Within a few years of the beginning of Rockland Community College, it became apparent that some of the goals regarding the strengthening of curricula in the liberal arts and sciences were not being entirely fulfilled. Some of the faculty comprehended that a small number of students were not being given opportunities to develop intellectually, or to realize fully their abilities to write well, to deal with value systems in literature, to solve problems and to appreciate the aesthetic qualities inherent in imaginative writing.

With these needs in mind, the English Department established the first English honors course, English 102, Honors, which was offered in September 1968. This honors course differed both quantitatively and qualitatively from a regular section. Specifically, the reading list was heavier and the kinds of materials assigned were more comprehensive and demanding.

Later, when more students were identified as capable of doing honors work in English, a second sequence of honors courses was approved: a two-semester class, English 220-221: Honors Literature Seminar, to begin in 1972. This sophomore course was developed for any student who had completed Honors 102 with a B grade or higher, or who had been recommended by a member of the English faculty. Providing an intensive experience for the student interested in literature and literary research, involving independent study, a major research essary, and oral participation, this honors seminar gave highly motivated students an opportunity to work in an independent and tutorial context and to share their responses with a group of like-minded students.

In accordance with the Mission Statement of the college, these honors courses stimulated more in-depth opportunities for the excellent student to explore differing perspectives and values. Also, these honors classes prompted students to examine various theories, to acknowledge opposing arguments necessary to assess myriad life situations, to analyze assumptions and ideas, and to make and implement decisions.

A further assessment of the college's commitment to its mission statement was begun by the full professors who met regularly from September 1975 through May 1977, in order to evaluate further the goals of the college, reassess various programs of remediation and mediation learning, and to explore new ground for improvements across the curriculum.

This committee of senior faculty submitted a final report in May 1977. This final report suggested that the college had provided amply for the weaker student and the average one, but that little had been done to accomodate the excellent student, even though in a 1974 survey, in fact, as many as 20 percent of the entering freshmen at a representative number of community colleges, and Rockland is certainly representative, were in the top quartile of their high school classes. This committee of senior professors believed that the needs of these high achievers merited as much attention as those of the 17 percent who were in the fourth quartile of their graduating classes. In other words, the report recommended that the college should establish more honors courses throughout the curriculum to meet the challenge of gaining numbers of academically gifted students.

Accepting the recommendations of the full professors, the president of the college, invited recent high school graduates, high school seniors, and their parents to an Open-House-Information meeting on August 10, 1977. On that occasion about one hundred and fifty students and parents heard about announce the beginning of the Mentor/Talented Student Honors Program, a college-wide concept. to begin in September 1977. Honors courses would be offered in English, mathematics, biology, chemistry, political science, and psychology, and independent study, practicums, and intense mentorship were planned for recent high school graduates and current RCC students with a 90 or higher high school average, or in the case of college, a 3.5 or higher cumulative index.

Since 1977, steadily increasing honors enrollments ( in 1989 there were about 75 freshmen and 35 sophomores in M/TS, today there are 150 freshmen and 150 sophomores), growing acceptance of 99 percent of the M/TS participants into prestigious senior institutions, expanded and intensified honors courses and projects, have characterized the program. M/TS students have been accepted as juniors at Amherst, Barnard, Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, M.I.T., Yale, the University of Chicago, the University of Pennsylvania, Swarthmore, Tufts, Vassar, Johns Hopkins, Duke University, Brandeis, Manhattanville, and many others, as well as to all the University Centers of SUNY.

An M/TS Honors Degree became available to the freshmen class of 1982, who completed a required number of honors courses,. successfully finished the seminar HPI 204, Processes of Thinking, undertook and fulfilled an independent study project, participated in extra-curricular activities related to their major fields, and achieved a 3.5 academic average or higher for two years. Professors from English, psychology, biology, chemistry, mathematics, philosophy, sociology, and political science, act as mentors in the program, and an Honors Advisory Council, made up of honors teaching faculty, an administrator, and an M/TS student, meets regularly to determine policy and to improve M/TS.

Furthermore, the M/TS program serves both the high school populations of Rockland and Orange counties, who qualify by earning, in high school, a 90 or higher average, and RCC's own second semester freshmen and beginning sophomores who achieve a 3.5 cumulative index during the first semester or first year here. Although the requirements for admission for high school seniors ( Early Admission students, although in the beginning of the program were discouraged are now readily accepted) is a 90 average or higher and four years of academic, liberal arts courses, the admission committee of M/TS has accepted some students who had lower academic averages.

These students come highly recommended by their high school teachers and counselors, who testify that, despite their grade point averages and SAT scores, these students are committed to excellence and are capable of doing honors work. It should likewise be stressed that 95 percent of the entering honors freshmen have indicated that they would not have attended RCC if the honors option had not been available. In that regard, certainly, it is noteworthy that, through the honors program, the college is serving a larger high school population than it did before the establishment of honors at Rockland.

In follow-up evaluations, 98 percent of the M/TS honors graduates who attended prestigious colleges have been graduated from those institutions with a 3.0 (B) average or higher, and indicate in alumni evaluations that the program at Rockland prepared them well for the rigorous demands of their senior colleges.

In summation, it is important to realize that the Sam Draper M/TS Honors Program is answering not only the Mission Statement of the college but also the goals of instruction in establishing honors courses which stimulate deeper intellectual growth and academic commitments to the liberal arts and sciences, precisely because today's technological ferment and chaos demand that society be mindful of humanistic concerns.