COVER STORY

Fabulous at 15

When a select few forward-thinking minds proposed an Honors Program at the San Diego Community College District some 15 years ago, there wasn’t an immediate pop of the champagne cork and a parade down Broadway.

Instead, as many good ideas do, the proposal had to be caressed into something substantial, cajoled past critics and made convincing to the students and faculty who would be completing the extra work.

Something clicked, though, and the Honors Program, an education success story, celebrates the 15th year of its invention this year. After a few months of planning, the first Honors Program courses were offered in fall 1986.

The district’s Honors Program continues to thrive so many years after its launch, to the point scores of students participate on the district’s campuses each year.

In honors courses, topics are explored in-depth, with an emphasis on critical thinking, extensive reading and writing and student presentations. A close communication with the professor is necessary, as is monitoring by and frequent communication with the Honors Program faculty.

The honors contract is a distinct element, a pact between student and professor that moves a course beyond traditional class requirements into deeper analysis and communication regarding the course’s subject matter.

“The Honors Program came about because of a districtwide movement for instructional innovation,” said Candace Waltz, one of the founders of the program and the current honors coordinator at City College. “At the time there was some philosophical opposition, as well as some practical opposition, but in time, as the program matured, it grew stronger, and remains strong. Now we have a real sense of pride with the program, a real sense of ownership.”

The Honors Program at the colleges, Waltz says, is seen as a symbol of what community colleges can achieve.

“It’s not just a theoretical program, but a program that can help students win jobs and promotions,” Waltz said.

The Honors Program also enjoys successful affiliations with several major four-year universities, including UCLA, USC, UC Irvine, Occidental, Pepperdine, Pomona, UC Santa Cruz and UC Riverside, that accept honors courses taken by the student at one of the district’s colleges, and ease the way into similar programs at those universities.

Herald Kane, a chemistry professor at City College and another of the program’s founders, has worked tirelessly to link the district’s program with these major universities. Kane says studies show that even at a major institutions such as UCLA, students who transfer from the Honors Program OFTEN end up with higher G.P.A.s than students who were at UCLA for the entire four years.

“We had a student join us who was 42 years old and homeless, living in the park,” Kane said. “He was obviously very intelligent. He went with us on a trip to the University of Southern California, was inspired, came back and completed the application process, which included a strong personal essay, and now he’s in the cinema and television program at USC. It’s an amazing story.”

Looking back on the origins of the program, Pat Olafson, then a speech professor at Mesa College and now director of the Mesa College Humanities Institute, says the original committee had no choice but to be efficient. Olafson at first had doubts about the program but grew into one of its strongest supporters.

“In December 1985, the district Board of Trustees decided it liked the program and wanted it implemented,” Olafson said. “They wanted it implemented by the following fall—nine months! If you know anything about establishing curriculum, you know that’s impossible. But it was done, and it worked well from the start. One of the things that has always been different about the program is in its allowance of vocational classes. We were early supporters of alternative courses as part of the program because of the type of district we were. We wanted a student who was good in art, for instance, but was getting average grades in other classes, to be able to place their honors emphasis in art. That made the program more all inclusive.

“We were also determined to make sure that students taking night courses could be part of the program. Also, the program has been very good at always enjoying a wide ethnic mix, another element to making such a program successful.”

John Markley, the former chair of the English department at City College and one of the original committee members, says while the program is primarily for students, it also allows faculty to develop new components to their classes, and inspire the student-teacher academic relationship.

“It’s wonderful that a program like this allows for such things as technical courses,” Markley said. “This is a program that has always attempted new things, and HAS succeeded.”

A few years ago Kane and Waltz attended the graduation from Harvard of Paul Sterios, one of their former honors students, who is now a successful financial planner. This is but one of many university commencement ceremonies honors faculty have attended. Part of the program is that professors and advisers follow their students past the community college and through graduation from four-year universities.

“For those touched by the program, there’s a real change in how they identify themselves,” Kane said. “It’s a change promoting self-worth, and that lasts a lifetime.”

The original honors “team” reminisced at the 12th annual Honors Program Celebration of Excellence reception this spring. Shown, from left, are Candace Waltz, City College humanities professor and honors coordinator; John Markley, former chair of the City College English department, who 15 years ago asked Waltz to serve on “this short-term committee”; former district trustee Louise Dyer, the program’s first and staunchest champion on the governing board; and Herald Kane, City College chemistry professor and honors transfer alliance coordinator.