Educational Administration and Supervision Commons^™

Dedication: Donzell Lee

Honors in Practice Online Archive

An outstanding musician, teacher, and leader, Donzell Lee has been an important asset to honors for over twenty-five years. Having received his B.Mus. from Xavier University of Louisiana, his M.A. from Stanford University, and his Ph.D. from Louisiana State University, Donzell joined the faculty of Alcorn State University in 1981 and remains there as Professor of Music. His career in honors began in 1984, when he assumed the position of Director of the Honors Curriculum Program at Alcorn State. Since that time he has been active in the National Association of African-American Honors Programs, the Southern Regional Honors Council, and …

Becoming Part Of A Story, Ted L. Estess

Honors in Practice Online Archive

What follows is a slightly revised version of a story that Ted Estess read at the ceremony honoring his retirement after thirty-one years from the position of Dean of the Honors College at the University of Houston. The story, as he explained to those assembled, was written some years ago in Colorado, where he spent time most summers with his wife, Sybil, and his son, Barrett

When It Comes Time Not To “Jump The Shark”: Stepping Down As Director, Nick Flynn

Honors in Practice Online Archive

I was the founding director of the honors program at Angelo State University. Our program started off in a small room in our library back in 2001 with seventeen students. Since then, the program has grown to approximately 150 students with a 2,000-square-foot lounge. Additionally, we received a $250,000 donation for programming and scholarships. After seven years as Director, in 2007 I began to contemplate the possibility of stepping down, and at the start of the fall 2008 semester I made the difficult decision so that I could devote more time to my scholarly endeavors. In retrospect, I wish that …

Editor’S Introduction, Ada Long

Honors in Practice Online Archive

The lead essay in this issue of Honors in Practice is one that most readers will want to keep close at hand. At the behest of the NCHC Publications Board, Emily C. Walshe of Long Island University, C. W. Post Campus, has contributed “Conducting Research in Honors,” a set of clear, detailed, step-by-step instructions on how to do research in honors. While some readers will be familiar with this material already and others will struggle to keep up, the majority will find in this essay an invaluable tool and resource for doing research in general and honors research in particular. …

Celebrating Twenty Years Of Honors Through Oral History: Making An Honors Program Video Documentary, Catherine Irwin

Honors in Practice Online Archive

On April 4, 2008, the University of La Verne Honors Program celebrated its twentieth anniversary with a benefit dinner. The main entertainment for the night was a twenty-minute video documentary based on excerpts from oral histories I had completed with former students and faculty of the program. As students and faculty sat side by side and watched the documentary, I could see people in the audience smiling or nodding their heads in agreement with the person speaking on screen. An occasional “Hey, that’s me!” was followed by laughter from the crowd. After the documentary, a discussion followed that added to …

Fertile Ground: Reflections On Collaborative Student-Faculty Research In The Arts, Mimi Killinger, Aya Mares

Honors in Practice Online Archive

This project grew out of mutual interests. In January of 2008, I briefly introduced myself to the students in my Honors 112 seminar, describing my most recent research on a women’s art collective that painted together in Houston, Texas, during the 1970s. That afternoon, I received an e-mail from Honors 112 student Aya Mares that was charged with enthusiasm for art as “fertile ground for change.”

Mimi had told our class that she was researching the Houston art collective, the Garden Artists, because her mother had been a member. She hoped to learn more about the workings of an art …

Teamwork For Nchc, Lydia Lyons

Honors in Practice Online Archive

Having had the opportunity to listen to NCHC presidential addresses since 1995, I find today’s opportunity a humbling one. Some of our presidents have used the conference themes as points of reference, but our first four conferences starting in 1966 had no themes. Ada Long and I share the experience of having chaired our NCHC conferences in San Antonio: she in 1994 with the theme “Crossing Borders” and I in 2008 with “Crossing Frontiers.” Theme or no theme, some presidents have grappled with defining honors or, even more challenging, the NCHC.

Intuitively, we know what honors is, yet we have …

Honors Living-Learning Communities: A Model Of Success And Collaboration, Eric Daffron, Christopher Holland

Honors in Practice Online Archive

All too often on college campuses, academic affairs and student affairs work in near isolation from each other. In their traditional roles, academic affairs promotes students’ learning in the classroom while student affairs cares for students’ personal development outside the classroom. Yet, if higher education aspires to graduate students who can meet the challenges of the modern world, then universities have an obligation to launch collaborative projects that bring together the disparate facets of students’ lives. Living-learning communities, a model for collaboration between academic affairs and student affairs, can meet that goal (Schroeder & Mabel, 1994).

Honors Ambassadors: A Framework For Enhancing Student And Program Development, Kristy Burton, Erin Wheeler Mckenzie, Patrick Damo

Honors in Practice Online Archive

Many honors programs struggle with how to attract the best and brightest students, primarily because the students we seek often have multiple lucrative offers from highly rated institutions. At Miami University, we found ourselves in the unfortunate position of losing top-tier students to competitor programs in the region and state and thus needing to take action. Our first step was to take a critical look at the scope and type of communication we were having with prospective students. What we found was that although we offer an excellent honors program with learning opportunities that are equivalent to or perhaps better …

Paths To Knowledge As A Foundational Course In An Honors Program, Mark Vitha, Arthur Sanders, Colin Cairns, David Skidmore, Clive Elliot, William Lewis

Honors in Practice Online Archive

In this article we describe an honors course titled “Paths to Knowledge,” which was created to provide students with an understanding of the ways different disciplines create and evaluate knowledge. This is the only specific course within our honors curriculum that is required of all honors students. After seeing it evolve over several years, multiple instructors, and a variety of approaches to the theme, we believe that Paths to Knowledge may be a good model for a foundational course within an honors program.

Editorial, Volume 5 - 2009, Ada Long, Dail Mullins

Honors in Practice Online Archive

Table of Contents:

Editorial Policy

Submission Guidelines

Dedication to Earl and Maggie Brown

Editor’s Introduction by Ada Long

Stability in the Context of Change by Hallie E. Savage

Ending in Honors by Samuel Schuman

People Who Think Otherwise by Kevin Donovan

Implementing Honors Faculty Status: An Adventure in Academic Politics by Jesse Peters

Building an Honors Development Board by Scott Carnicom and Philip M. Mathis

Honors Ex Machina: Changing Perceptions of Honors through Horizontal Integration, A Case Study by Timothy L. Hulsey

Separate but Equal: Will it Work for Professional Honors Programs? by Beata M. Jones and Peggy W. Watson …

Bridging The Divides: Using A Collaborative Honors Research Experience To Link Academic Learning To Civic Issues, Alix Dowling Fink, M. Leigh Lunsford

Honors in Practice Online Archive

The National Science Education Standards assert the vital importance of the inquiry process: “Inquiry into authentic questions generated from student experiences is the central strategy for teaching science” (National Research Council 1996). Yet students in U.S. high schools have highly variable laboratory experiences, and attempts at inquiry-oriented learning are often “cookbook” activities isolated from the larger flow of science and mathematics learning (Singer et al. 2006). In the higher education environment, it is similarly uncommon for students, particularly first-year students in science and statistics classes for non-majors, to have the opportunity to practice authentic research from formulation of a research …

Honoring Experiential Education, Debra Holman, Tony Smith, Evan Welch

Honors in Practice Online Archive

In the Center for Honors, Scholars and Leadership at the University of Northern Colorado (UNC), we are actively pursuing expansion of our experiential-education offerings and are working collaboratively with a variety of community partners and key campus offices to develop, track, and promote opportunities for students. Our efforts focus on providing honors and leadership students with a variety of experiential-education placements and giving students across the campus opportunities to engage more fully in service, internships, and research. Central to our efforts is a philosophy that all students can choose to exercise honor in their academic careers not solely through outstanding …

Stability In The Context Of Change, Hallie Savage

Honors in Practice Online Archive

Last year at this time, I began to think about what I might adopt as a presidential theme. What could NCHC reasonably accomplish in 2008? If you recall, at that time we hired Liz Beck as Interim Executive Director, and one month before the conference we hired Cindy Hill. Major changes were inevitable in our organization. I began my presidency with a goal to work with the Board of Directors to establish stability in the face of these organizational changes. The goal of stability was in response to the need for a national office that would provide the resources for …

Enhancing Environmental Literacy And Global Learning Among Honors Students, Liza Davis

Honors in Practice Online Archive

In 2005, the National Environmental Education and Training Foundation (NEETF) released a summary of a decade’s worth of research into environmental literacy among Americans, collected in collaboration with Roper Reports. The report included some disturbing statistics: 45 million Americans think the ocean is a fresh-water source, for example, and only 12% of those surveyed were able to pass a basic quiz on energy awareness. As the report’s author laments, “Our years of data from Roper surveys show a persistent pattern of environmental ignorance even among the most educated and influential members of society” (Coyle v). Like most Americans, honors students …

An Honors Director’S Credo, Angela Salas

Honors in Practice Online Archive

“Finis Origine Pendet” wrote Manlius: the end depends upon the beginning. True enough. But what if we looked at a desired end to work backward and see what steps we might take to get to that place? What do we want for our children, for our students, and for the graduates of our schools? What do hope to see when we look across our desks at job applicants? What do we watch for on television when candidates for office are explaining their reasons for wanting to serve and what they intend to accomplish if elected? What do we want for …

Combining Chemistry And College Writing: A New Model For An Honors Undergraduate Chemistry Course, Donna Chamely-Wilk, Jeffrey Galin, Krista Kasdorf, Jerome Haky

Honors in Practice Online Archive

Faculty in the Departments of Chemistry and English at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) have designed and implemented an innovative, writing intensive, advanced, second-semester chemistry course combined with a laboratory component that satisfies both second semester General Chemistry and College Writing criteria. This unusual configuration differs from typical honors chemistry courses because of its “writing to learn” approach to teaching indepth scientific content, the nature of research, and research methods. The opportunity to develop this course emerged from a collaborative relationship between our institution’s Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) program and our chemistry department.

Honors Ex Machina: Changing Perceptions Of Honors Through Horizontal Integration, A Case Study, Timothy Hulsey

Honors in Practice Online Archive

Honors programs and colleges face numerous pressures from raising money to managing growth to developing and maintaining curricula. None of these challenges, however, are unique to honors. What has, unfortunately, proven to be unique to honors has been the continuing question of relevance. Over the years, “making honors relevant” has been an ongoing part of the national honors discussion.

In the fall/winter 2007 volume of the JNCHC, Ira Cohen used a Robert Burns poem to remind us that others often do not see honors as we see ourselves: “The observation by Burns clearly applies to honors: the viewpoint of those …

People Who Think Otherwise, Kevin Donovan

Honors in Practice Online Archive

The theme of my address is simple: welcome to a community of people who think otherwise. First, recognize that you are a community. That may be hard to see at first sight: you come from a wide range of various backgrounds, from big cities and small country towns, from affluent and financially struggling families, from a variety of races and creeds. However, you have much in common with each other, beginning with the talent and record of achievement that got you here. Possessing intelligence and curiosity about the world, you are also likely at one time or another to feel …

Honors In Practice, Volume 5 (Complete Issue)

Honors in Practice Online Archive

CONTENTS
Editorial Policy
Submission Guidelines
Dedication to Earl and Maggie Brown
Editor’s Introduction Ada Long

IMPORTANT SPEECHES OF 2008
Stability in the Context of Change Hallie E. Savage
Ending in Honors Samuel Schuman
People Who Think Otherwise Kevin Donovan

ADMINISTRATIVE DESIGNS
Implementing Honors Faculty Status: An Adventure in Academic Politics Jesse Peters
Building an Honors Development Board Scott Carnicom and Philip M. Mathis
Honors Ex Machina: Changing Perceptions of Honors through Horizontal Integration, A Case Study Timothy L. Hulsey
Separate but Equal: Will it Work for Professional Honors Programs? Beata M. Jones and Peggy W. Watson

CURRICULAR DESIGNS
Combining Chemistry …

Writing War: The Memorial Design Project, Janine Utell

Honors in Practice Online Archive

It seems a fortuitous—and frightening—time to be teaching a course on literature and art of war in the twentieth century. As an assistant professor in a small English department within Widener University’s humanities division, which serves a range of students through our general education program, I am constantly mindful of making the aesthetic socially and ethically relevant. Furthermore, as a sometime-teacher in the General Education Honors Program, I am conscious not only of making the arts and humanities relevant to a diverse body of students but of challenging some very driven and engaged thinkers and writers.

Ending In Honors, Samuel Schuman

Honors in Practice Online Archive

What follows is a slightly revised version of a presentation given by Sam Schuman at the 2008 NCHC conference in San Antonio, Texas.

Implementing Honors Faculty Status: An Adventure In Academic Politics, Jesse Peters

Honors in Practice Online Archive

Ijoined the faculty at the University of North Carolina Pembroke in 1999. At that time there were about 3200 students, and we were mostly a commuter campus. Currently we have just over 6000 students, and the campus has shifted to a much more residential student body. The physical plant has expanded and improved, and the faculty has almost doubled. We have added several new degree programs at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. The focus of this essay is the expansion of the honors college, particularly the implementation of a system granting official honors faculty status. This system has helped …

Networking An Honors Community Out Of Fragmentation, Karlyn Koh, John Chaffee, Edward Goodman

Honors in Practice Online Archive

What makes an honors program a community? And how does one build a vibrant honors community at a commuter community college? In the City University of New York’s LaGuardia Community College Honors Program, we have been grappling with such questions especially because ours is an urban, non-residential campus that serves a diverse, non-traditional student population. Our student population is roughly 38% Hispanic, 21% Asian, and 20% Black; in 2007, 58% of our students were foreign born, 19% took evening classes, and 46% were part-time students. How can we provide the program with a sense of cohesion without the infrastructure of …

Separate But Equal: Will It Work For Professional Honors Programs?, Beata M. Jones, Peggy W. Watson

Honors in Practice Online Archive

Developing honors opportunities for students in professional schools can be difficult, as noted by, for example, Giazzoni (2007), Bishop and Sittason (2007) and Noble and Dowling (2007) and also as demonstrated by honors program statistics at Texas Christian University (TCU). Despite the difficulty, high achieving students in professional schools should have the opportunity to benefit from an honors education. According to Bruce (2008), “honors education looks different from other types of education. . . . Honors pushes our comfort zones . . . [and] . . . challenges us to . . . be open to new ideas” (19–29). This …

The Role Of Peer Leaders In An Honors Freshman Experience Course, Melissa Johnson

Honors in Practice Online Archive

The purpose of this paper is to describe the role peer leaders play in Introduction to Honors Professional Development, a 1-credit, graded, honors course for first-year students at the University of Florida. Peer leaders are experienced undergraduate students who co-instruct the course along with an honors advisor. While the specific roles of peer leaders may vary from section to section, in general all peer leaders are expected to be advisors, resources, and role models to first-year students.

Building An Honors Development Board, Scott Carnicom, Philip Mathis

Honors in Practice Online Archive

Development has a long history in American higher education. The first institutions of higher education founded in the United States were private and relied heavily on donations of money or land (Brittingham & Pezzullo, 1990). Public schools, which once enjoyed a period of relatively generous government funding, must also now vie for development dollars in an increasingly competitive market. The organized development efforts of both private and public colleges and universities have evolved and expanded over the years, giving rise to centralized development offices and trained, professional development officers. However, many academic leaders outside the development office, including honors directors …

Literary New England: Planning And Implementing Domestic Travel Study, Craig Cobane, Derick Strode

Honors in Practice Online Archive

Domestic travel courses provide honors programs/colleges a variety of educational opportunities to immerse students in a culture different from their own. This essay presents one example of an honors-sponsored domestic travel course and discusses its differences from and similarities to study abroad courses. Additionally, we discuss the various elements that go into conceiving, developing, and executing such an educational experience. The essay is structured to provide a roadmap for creating a domestic travel course.

Determining The Significance Of Honors, Katherine Bruce

Honors in Practice Online Archive

The title of my address is “Determining the Significance of Honors.” That’s a hefty title. This summer I was reading the “numbers” issue of the JNCHC and thinking about how we measure impact and effects related to honors education when Hallie Savage asked me what the title of my presidential address would be. Given my academic discipline and my current thoughts about assessment centered on that JNCHC issue, I thought that the title Determining the Significance of Honors would be illustrative of my interests and focus.

Honors In Practice, Volume 4 (Complete Issue)

Honors in Practice Online Archive

CONTENTS
Editorial Policy
Submission Guidelines
Dedication to Elizabeth C. Beck
Editor’s Introduction Ada Long

2007 CONFERENCE PLENARY ADDRESSES
Determining the Significance of Honors Katherine E. Bruce
Portable Widgets and Techie Tattoos: Honors of the Future Rosalie C. Otero
Honors in 2025: Becoming What You Emulate Craig T. Cobane
Honors 2025: The Future of the Honors College Richard Ira Scott and Philip L. Frana

EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING
Majoring in the Minor: A Closer Look at Experiential Learning Bernice Braid
Cultural Studies as the Foundation for an Honors Program: Documenting Students’ Academic and Personal Growth Sara E. Quay and Amy M. Damico

INNOVATIVE …