Honors and other similar academic and leadership programs on the campus. The six recommendations were presented in the context of broadening the Honors experience so that it actively reaches across the whole of the campus to help the university meet its promise of providing students a solid liberal arts foundation, professional preparation, and real-world experiences. As outlined in the report, the recommendations were as follows:

1. Utilize the University Honors Program as a “coordinating center” charged with assisting and strengthening the community of student honors/leadership programs at UNC.
2. Restructure Honors curriculum and academic requirements to expand course offerings and strengthen opportunities for all qualified undergraduates across campus to participate in the University Honors Program experience.
3. Redefine the Honors experience to include more qualified students and increase diversity.
4. Create Honors/Leadership Learning Communities for entering freshmen.
5. Provide the University Honors Program with sufficient, permanent staffing and revenue allocations to help it successfully meet its obligations to the entire campus community.
6. Increase scholarship availability and other support for University Honors Program students.

With direct Student Honors Council input, the report also detailed some specific student recommendations on General Education offerings at the university, focusing, in particular, on providing greater flexibility and thematic linkage in course selection in the General Education Content areas. Student concern was also expressed with the infrequent offerings of certain General Education designated courses and a lack of academically rigorous offerings suited to Honors students’ learning styles.

In mid-March, President Norton is scheduled to present a first draft of the university’s “Charting the Future” plan to the Board of Trustees. Following this presentation, a comment period for the campus community will take place through the second week of April. After the Design Team has received the comments, they will make final modifications to the plan and present it to the campus community in late April. Implementation plans for Charting the Future are not expected until Fall 2004.

For more information on UNC’s Charting the Future process, please visit http://www.unco.edu/pres/charting/.

By: Debra Holman

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