A bill introduced during the ASMSU Academic Assembly meeting Jan. 22 seeks to increase the number of honors opportunities for students.

“With the general education courses, there were a lot of honors courses to choose from,” Adams said.

“It’s hard to find professors who are willing to offer an honors option in my higher level courses.”

ASMSU is MSU’s undergraduate student government.

The bill would give students like Adams more options for completing the eight honors experiences required to graduate from the Honors College, said Henry Reinart, an Academic Assembly representative and Honors College member.

MSU usually has about 170 honors courses and sections each year, said Michael Conwell, an Honors College adviser.

During the 2007-08 academic year, Conwell said about 179 honors courses and sections have been offered to students.

Courses that offer multiple labs or recitations would designate one section as an honors section for students who wish to learn the material at an accelerated rate, Reinart said.

“Honors options are a very good option,” he said. “However, one reason I decided to write the bill was because it would give honors students a chance to come together. The material (in honors sections) is learned at a more in-depth pace.”

Offering more honors sections also would allow Honors College students to gain more from the class, said Tom Prebish, an Academic Assembly representative.

“I know that some of my friends in the Honors College said their professors just made them write a three-page paper and that’s it,” Prebish said.

“This will help students in the Honors College actually get more from the program.”

During the Jan. 22 meeting, a committee was formed to determine if increasing the number of honors lab or recitation sections in each university department would be feasible, said Eric Hinojosa, Academic Assembly chairperson.

Hinojosa said the committee will speak with Cynthia Jackson-Elmoore, dean of the Honors College, to look at problems that might arise if the number of honors opportunities can be expanded.

“We’re not going to rush it,” Hinojosa said. “We’re going to do our homework beforehand because we want to make sure if we move forward with this, we can actually make it happen.”