The Faculty Senate voted to support the proposal to change the Honors Program into an Honors College Tuesday.

After receiving approval from various faculty and a question-and-answer session with Herbert Lasky, director of the Honors Program, senate members decided to endorse the change.

Prior to the vote, Lasky stressed that an Honors College would be merely an administration change with limited additional costs to the existing program.

Lasky said changing the name of the program and appointing a dean rather than a director would help recruit honors students and maintain the integrity of the Honors Program.

To get into the program, incoming freshmen must meet certain requirements.

“A student must get a 26 or higher on the ACTs and be in the upper 10 percent of (his or her) high school graduating class,” Lasky said. “We set our standards higher.”

Currently, the Honors Program has 672 students, and Lasky expects that number to go up by 50 at the start of the spring semester.

The percentage of undergraduates enrolled in the program is about 7.5 percent, Lasky said, adding in the past he protested former President David Jorns’ goal to increase enrollment to 10 percent.

“I would like not to grow past where we are, but maintain our numbers,” Lasky said. “I think 10 percent is excessive and far exceeds the resources we have.”

Lasky assured the senate no additional staff would be needed for the Honors College, and he didn’t model the change after other universities’ Honors Colleges.

Western Illinois University, the only state school to have gone from an Honors Program to an Honors College, experienced funding problems when administrators initiated the change in 1999.

“What happened at Western will not happen here,” Lasky said.

But some senate members were not convinced.

David Carwell, political science professor and senate member, voted against supporting the proposal.

“I’m concerned about costs. This idea that we’re getting something for nothing isn’t going to happen,” Carwell said. “The view from my constituents is once you create a college, it will absorb more and more resources like every other college.”

Carwell also was concerned with Lasky’s looming retirement and hiring a new dean.

“My retirement is on the horizon, and I want to leave with a flourishing program,” Lasky said. “I see myself as a transitional person.”

Lasky said he recommended, after he leaves, a new dean be drawn from Eastern’s faculty, and Blair Lord, vice president of academic affairs, agreed.

Although the majority of the senate voted to approve the Honors College proposal, members came up with a few “friendly amendments” to be added to the resolution.

These include maintaining the success of the current Honors Program and ensuring no substantial additional costs be attached to the proposal.

“The benefits far outweigh the costs in this case,” said Bud Fischer, professor of biology and former senate chair.

The proposal will now go to the Council of Academic Affairs, followed by the Council of Deans and Chairs. If it is supported by those councils, the proposal is sent to the president and then the Board of Trustees.

A discussion on Monday’s planned meeting with the Board of Trustees and computer privacy issues is on the agenda for the next senate meeting.