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AGENDA ITEM BACKGROUND
TO: GOVERNING BOARD
DATE
FROM: PRESIDENT
SUBJECT:
September 17, 2012
Honors Transfer Program
REASON FOR BOARD CONSIDERATION
INFORMATION
ITEM NUMBER
ENCLOSURE(S)
Page 1 of 2
D.3
BACKGROUND:
Cabrillo College’s Honors Transfer Program is beginning its fifth year. The program has quickly grown to
200 students, and serves students who seek a challenging education and wish to pursue excellence in their
academic careers - high achieving students from all backgrounds, ages and experiences. Universities
continue to look for outstanding students who have done more than meet the minimum transfer requirements.
As a result, universities actively pursue honors students – and we have seen this demonstrated in the
reappearance of UC Berkeley admissions advisors on our campus.
In 2011, with the retirement of the Director of the Honors Transfer Program, the program was restructured to
include a 30% Director (in combination with 70% Articulation Officer), a lead faculty member and three
designated honors counselors, as well as administrative support from the HASS Division Instructional
Division Assistant. The program continues to rely on its Advisory Committee, which meets three times per
year, and includes the Vice President of Instruction, Administrators, Instructional Faculty and Counseling
Faculty.
The college has 21 honors course offerings which rotate on a semester and yearly basis; all are UC
transferable and IGETC approved courses. In addition, the college gives “honors credit” towards the Honors
Scholar Designation to ten additional high level math, physics, chemistry and English literature courses.
Students go through a separate application process to the program, which is now an on-line application, and
applications are being received from a wider and wider segment of both local public and private high
schools, as well as high schools and colleges throughout California and around the country.
With the program’s restructuring and inclusion of counseling functions into our general counseling arena,
HTP students schedule counseling appointments using SARS. For our incoming Fall 2012 class, afternoon
counseling appointments were held open to accommodate the students’ high school schedules, and our
counselors (both designated honors counselors and general counselors) began education plans for each and
every one of our 66 incoming students.
The Director and Lead Faculty give a priority to outreach to our south county high schools, and beginning in
fall of 2011 have increased the level of in-reach to our current students through presentations to our Learning
Communities, our International Student Program, Puente and Alpha Gamma Sigma. This effort increased
the diversity rate of our spring admissions over the previous year significantly. Spring 2010 admits (24
Administrator Initiating Item:
Wanda Garner, Dean, NAS
Kathie Welch, Dean, HAWK
Academic and Professional Matter
If yes, Faculty Senate Agreement
Senate President Signature
 Yes  No
 Yes  No
Final Disposition
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students) had a 10 percent rate of under-represented students vs. the Spring 2011 admits (21 students) rate of
54 percent.
Currently, 28% of Honors Transfer Program students are students of color, which mirrors our general student
population. This percentage has historically hovered at 30% (varying over the years between 28% and 32%).
Given the size of the program, the admittance of 1-2 students affects this percentage.
In 2010, the Cabrillo Honors Transfer Program was accepted into the UCLA Transfer Alliance Program
(TAP). Now, each winter, after students have completed their application to UCLA, we certify our eligible
Honors students for completion of our Honors curriculum (15 units of Honors courses) and those students
have a higher than double acceptance rate into UCLA over our general population and non-certified Honors
applicants to the university.
2011 – 9 TAP students – 67% admit rate (vs. 26.5% Non-TAP student admit rate)
2012 – 10 TAP students – 89% admit rate (vs. 24% Non-TAP student admit rate)
We have had three graduating classes since our program began. Every year, about 40 students graduate and
transfer from the program. Consistently, approximately 60% of HTP students transfer within 2 years. Those
for whom it takes longer than two years are usually high unit (STEM) majors. The program continues to
attract STEM majors. Of the 66 incoming students for fall of 2012, 40% are STEM field majors.
Extracurricular activities that support the academic coursework are plentiful. In the fall, students travel to
Stanford University and visit the Cantor Museum; this year they will visit Santa Clara University and UC
Davis. We have both a fall and spring film night which includes discussion. This past spring, the Library the
Honors Transfer Program, and the English and History Departments hosted Cabrillo’s First Annual Collegewide Read, followed by a Public Forum and Book Talk of Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man. A UCSC
Literature Professor addressed the group, as well as two of our English Instructors, Virginia Coe and Ekua
Omosupe. The event was well attended and well-received, and planning is underway for the 2nd Cabrillo
Reads Program.
One of the most exciting events for the program, and the College, this year was our Honors students’
participation in the annual Bay Honors Research Symposium, which was held at UC Berkeley. Cabrillo had
our highest number of honors students to date submit research proposals and have their proposals accepted
(six this year vs. one-two in past years). Additionally, one of our graduating students, Aidan O’Leary, won
the top prize, the Heslet Scholar Award, for her paper “Painting by Numbers: How Sir John Herschel’s
Science Changed Art.”
What is clear is that universities are looking for outstanding students who have done more than meet the
minimum transfer requirements. As a result of developing the Honors Transfer Program, Cabrillo has
expanded avenues to meet our transfer mission and provide greater opportunities for those students with the
educational goal of transfer.
Visit the website www.cabrillohonors.org.
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