Students who complete the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Honors Program this winter will be the first to garner the national respect of having graduated from an honors college.

A memo sent from the provost office on Sept. 20 to the UW System officially changed the name to the UWM Honors College after it had been the Honors Program for 45 years. The change in name comes almost five months after the Honors Program Committee, comprised of faculty and students, passed a motion in April proposing the switch.

“We function in the same way as any other college on campus,” said Lawrence Baldassaro, the Honors College academic program director. “Students have to apply to the honors program as they would with the College of Letters and Science. They must meet separate requirements, and we supply our own advising. (The new name) is not just a misnomer.”

According to Baldassaro, it has become a trend across the nation for universities to change honors programs into colleges. The term “college” evokes greater prestige and potentially improves the recruitment of prospective students.

“The number of honors colleges has doubled across the country and this switch to the UWM Honors College confirms UWM’s commitment to wanting to recruit high-achieving students,” Baldassaro said.

After the faculty government processed the name change, the proposal was presented to the Academic Program and Curriculum Committee, which oversees all campus curricular changes. The APCC approved the new name with a 10-1 vote on June 21, and on Sept. 14, the Faculty Senate stamped its seal of approval.
Under the new name, the UWM Honors College remains structurally the same with no hidden budget implications.

Ben Goodhue, president of the Honors College Student Association, acknowledges the name change as a public relations move to boost UWM’s prestige, but also commends the university for being proactive.

“Although the alteration appears to be a mere aesthetic change, perspective is in many ways reality,” Goodhue said. “The way our program appears to prospective students is of the utmost importance.”

The UWM Honors College currently has an enrollment of 450 students, 146 of whom were incoming freshmen this fall.

“As an honors college, we hope to attract high-achieving students who would not otherwise choose UWM.” Baldassaro said. “We want to become a destination campus.”

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