Honors Program initiates new service hours requirement

A new service hours requirement has been added to the list of responsibilities for freshmen and sophomores in the Honors Program at GCSU. Program Director Steven Elliott-Gower and the Honors Student Council made the decision to implement the change this year and may later choose to increase the requirement from its current 15-hour-per-year minimum.

Using The GIVE Center as the hub for hourly records, students will complete at least 15 hours of community service per year for their first four semesters. In the event that a student neglects to fulfill the requirement, he or she will be placed on probation from the program and given another semester’s chance to perform the required service.

Elliott-Gower, who has headed the program since 2008, has been considering the change since he took the position as program director.

“Honors students get a lot of benefits from being in the honors program,” Elliott-Gower said, “so I feel very strongly that they should be giving something back to the campus and to the community.”

Students in the program have the benefit of smaller class sizes, special book discussions, colloquiums, dinner seminars, recognition at graduation, accommodations in Bell Hall and membership in the honors social fraternity, Eta Sigma Alpha. In addition to increasing the program’s presence in the community and encouraging positive values in students, Elliott-Gower hopes that the service requirement will serve to show that honors students are not elitists.

Honors freshman James Edmondson expressed worry that the new requirement will keep already busy students on a tighter schedule than is beneficial.

“I think it’s a bad thing to require honors students to perform service hours,” Edmondson said. “They have a harder work load and tougher class schedule, but I think it would be a good to offer some sort of incentive to do it”

However, Edmondson and other worried students can put themselves at ease. The program will provide opportunities for group service projects in an attempt to stimulate bonding between new students and assimilate them into the program.

Brandon Williams, Eta Sigma Alpha president, doesn’t believe the additional requirement will be too much for honors students to handle.

“The service requirement will not overload students,” Williams said. “The opportunities will definitely be fun events that will provide a better sense of community between honors freshmen and sophomores.”

Elliott-Gower and the Honors Student Council have a much more specific vision for the future of the service requirement. “I would like in the longer term for honors students to identify a specific charity or organization … that they sort of take ownership of,” Elliott-Gower said.

In addition to this narrowed focus, the number of hours required is expected to rise after this first trial semester. “I think we’re starting so small that it really can’t go wrong,” Elliott-Gower said. “I don’t want to abandon it. If anything, I want to expand.”

Williams expressed enthusiasm for the future of the new service requirement. “I just think it’s a win-win situation for both honors students and the community. They’ll get our services, and we’ll get the satisfaction of knowing we helped out the community of Milledgeville.”

Posted by Ala Bishop on Oct 1 2010. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.