On Thursday, Ed Board discussed the disparities in academicrigor at SMU. The paths of low-achievement have negative incidentalconsequences. First, professors must juggle the needs of multiplestudents with diverse educational foundations, such as those withcollege calculus and those with only high-school geometry. Second,the grade point average calculation provides an incentive to enrollin easier classes, which counters the fundamental purpose ofobtaining a college education.
The solution to this problem must address both of these issues.Course sections must be offered that contain more prerequisites.This would allow professors to move at a faster pace and cover moreadvanced material.
Certain courses, determined at the discretion of the department,would have a special “advanced course” designation.Only students who have completed a substantial number of thesechallenging classes would be eligible for “magna cumlaude” and “summa cum laude” honors upongraduation.
This stipulation provides a practical incentive for those whoare concerned with a shining resume.
This concept seems familiar. It is, basically, a de-factointra-major honors program. While departmental distinction programsdo exist in several majors, they typically require little more thana lengthy research paper and a few meetings with a professor.
These distinction programs are outstanding, especially forindividuals considering graduate studies, but they fail to satisfythe academic superstars’ desires to be constantly challengedin the classroom.
Thus, this new designation system would serve a differentpurpose than the distinction programs. Professors would be able tointroduce advanced topics in some sections without hesitation, andstudents would be less tempted to seek out the easy‘A.’
Honors programs are nothing new to our campus, and so, thissystem is not unprecedented. The General Education Curriculum has awell-received honors program, other than complaints that aninsufficient number of courses are offered. A similar program isalso available in the Cox School of Business. Besides a fewinstances in which the regular section of a course is noticeablymore difficult than the honors section, students respond favorablyto the program.
Of course, not every department in Dedman has the funding of themighty business school. Adding sections to any curriculum is a hugeexpense, since new professors would have to be hired.
However, if the university is truly dedicated to surpassing ourbenchmark schools and becoming one of the nation’s eliteinstitutions, then it must illustrate its commitment to academicexcellence.
