Honors College Council

Voting members present: Elizabeth Barstow, Angelika Buchanan, Tiah Edmunson-Morton, Alex Grejuc, Matt Johnston, Bob Mason
Voting members absent: Viktor Bovbjerg, Nya Buckner
Ex-Officio members present: Toni Doolen – Honors College
Guests present: Gildha Cumming, Selina Heppell

Meet and introduce members of the Honors College Council (HCC)

• Introduction and installation of new and returning members.

Brief remarks on the charge of the Honors College Council

• Council Charge: Bob read the Standing Rules of the Honors College Council. Toni provided an overview of the Council’s role in supporting the success of the Honors College and some of the history of the HCC to date. 

Report from University Honors College – Gildha Cumming

• Summary of the process being used to allow students who have been impacted by COVID and unable to meet one or more of the HC admissions criteria to petition for consideration
  • Admissions Process:  The major agenda item for the first meeting was to discuss the revised admissions process being used this year in response to students being adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Admissions Process – a brief history. Gildha Cumming gave a PowerPoint discussion on the admissions process for the Honors College.  She and HC staff have been monitoring admissions data for several years now with a goal of incorporating best practices in the admissions process both here and in comparison to others across the nation. Many colleges and universities are turning to what is termed holistic admissions.  OSU has now adopted holistic admission criteria. The Honors College has been using holistic approaches in all aspects of the admissions process for some time now and preceded the adoption by OSU Admissions.
  • Because of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, many, if not all students across the state and nation have been adversely affected to one degree or another. The Honors College is very sensitive to the fact that the pandemic has significantly impacted the educational outcomes of many students planning to apply for admissions to the Honors College this year. Briefly, some students may find themselves unable to demonstrate that they meet the minimum admissions criteria through GPA or test scores due to circumstances beyond their control due the pandemic. The Honors College proposes the following language be adopted on an ad hoc basis during the pandemic:

The Honors College is currently allowing applications from applicants whose GPA or test scores have been impacted by circumstances related to COVID-19 and therefore do not meet one of the Honors College minimum criteria. If you do not meet the Honors College minimum criteria but wish to apply, you should complete all sections of the Honors College application and ensure that you have provided relevant information on the additional information/circumstances question of the OSU application. All applications will be reviewed holistically and fully considered.

• We had a good discussion of this working policy and the Council came to a consensus that we should not vote to formally change the admissions process that has been modified for the particular challenges brought on by the pandemic. Rather, the consensus was that the Council should endorse this modified admissions process and then revisit this process in the future if permanent changes are desired.  The Council members all agreed to this plan.

• Update on preliminary applicant numbers

HCC Housekeeping

• Box Folder
• Recording of Minutes

New Business

• Time ran out so we adjourned after one hour.
• Next meeting is Monday January 11, 2021 at 2:00 pm on Zoom unless informed otherwise.  Agenda items will be forthcoming before the meeting.

Adjourned at 5:00 PM