By Jillian Orlando

The honors program at Northeastern currently offers special housing, smaller and more in-depth classes, discounts on tickets for the performing arts and free overload courses. But are these rewards enough to keep students interested in the program or is the extra work too stressful?

As of fall 2002, students are required to maintain a 3.4 GPA and take a required number of honors courses to remain in the program.

Students who entered the program prior to the fall are only required to maintain a 3.25 average.

With the added stress of semester conversion, some students feel that this is too much to ask, while others feel that maintaining a 3.4 GPA is appropriate.

“I do think it’s reasonable because I think for honors students, it’s not a problem,” said freshman psychology major Elizabeth Brown.

Freshman journalism major Adam Smartschan agrees that asking students to keep their averages up is a reasonable request.

“Just because it was a 3.25 doesn’t necessarily mean that’s the right standard. Maybe a 3.4 is more appropriate,” Smartschan said.

Freshman biochemistry major Don Tran, however, feels that since honors students have a heavier course load, they should not be expected to keep their averages as high.

“To be in honors, you also have to take honors classes, and with harder classes, we only have to maintain a 3.25,” Tran said.

An increased level of class involvement and independent work is expected in all honors classes.

Though the program has many benefits, the added workload and possibly overload of classes does concern some students and deters others from applying to the program.

“So far I haven’t done any extra work but I know that it awaits me and that stresses me out,” said freshman international affairs major Viviana Rivas, who joined the honors program this quarter.

Some of the factors that worry students are the senior honors project and meeting the required amount of honors courses while staying on track for their majors.

If a student is able to take the required honors classes and keep their QPA up, they will remain in the program, but this does not guarantee honors recognition on their diploma.

Two forms of recognition are possible, honors recognition within the college for the completion of the required amount of classes and recognition within the student’s major of completion of the honors project.

The honors project is a 40-page research paper relating to the student’s field of study, and is often a continuation of a student’s middler year writing requirement.

This is beneficial for students going into research fields or attending graduate school, but is not as beneficial for other students who choose to spend their time gaining more work experience and decide not to do the project. Ultimately, the decision to join the honors program rests on the goals of the student.

“The whole idea of the program is not to force more work, but work on a different level,” said Ellen Lassiter, a history and art major.

Though the extra workload can prove to be stressful for some, many students feel that the free course overload is the main “perk” for students to join the honors program, allowing them to move more quickly towards their degree. However, this will not be offered to next year’s incoming freshmen in order to ensure that educational merit and challenges are the students main goal rather than financial savings.

“For me, it provides a challenge with class material and with keeping grades up,” Lassiter said. “The course overload is another big reason why I’m taking part in it.”

“Without the overload, it’s not really worth it, except for the fact that it looks good,” Rivas said. “But I’m sure the honors program is going to have another curriculum for them, so it might not be so bad overall.”

Jason Russik, a sophomore biology major and a resident assistant in Kennedy Hall, the honors dorm, feels that the program is not necessarily more work, it is just more challenging.

“Occassionally students who take a free overload course will feel overwhelmed,” Russik said, but “the general honors student in Kennedy hall is not stressed.”

Honors classes and adjuncts are smaller than most classes at Northeastern, usually averaging about 10 students per class, allowing for a much more interactive experience with the material, professor and other students.

As far as housing is concerned, most students living in Kennedy Hall, the honors dormitory, enjoy the extra space and private bathrooms in their suite-style rooms which are the largest available to freshmen.

“It’s also nice because you get to live with people you see in your classes and are going through the same type of in-depth classes,” Lassiter said.

Lassiter did warn that though Kennedy Hall is the honors dormitory, “It’s not quiet all the time like most people think, it’s just as loud here on the weekends as in Speare.”

There is also a private computer room in the honors program office, which can be a haven for honors students looking for a quiet place to work or simply a computer to use during finals week when places like the InfoCommons are overrun with students preparing for the end of the quarter.

Discounted tickets and group events to theater performances and sporting events are yet another benefit of the honors program.