SGA calls for greater flexibility in University Honors Program requirements

gwhatchet.com · Feb 24, 2026 · Collected from GDELT

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Student Government Association senators at a meeting on Thursday. The Student Government Association Senate passed five pieces of legislation at a meeting Thursday, including a resolution calling on officials to improve the University Honors Program experience by adding more class times and making it easier to study abroad. The resolution, sponsored by SGA Sen. Sophie Munson (CCAS-U), asks the honors program to offer more time slots for required honors courses, allow honors students studying abroad to take courses that count for honors credit and hold mandatory advising sessions for students with double majors or plans to study abroad to ensure they will meet the program’s requirements in four years. The resolution states first-year students in the program have expressed concerns that its required courses overlap with other core curriculum requirements, and honors students face challenges studying abroad because the program’s credit requirements limit flexibility in their schedules. All honors program students are required to take 10 additional honors courses on top of the coursework for their major, according to the program’s website. The resolution asks officials to collaborate with advisors from schools like the Elliott School of International Affairs, the School of Engineering & Applied Science and the School of Business to develop comprehensive four-year plans for students that include possibilities of studying abroad while also meeting the program’s requirements. The honors program currently offers a four-year plan template on its website, but provides no specific guidance on which classes students should take in specific semesters, or how students could arrange their schedules to study abroad and still meet the program’s requirements. Senators also approved a measure, sponsored by SGA Vice President Liz Stoddard, which fully opens Finance Committee meetings to the public with an “open door” policy. The Finance Committee held its first public meetings last fall, but required students to RSVP and for the committee’s chair to approve them to attend, leading to low student turnout at its initial public meetings. The bill removes the RSVP requirement and allows any member of the public to attend meetings. “Switching from a barrier system to a come and walk in and hear what the finance senators are talking about, I think is much more helpful,” Stoddard said. “Especially for treasurers who are coming to present and maybe want the ability to sit in on the discussion around their allocation.” Senators also approved a bill that allows senators to fill vacancies in any Joint Elections Commission office with a current member of the SGA, a change from a bill they passed at their previous meeting, which only allowed senators to appoint an SGA member to fill a vacancy in the role of JEC commissioner. The JEC faced a brief period of instability earlier this year after the commissioner senators appointed in the fall to lead the body abruptly resigned, leaving the commission without a leader months before the April elections, until senators appointed a new commissioner to fill the role in February. The JEC still faces several vacancies, with only three of the commission’s five members appointed. The commission also still lacks a chief investigator, who investigates and reports any misconduct during the election process. The senate also approved a bill transferring the power to convert school-specific vacant seats to University at-large seats from the full senate to the Governance and Nominations Committee. SGA Senate Pro Tempore José Dalmau (CCAS-U), who sponsored the bill, said it will “streamline” the process for filling senate vacancies, so the committee can bring more nominees before the full senate instead of waiting for the full senate to convert them. The bill also shortens the timeline for SGA officials to advertise vacancies to the campus community from five days after a seat becomes vacant to three and allows the Governance and Nominations Committee to bypass consideration of nominees and send them to the full senate if there is only one applicant. “The bill directly addresses avoidable delays that can leave students underrepresented,” Dalmau said. “It strengthens the efficiency and predictability of our appointments process while preserving rigorous candidate evaluation.” Senators also filled several vacancies by approving the appointments of Paul Lee to an undergraduate School of Medicine and Health Sciences seat, Rodrigo Ganem and Klara Walny to undergraduate School of Business seats, Stephen Garvey to an at-large graduate seat and Alayna Kadarusman and Kaesar Grewal to undergraduate Elliott School of International Affairs seats. The SGA Senate will hold its next meeting on March 2 at 7 p.m. in the University Student Center Grand Ballroom. $3000 $4000 Contributed Our Goal Your donation directly empowers the student journalists of The GW Hatchet, giving them the tools to investigate, report and publish stories that matter. Every contribution helps us continue our decades long tradition of independent journalism at GW.