If we were current prospective students to Creighton University and looked at the admissions page dedicated to all the potential programs we could apply for, we would be overwhelmed by our options. Unfortunately, that sense of being overwhelmed would quickly be replaced by a sense of confusion as we tried to sort through the various existing programs and attempt to understand what set  each apart.

There’s the Honors Program in Arts & Sciences, the Freshmen Leadership Program, the College of Business Dean’s Fellows, the Anna Tyler Waite Leadership program, all of which have been around for a few years. Now, Cortina is accepting freshmen applicants. Arts & Sciences now has its own Dean’s Fellows, and CSU has introduced its Presidential  Fellows Program.

All of these programs exist with the best of intentions. Most of them are also very good at furthering their stated missions. This is not the concern. The concern is whether some of these programs are redundant and, more importantly, whether some of them are starting to promise benefits which are supposed to be guaranteed to all Creighton students.

One of Creighton’s greatest assets to many students is its size. Unfortunately, this also limits us in some ways. As passionate as our student body may be, it stretches our energy and resources very thin to have several programs dedicated to essentially the same purpose. Thus, to have multiple programs dedicated to academics or leadership within one college will inevitably lead to at least some competition for scarce resources. Why not focus those resources on one program and encourage collaboration?

Now, it may be disputed that each of these programs fulfills a particular niche within a broader category. Perhaps this is true. Perhaps this is sometimes effective, especially at larger universities where there are more students interested in such a niche. Unfortunately, Creighton doesn’t have the kinds of numbers. With an average incoming class of 1,000 students, it’s easy to see how nearly half of all freshmen could become involved in one or more of these programs.

What’s more concerning is that some of these programs offer as benefits things which Creighton prides itself as offering to every student as part of the unique Creighton experience. For instance, if you look at the benefits of the Arts & Sciences Dean’s Fellows program, it lists as “key elements of the program” such things as funding for conference travel and research support, preference for admissions to graduate programs at Creighton, and opportunities to meet and interact with the College’s Alumni Advisory Board.

Resources currently exist through the dean’s office for any student who wishes to apply for a research stipend. Further, it was our belief that that Creighton EDGE exists to emphasize the “edge” that all Creighton students have in applying to graduate school anywhere, as well as Creighton.  Finally, is it not a hallmark of every university that current students have access to their alumni network as they seek mentorship and new experiences?

We are not calling for the elimination of programs from this campus. Such programs can further a university’s goals by focusing energy and resources into a stated mission that benefits the general student population as well as the program members.

However, when a university fails to recognize its limitations, it begins to create programs that blur the lines between special benefits for its members and the kinds of benefits every student should expect as a member of the university.

Instead, what we call for is for the university to support existing programs as fully as it possibly can, and to encourage collaboration between these programs to achieve meaningful results that will continue to make Creighton a leading institution of undergraduate leadership and academics.