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Photo: St. Bonaventure Honors Program
BY: GENEVIEVE BLUMBERG, STAFF WRITER
The St. Bonaventure University Honors Program has made changes to the curriculum over the last two years to make knowledge of the requirements more accessible and less overwhelming.
Scott Simpson, Honors Program Director and chemistry professor, said the Honors Program has changed for the students who have joined since 2023.
“The main difference is the sophomores and freshmen have the honors seminar requirement,” said Simpson. “We’re hoping to communicate more about what the requirements of the program are, and get people more help when it comes to their honors project.”
Simpson said, before the change, students dropped the honors program because it was a lot of work concentrated in a short amount of time.
“What we found is that people can’t dedicate a ton of time to the honors project,” said Simpson. “It tends to be super concentrated in the fall of their senior year, so a lot of stuff wasn’t getting done, and a ton of people would drop out because it was just too much work. The new curriculum allows you to start working on your project during your junior year.”
According to Simpson, the number of students dropping the honors program indicated a need for change.
“100 to 150 incoming freshmen is typically what we start with. This year we have seven seniors. So almost a 90% loss of students,” said Simpson. “We’re trying to develop the program in a way that’s a little more step-by-step, rather than suddenly giving a bunch of work. We’re hoping to keep the retention numbers up with the new seminars to keep people aware of the requirements.”
Julia Wyant, a freshman nursing major, is on the Division I track team and spends hours studying for her nursing classes in addition to her general education courses. Between training, track meets and school work, she said that the honors program may be too difficult to keep in her schedule in years to come.
“The late nights are hard for me after a long day of classes and workouts,” said Wyant. “Also, the [honors] project will be difficult for me to manage in my junior year on top of all of my school work and busy schedule.”
Lilly Crane, a senior chemistry major and environmental studies major, has stuck with the Honors Program. She said she has had a positive experience with honors opportunities.
“I’ve really enjoyed the honors versions of classes and the special topics classes that I’ve been able to take during my time at Bona’s,” said Crane. “I’ve also enjoyed the research I’ve been able to be a part of as part of my honors project this year.”
However, having joined the Honors Program prior to 2023, Crane supports the adjustments being made.
“I’ve had trouble fitting in the extra honors class requirements a couple of semesters due to labs taking up most of my afternoon, but I’ve still been able to fit all my requirements in time to graduate this year,” said Crane. “I do wish that there was a bit more information about the honors program and what it includes available before I joined, but I know there have been efforts to work on that during the past couple of years.”
blumbegc24@bonaventure.edu
