Editorial:

Giving honors students registration priority elitist

Published Feb. 5, 2010

Honors College ambassadors came up with an idea to allow honors students to register early for classes, because apparently the ability to register early will make honors students apply to MU.

These are ambassadors requesting this, perhaps because potential students they met with were asking about it.

If it is an incentive Honors College students looking to apply to MU really want and it could make a difference in their decision to come to MU or a competitor, it should be considered, but registration is not likely on the top of someone's pro-con list for making a decision on which university to attend.

To explain how it would work, an honors freshman would be allowed to enroll before a regular freshman, honors sophomores before regular sophomores and so on. There would still be seniority in registering but with an added tier for the Honors College students.

The ambassadors have rationalized this request, saying it would attract more high-ability students at no additional cost and allow honors students the first opportunity to enroll in the best classes before they fill up.

"These students are those who want to be in classes, want the best educators and want to push themselves," Honors College Ambassador Chairwoman Lauren Hibler wrote to the registrar's office. "It is difficult, if not impossible, to do so if the best classes fill before an honors student is allowed to register."

First, the Honors College creates its own classes as a way for honors students to get great instructors and push themselves. In addition, there are numerous lectures offering special sections or projects to honors students.

Because they are exclusively for students in the Honors College, these classes are also less likely to fill up.

Not to mention a lot of Honors College students came in with credit, or take more hours to push themselves or pursue double degrees, which puts them ahead of many of their peers for registration anyway.

Because the Honors College already uses resources to guarantee its students get good professors and into classes, creating an official register first system wouldn't change much.

Ten of the 63 universities surveyed from the Big 12 and the Association of American Universities offer this option. This list includes competitors, such as Texas A&M and the University of Illinois, but it is still only 15.8 percent of the universities from AAU and the Big 12.

Sure, it mentions it's controversial with other entities on campuses that want the same privilege, but no other MU entity will ask for this, right? The Honors College students would be the third group to ask for this, after students with documented disabilities and athletes with more than 60 credit hours.

There are reasons these groups already get this benefit.

Students with disabilities might need special accommodations that need to be prepared for as far in advance as possible and athletes need to coordinate class time with practice time and competitions.

The Honors College would just be doing it to attract more intelligent students to MU, but hasn't our average ACT score been on the rise? According to the registrar's office it has gone from 25.4 to 25.6 from 2005 to 2009.

It is not to say students would not use or enjoy this perk, but it is not the best selling point. When other institutions are offering monetary scholarships MU does not compete with, it is probably not the class selection weighing in on a student's top priority list for a university.

Creating this registration system seems elitist and snobbish. It could also do more harm than good by angering students not in the Honors College.

Who is to say other groups would not want a similar benefit?

Perhaps the Student Life Office wants to attract more students to get involved. Perhaps we should offer anyone who joins an organization to register early? They need to coordinate class time with their organizations activities, right?

How about Four Front asking to do this for minority students because it could promote minority enrollment?

The possibilities for students MU wants to attract because it looks good as a statistic are endless, but there are other way to do it.

The Missouri Students Association briefly discussed this, but went to an academic topic it thought could be more beneficial: a class waiting list.

Although creating a working waiting list is still in the works, it would benefit all students by notifying them and allowing them to enroll in classes they are on the wait list once someone drops the class.

Helping every student get great instructors and the classes they want should be a goal for MU, not catering to the "elite" students.