The recommendations of the Task Force on Undergraduate Education affect virtually all aspects of undergraduate learning and life at Rutgers–New Brunswick/Piscataway, from admissions and curriculum to campus facilities and the student experience. This article – part of an ongoing Focus series as new policies and practices are put into place – examines activities in the area of undergraduate honors programs. Click here for an overview of the implementation process and to submit questions or comments.

A select group of exceptional students who want the advantages of a public research university along with a small-college experience have always found those traits in the individual honors programs offered at the liberal arts colleges across Rutgers.

"The idea is to give New Jersey residents the opportunity of getting an intimate, intense liberal arts education," said Sarolta Takács, dean of the SAS Honors Program. "There will also be an emphasis on learning how to be part of the global world."

Now, one honors program for all arts and sciences students is finally united with the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, creating the direct connection between students and faculty that has been a central theme of ongoing dialogue about undergraduate education. 

Heading the new honors program at the School of Arts and Sciences (SAS) are a relatively new faculty member and a veteran student adviser: Sarolta Takács, an associate professor of classics who worked as an academic dean at Harvard before leaving for Rutgers five years ago, and Muffin Lord, who spent 17 years with the Rutgers College Honors Program and has directed it since 2000.

Takács, dean of the honors program, and Lord, administrative director, will work quickly to put a structured program in place for the Class of 2011. Fortunately, that won't be difficult. 

"We are going to take the best things of each program and combine them into the new program," Lord said.

Current honors program activities allow students and faculty to engage in one-on-one communication and provide rich environments for the students to interact with each other. Livingston College has required regular attendance at lectures, art exhibitions, poetry readings, and other cultural activities. Douglass College seniors in that school's honors program mentored juniors embarking on their honors thesis project. Rutgers College invited faculty to mentor students and join them for lunch and on cultural day trips. University College has a program tailored for adult and part-time students. 

"Helping students make an early connection with a faculty member is a very high priority and, of course, this is particularly important for incoming first-year students,” Lord said. “The SAS Honors Program will continue the faculty mentoring programs in place within the current programs. It formalizes what is happening in a small school." 

"The idea is to give New Jersey residents the opportunity of getting an intimate, intense liberal arts education," Takács added. "There will also be an emphasis on learning how to be part of the global world." Capstone projects in the final year will allow students to pursue study on a topic of their choosing.

While preparing a "practical" program for students starting college next year, Takács,  Lord, faculty, and student advisers also will be brainstorming ideas to make the future SAS honors program robust and unique. The program not only enriches student life, but also helps recruit top students often considering attending Ivy League or small elite schools.

Students in the middle of completing current honors requirements will have the option to follow the new program. Lord said she doesn’t expect any student to lack options to finish the program of his or her choosing. "Our model is going to be the same. ... We are not going to shut anybody out."

Staff from each college honors program meet regularly to discuss the details of working together across campuses.

Honors programs at the School of Engineering, Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, and the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences (SEBS) will remain largely the same but will collaborate with SAS.

“We already have opportunities for our students to do honors activities with arts and sciences people,” said Tim Casey, director of the General Honors Program and the George H. Cook Scholars Program at SEBS. “I would like to see things like sponsored co-curricular activities for honors students universitywide. That probably will be facilitated by our new campus dean.”

The new honors program office, located at 77 Hamilton St. in New Brunswick, is working closely with residence life and housing to ensure living and learning communities on each campus for honors students.

"We will continue to offer honors housing to all SAS Honors Program students,” Lord said. “We have found that the informal mentoring, discussions, sharing of ideas, and networking that occur in the residence halls are very valuable to students.”