Liberal Studies Commons^™

Developing Citizenship Through Honors, Jacob Andrew Hester, Kari Lynn Besing

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

For decades, research has shown that higher levels of education correspond to increased interest in politics and civic engagement. Despite the vast amount of scholarly attention, why this link exists is still disputed. One theory about the connection is the civic education hypothesis, which claims that the causal link between education and civic engagement depends not only on the amount of education a person receives but also on the type of curriculum studied. For example, Hillygus argues that “some courses are more likely than others to develop the skills fundamental to political participation” (31). Similarly, Condon argues that the development …

The Strange Game Of Prestige Scholarships, John A. Knox

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

As the “haunted” Rhodes finalist whom Lia Rushton accurately cited in her essay, I would like to provide some context for that reaction. I also wish to discuss some disquieting conclusions I have reached about prestige scholarships through my own experiences as a candidate, as an advisor to multiple nominees, via personal and family knowledge of nearly twenty Rhodes Scholars ranging from the Class of 1910 to the Class of 2000, and during twenty years as a faculty member at two universities.

What stood out most about my final Rhodes interview was its tone of bigotry and belligerence. I am …

Moving Beyond Gpa: Alternative Measures Of Success And Predictive Factors In Honors Programs, Tom Mould, Stephen B. Deloach

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

While studies of predictive factors for success in honors have been increasingly creative and expansive on what these factors might include, they have rarely challenged the dominant, virtually monolithic definitions of success. The majority of studies measure success either by collegiate grade point averages (GPAs) or retention rates in honors, which are often contingent on collegiate GPA. For years scholars have been calling for a more nuanced and robust definition of success, yet few have taken up the charge, presumably because such data are not readily available. GPAs and retention rates are easy to access and quantify. Tracking and quantifying …

Resilience, Reconciliation, And Redemption: An Initial Historical Sketch Of Pioneering Black Students In The Plan Ii Honors Program, Richard J. Reddick, Emily A. Johnson, Ashley Jones, Tracie A.J. Lowe, Ashley N. Stone, James Thomas

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

From the inception of the integration of predominantly White institutions in higher education marked by Sweatt v. Painter in 1950, The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) has been a battleground for educational equity. The university continues to find itself at ground zero in the battle for race and equity in higher education and embroiled in the debate over affirmative action, first in Hopwood v. Texas (1996) and then in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin (2013; 2016). For these reasons, UT Austin serves as a bellwether institution for public, predominantly White institutions (PWIs) when it comes to …

A Regression Model Approach To First-Year Honors Program Admissions Serving A High-Minority Population, David M. Rhea

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Many honors programs make admissions decisions based on student high school GPA and a standardized test score. However, McKay argued that standardized test scores can be a barrier to honors program participation, particularly for minority students. Minority students, particularly Hispanic and African American students, are apt to have lower standardized test scores than other ethnic groups according to the 2013 national ACT Profile Reports on “Black/African American Students” and “Hispanic/Latino Students.” Thus, honors programs that serve high-minority populations need to find new honors program solutions that will help their university community as well as encourage a high standard of academic …

First, Do No Harm, Lia Rushton

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

When I was appointed fellowships advisor at UAB back in the late 1990s and before the formation of the National Association of Fellowships Advisors, as a first order of business I spoke with the university’s few former winners and finalists about their experiences applying for nationally competitive scholarships. One such former applicant, now an accomplished professor who had graduated from our honors program a number of years prior, was evidently still haunted by his Rhodes interview as he told me about the questions he had been asked by and the answers he had given to his interviewers, answers that did …

Demography Of Honors: The Census Of U.S. Honors Programs And Colleges, Richard I. Scott, Patricia J. Smith, Andrew J. Cognard-Black

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Beginning in 2013 and spanning four research articles, we have implemented an empirical analysis protocol for honors education that is rooted in demography (Scott; Scott and Smith; Smith and Scott “Growth”; Smith and Scott, “Demography”). The goal of this protocol is to describe the structure and distribution of the honors population, but instead of a focus on aggregates of students or faculty and staff, the educational institution is the unit of analysis. This organizational demography has answered many questions about the growth of honors throughout collegiate education over time (Smith and Scott, “Growth”); documenting infrastructural and programmatic differences between honors …

Becoming Legible: Helping Students Navigate Promotional Genres Of Self-Narration, Anton Vander Zee

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

The five-paragraph essay is a hard genre to love. Its inverted-triangle intro has enlightened us with too many “dawns” of some monolithic “man.” It reduces arguments, which tend to be rather subtle creatures, to the confines of a single-sentence thesis. It confects arguments in bland triplicate structure, as if any claim could be made more palatable by a perfectly bland Neapolitan blend. And it encourages seeing conclusions as a venue for gratuitous repetitions that insult the reader’s intelligence and memory alike. Beyond sponsoring these infelicities, the five-paragraph model, as Kimberly Hill Campbell notes in a recent issue of Educational Leadership …

Editor’S Introduction, Ada Long

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

The past two decades have seen a rapid professionalization of national scholarship advising at colleges and universities. Concurrently, the number of national scholarships has increased from the few that everybody recognized— the Rhodes, Marshall, Truman, Goldwater, and Fulbright—to hundreds that target different kinds of potential applicants. While scholarship advising used to be a volunteer activity performed by a few faculty members working with a small number of students, it is now usually a distinct administrative and structural unit with its own staff, often positioned within an honors college or program and in any case working in close collaboration with honors …

Forum On “National Scholarships And Honors”

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

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Lawrence, Spring 2017, Lawrence University

Alumni Magazines

No abstract provided.

Building Bridges, Benjamin R. Cousino, Nathan P. Gillespie, Shelby Miller, Sue Pete, Elizabeth A. Shepherd, Philip M. Sheridan

Liberal Studies Undergraduate Research

Throughout the winter 2017 semester our interdisciplinary team utilized the design thinking process to redefine the purpose of the Grand Valley Holland Meijer Campus. As a process for collaborative and creative problem solving on complex challenges, Design Thinking requires empathizing with community stakeholders, iterative integration of insights, ideation, prototyping and testing. Through this process we have identified creative possibilities designed to support and enhance both Grand Valley State University’s Holland campus as well as the community of Holland. Our final prototype optimizes engagement with the campus. While an incredibly large and challenging undertaking, this experience confirmed that the design thinking …

Meijer's Makers, Anthony L. Alberty, Haley Jennings, Patrick Mcelwee, Christopher Morrow, Natalia P. Skinner

Liberal Studies Undergraduate Research

This Innovation Portfolio is the result of a semester long project that examined the role of a regional campus in its community: more specifically, examining how the GVSU Meijer Campus can best integrate into and support its community. The Meijer Campus was originally designed to engage adult learners of the Holland business community. Our team sought out how to reinvigorate the campus through innovating based on this original goal. During the winter of 2017, our team undertook a series of steps to better understand the needs of the Holland community, considering how to design the Meijer Campus to fit those …

Craft Certifications, Alexandra Dartt, Autumn Reyhl, Brandon Angerbrant, Hattie Leveque, Collin Cribley, Mitch Galloway

Liberal Studies Undergraduate Research

Dear Reader, Welcome to our journey (of documents). We invite you to follow us through our design process: an iterative learning process of reflective and active learning focused on empathizing, defining, ideating, prototyping, and testing innovations. We have engaged in extensive research about the GVSU Holland campus and the Holland community in order to identify and respond to critical needs. We have come to understand that the campus needs to be a home for transformational and relevant education in order for it to best utilize its current assets and that it needs to do this work by extending an arm …

Holland Helpers, Kristin Budd, Stephanie K. Emelander, Lauren E. Hogikyan, Sharnell James, Nicholas Petrie, David Salerno

Liberal Studies Undergraduate Research

Grand Valley State University’s Meijer Campus located in Holland, MI has been hoping to better support the Holland community. It aims to be a campus full of innovative ideas, inspired and supported by students, and representative of the Holland community. Over the course of the winter of 2017 we—an interdisciplinary team of undergraduate students at Grand Valley State University—have engaged in the Design Thinking process order to develop an innovation designed to turn this vision into a reality. In the follow portfolio, you will be able to flip through our journey to find what we believe is a viable, sustainable …

Twenty Reasons To Publish In Dignity, Donna M. Hughes

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

Shaping The New World Order, Gerry Boyle

Colby Magazine

No abstract provided.

The Grizzly, March 30, 2017, Brian Thomas, Johnny Myers, Naseem Syed, Sienna Coleman, Erin Mckinney, Kevin Leon, Rachel Glick, Hunter Gellman, Fran Liberatoscioli

Ursinus College Grizzly Newspaper, 1978 to Present

Ursinus to Begin Offering Summer Courses to Students, Community Members • Students Share Diverse Experiences in UCARE Sponsored Diversity Monologues • Is There Declining Student Interest in the Philadelphia Experience? • "Stop Kiss" Brings Story of Love and Heartbreak to the Stage • Professor Finds a New Approach to Academics with Brooklyn Institute for Social Research • Opinions: Students Need to Start Contacting Their Representatives; Here's Why I Relay for Life at Ursinus College • The HEART of Ursinus Cardiovascular Research • Ursinus Tennis Coach Reaches 100 Career Victories, Wins Coach of the Year Award

The Grizzly, March 23, 2017, Brian Thomas, Nick Brough, Luximei Wang, Paige Szmodis, Courtney A. Duchene, Jada A. Grice, Jordan Scharaga, Andrew Simoncini, Chris Karmilowicz

Ursinus College Grizzly Newspaper, 1978 to Present

Immigration Panel Will Allow Students to Express Their Experience with Political Issues • International Perspective: Reflections on Adjusting to Campus Culture in the Fall • Important Housing Lottery Dates and Advice from Residence Life • Tech Support Updates Outdated Login Service • From Taxes to Spaghetti, Nerd Camp Helps Students Navigate the Real World • First-Person Perspective: Student Reflects on Class Trip to Chicago • Opinions: Does U.S. Happiness Affect UC Happiness?; Trappe Beer and Soda or Austin's Beverages? • From Amateur Wrestler to College Professor: Nick Scoville Does it All • Fun in the Sun: Five Ursinus Teams Traveled …

Hbcus: Accreditation, Governance And Survival Challenges In An Ever-Increasing Competition For Funding And Students, Jerry Crawford Ii

Journal of Research Initiatives

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) are facing challenges to their continued existence on several fronts. One is fiscally, as federal funding for education has been cut and the responsibility for paying for higher education has been levied on students and parents. Another challenge is the amount of endowment dollars available to them and lastly, there are questions today as to if HBCUs are still needed in a society that has allowed African-Americans to enroll in Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs). Both of these challenges are contingent on the most critical issue – accreditation. The loss of accreditation of units and …

Volume Cxxxiv, Number 17, March 3, 2017, Lawrence University

The Lawrentian

No abstract provided.

The Grizzly, March 2, 2017, Brian Thomas, Courtney A. Duchene, Paige Szmodis, Yuki Matsumoto, Nick Brough, Kayla Anelli, Benjamin T. Allwein, Johnny Myers, Andrew Simoncini

Ursinus College Grizzly Newspaper, 1978 to Present

Student Premieres Self-Produced Film on Campus • SPINT Houses to Host Events to Interest Applicants for Next Year • International Perspective: A Japanese Student's Reflection on Exchange Programs • Q&A with Last Year's Faculty Award Winners • Setting the Bar High: Mock Trial Races Toward Success • UC Senior Sprints to the Finish Line • Opinions: The U-Imagine Center Undermines Liberal Education; Entrepreneurship Enhances Liberal Education at UC • Men's Basketball Breaks Nine-Year Drought, Advances to Conference Playoffs • Four for Four: Ursinus Women's Swimming Caps Off Perfect Four Years

Volume Cxxxiv, Number 16, February 24, 2017, Lawrence University

The Lawrentian

No abstract provided.

The Revolving Door Of Education: Teacher Turnover And Retention Amongst The Graduates Of A Liberal Arts Teacher Education Program, Gregory W. Dachille, Chloe Ruff

Education Faculty Publications

In the United States, elementary and secondary education teachers comprise 4% of the entire civilian workforce (Ingersoll, 2001). The composition of that 4% is changing because of teacher turnover. According to recent statistics, 46% of teachers leave the classroom within the first five years of teaching and 9.5% of teachers leave the classroom within their first year (Rinke, 2014; Riggs, 2013; Zheng & Zeller, 2016). This study is designed to examine the teaching experiences of graduates of one teacher education program and the potential differences between graduates who stay in teaching and those who leave. Throughout this study, the guiding …

The Grizzly, February 23, 2017, Brian Thomas, Sarah Hojsak, Courtney A. Duchene, Paige Szmodis, Katrina O'Donnell, Steve Mohapp, Jordan Scharaga, Andrew Simoncini, Johnny Cope

Ursinus College Grizzly Newspaper, 1978 to Present

Laptop Program Comes to an End • Digital Humanities Opportunities Take Off • Here's Why the Wi-Fi has Been so Rough This Semester • International Perspective: A Student's Thoughts on Technology Use While Living Abroad • Exploring Campus Culture in a Plugged-In World • Revisiting Ursinus' Lost Connection to Computer History • Opinions: Excessive Technology Use Harms Student Learning; Students Should Use Technology to Stay Organized • What They Want: Athletes Speak About Dream Equipment • Ursinus HEART Lab at the Cutting Edge of Cardiovascular Research

Volume Cxxxiv, Number 15, February 17, 2017, Lawrence University

The Lawrentian

No abstract provided.

Lincoln’S Legacy And A New Generation Of Leadership, Janet M. Riggs

From the Desk of President Riggs

One hundred fifty-three years ago our nation was adrift, embroiled in a civil war and grappling with questions about our future. Many had lost hope. In November of 1863 here at Gettysburg, President Abraham Lincoln called upon our nation to rededicate itself to the unfinished work before us—the work of equality, the fulfillment of our democracy, a new birth of freedom. [excerpt]

The Grizzly, February 16, 2017, Brian Thomas, Courtney A. Duchene, Tommy Armstrong, Paige Szmodis, Katelyn King, Sienna Coleman, Luke H. Schlegel, Erin Mckinney, Leighnah L. Perkins, Nick Brough, Johnny Cope

Ursinus College Grizzly Newspaper, 1978 to Present

First Semester of Philadelphia Experience a Success • College Unveils Construction Plans for The Commons • Peer Advocates Prepare for the Vagina Monologues • Q&A with Author and Activist • "By the Way, Meet Vera Stark" Tackles Race in the Glamorous World of 1930s Hollywood • History Professor Hugh Clark Reflects on Time at Ursinus • Opinions: "La La Land" Delivers on Promise of Nostalgia; Graduating Early Should Not Translate to Exclusion • Golf Ready to Swing Into Spring • Three Champions Crowned; Wrestling Advances to Regionals

Volume Cxxxiv, Number 14, February 10, 2017, Lawrence University

The Lawrentian

No abstract provided.

The Grizzly, February 9, 2017, Brian Thomas, Johnny Myers, Erin Mckinney, Zixiao Lin, Sienna Coleman, Robert Rein, Courtney A. Duchene, Chris Karmilowicz, Andrew Simoncini

Ursinus College Grizzly Newspaper, 1978 to Present

Ursinus Prepares for the Job, Internship and Networking Fair • Local Union Amps Up Protests on Main Street • CSCG Hosts Speaker on Flint Water Crisis • International Perspective: A Chinese Student's Thoughts on Social Life at Ursinus • Students Pitch Entrepreneurial Ideas at Philly Competition • Ursinus Unveils New Relaxation Station for Stressed-Out Students • Opinions: Nikki Haley is a Standout in Trump's Cabinet; "Moonlight" Outshines the Other Oscar Nominees • Track Running Into the Outdoor Season with High Spirits • UC Baseball Swinging for the Fences in 2017