After Dr. Herb Jenkins retired as the first director of the Arts & Science Program, he, along with Dr. Bob Hudspith went on to found the Engineering and Society program at the Faculty of Engineering. McMaster's Integrated Sciences Program has also been modeled with the Arts & Science Program. Admissions The Arts and Science Program currently considers applications from applicants with a high school average of 88% or greater. The program requires an applicant's completion of the following Ontario high school courses as prerequisites for admission: ENG4U 1 of MHF4U, MCV4U (MCV4U is strongly recommended) 4 additional U/M level courses of which two must be U level. In addition to the completion of these courses and the submission of an application, the program requires that applicants complete a supplementary application, which is due each year on the 1st of February. The supplementary application enables the program to learn more about the applicant and their ideas, interests, and activities. Each year, the Arts and Science Program receives over 800 applications. The program prides itself in ensuring that all supplementary applications are read thoroughly and given equal consideration. Curriculum/Structure Arts & Science stresses the development of skills in writing, speaking, research, and critical and quantitative reasoning. Its curriculum also aims to provide a foundational university-level knowledge base in the natural sciences and the social thought of the Western world. The program's small size facilitates its strong sense of community and interdisciplinary learning, with students taking a diverse range of courses through their four years. Many of the students specialize in a field by completing a combined honours in addition to the Arts and Science program requirements (effectively a double major). Some combined honours require a fifth year of study, unless the student takes courses during summer school or an "overload" course complement. Many students go on to pursue higher learning through either graduate or professional school, or take job opportunities. *Many students in the Arts and Science Program opt to take a semester or double semester studying abroad. In this case, they take courses at the university that they are visiting that are deemed to be equivalent to the courses required of them were they to remain at McMaster. Expansion During the mid-'00s, the McMaster administration began putting pressure on the program to increase its size from 60 to 100 students per year. This campaign was part of a University-wide expansion of