History and Purpose
The foundation of an "honors program" at Ohio University existed as far back as 1945. In 1959, an Honors Program and Awards Committee was established to set rules for and supervise honors courses conducted by various academic departments. These courses were open only to juniors and seniors with a 3.0 accumulative average.
In January 1964, President Vernon Alden first authorized the Honors College. Dr. Samuel J. Jasper was named as its first full time director, followed in the late 1960's by Dr. Edgar Whan. College enrollment grew from 23 in its initial year to 430 students in President Alden's final year.
Although the program was expanded as interest and numbers grew, enrollment was limited to 5% of the student body and students were required to have a 3.5 accumulative average. Honors College courses for sophomores were similar to regular university courses except that classes were small and more was expected of Honors College students. For juniors and seniors, courses were interdisciplinary and often designed by students or faculty. Under Dr. Whan's direction, the college began to accept freshmen students by inviting them to participate in special seminars to satisfy an English requirement.
During the 1970's under the presidency of Dr. Claude Sowle, there was much discussion about the direction of the Honors College. In 1972, Professor Ellery Golos, who had served as Assistant Director under Dr. Whan, sent President Sowle "A Proposal for a Tutorial System" to "provide the best education for the highly gifted, highly motivated undergraduate student." This proposal, based on a study of the British tutorial system, was approved by the Curriculum Council on May 9, 1972. At this point, the Honors Program became the Honors Tutorial College, adopting the tutorial format. Extensive fundraising efforts were undertaken by Professor Golos and the first Honors Tutorial group began in September 1973. Professor Golos became the Director and Dr. Margaret Cohn was named as Assistant Director.
In 1977, Dr. Cohn became the Director of the Honors Tutorial College. She was assisted by Helene Onley. In 1991, her title was changed to Dean and Ann Brown was named Assistant Dean. Dr. Cohn served as Dean until her retirement in 1995. Dr. Joseph Berman was appointed Dean of the Honors Tutorial College in 1995 and served until his retirement in July, 2002. Ann Brown served as Assistant Dean until 2001 when she became the Director of the Office of Nationally Competitive Awards, housed in the college. Dr. Ann Fidler became dean of the college in July, 2002. Jan Hodson is currently the Assistant Dean.
Ohio University is the only institution in the United States with a degree-granting college incorporating all the essential features of the traditional tutorial system. Currently, there are 26 programs of study offered by the college. Enrollment is approximately 225 students.