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Important Dates
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September 15
Portz Fund Grant Deadline
September 19
Deadline for Titles
September 24 Conference Early Registration Deadline
September 29
Student of the Year
October 22-26
Annual Conference |
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Share Your Recruitment Materials
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Thank you to Christine Gray for emailing the suggestion that we have
the opportunity to share our recruitment materials. We will have a
table provided for those of you who would like to bring samples of your
recruitment materials to share with one another.
Thank you for your idea!
~Lydia Lyons
2008 Conference Chair
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Auction Items |
 Items
are still needed for the 4th annual student charity auction. The
auction will take place on Thursday, Oct. 23 in two parts: a live
auction at the opening party and a hoodie raffle afterwards at the
student party. Proceeds will go to San Antonio's Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center
to support the scholarship fund that assists families who cannot afford
tuition in Guadalupe's arts education program. Please send your ideas
to Richard Badenhausen as soon as possible.
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Call for Titles
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We need your help! Planning committee members are looking for your
suggestions for book titles to be included on the book table at the
NCHC Annual Conference in San Antonio this October. Submit your suggestions for the
table directly to George Mariz no later than September 19.
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Portz Fund Grant |
The call for Portz Fund Grant proposals is upon us!
Proposals must be received electronically or postmarked by September 15th, 2008 to be considered.
For your convenience, applications are being accepted ONLINE! The time is now. Submit your innovative proposal today.
Questions? Contact Kate Bruce,
Co-Chair, NCHC Awards & Grants Committee
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Student Service
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Students at Hillsborough Community College, Spring 2008
The
National Collegiate Honors Council announces Student Service Day, Friday, October
17, 2008. Don't miss out! Get your Honors program involved this fall.
Mark your calendar for the Spring Student Service Day, too -- April 17,
2009.
Service Ideas Include:
-Yard
clean-up for elderly or disabled
-Volunteer
at local libraries, thrift stores, or soup kitchens
-Host a
Halloween party for at-risk youth
-Elementary
or middle school outreach
We want to know what you've done for your community. Email your
service plans, reports, and photos to the national office and we'll feature
your program in the next newsletter. |
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Dear Honors Friends,
San Francisco has Fisherman's Wharf.
Miami has South Beach.
We from NCHC have San Antonio's Riverwalk!
Please
remember the deadline for early registration is approaching: September
24, 2008 (www.nchcconference.com). Please also note that the hotel
conference rate deadline is on or before September 27, 2008; that date
does fall on a Saturday. See you in San Antonio!
Yours truly,
Lydia Lyons
2008 Conference Chair
National Collegiate Honors Council
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Attention Presenters
Important Reminder
Reminder to everyone
who is giving a presentation in any format (Developing in Honors(TM),
Beginning in Honors(TM), General Sessions, Idea Exchange, Poster
Sessions, any presentation):
You must have your registration for the conference paid by September 24, 2008.
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Featured Conference Session
Established in Honors
"Established in Honors" has been conceived to do three things-one
topical, one procedural, one social. Many of us have always thought
that there was a place at our NCHC conferences where people who have
been in Honors education for a while, or who have assumed
responsibilities for a mature program, could go to exchange information
about the oftentimes special issues that arise in programs that have
been around for a while. They would do this with colleagues who share
that same background of long time association with the Honors movement.
In fact, this is one avowed goal. We want to put seasoned "veterans" in
touch with each other, and to let newcomers to mature programs know
upon whom they can call to get advice, assistance or special insight.
Some of us have found our national "people to people" connections to be
both one of the most rewarding and at the same time, one of the most
fruitful of our relationship with NCHC. Towards this end, participants
are encouraged to bring business cards so that the relationships
established here do not flounder with the conclusion of the conference.
"EIH" also envisions, rather than formal presentations, a
discussion format-the procedural piece-with colleagues sitting in a
circle exploring topics that have been pre-selected as conversation
starters, and topics that the group may want to develop. There will be
group leaders to guide our conversations. But the emphasis is
emphatically on discussion rather than presentation.
The topical part is just that: There are issues with which
more mature programs wrestle that are just not yet major issues in the
mainstream Honors movement. Such specialized topics that suggest
themselves include development (money-raising) issues, leadership
succession matters (When is "enough, enough"), the role of the faculty
within the college or program, how to keep open communications with
campus leadership, posing the question of "how big is too big,"
appropriate staffing and budget levels after a program matures, etc.
In order to facilitate the conversation, the organizers of
EIH have suggested some pre-selected topics that colleagues come
prepared to discuss with questions and insights from their own
experiences. These are topics that have arisen in previous conferences,
or topics that have proven to be relevant and perhaps irksome as deans
and directors worry through the workings of their own programs. In all
cases, the atmosphere is less structured and perhaps much more
interactive than what one might find elsewhere within the NCHC
conference.
For more information, please visit the NCHC website.
~Gary Bell
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Students in Honors
Student Concerns Committee
Howdy from the NCHC Student
Concerns Committee! We are excited about the 2008 NCHC Conference and
look forward to welcoming students to San Antonio at the Students in
Honors™ (SIH) session. SIH will be held on Thursday, October 23 from 8 a.m. until 11
a.m. Our goal for SIH is to help both returning and new student
attendees get the most out of the NCHC Conference. SIH will feature
panel-led discussions on specific topics relevant to students and
honors programming including student engagement, honors ambassadors,
clubs/organizations, electronic communication, social activities, and
community service. Additionally, the elected NCHC student board members
will share multiple national opportunities available for honors
students.
The
Student Concerns Committee meeting is also on Thursday, from 12 p.m.
until 1 p.m. The meeting is open to all students, and we highly
encourage attendance
and participation. Our annual student auction will be Thursday evening
at 6:30 p.m., and in true Texas style, this year's auction will be
conducted by a live auctioneer. Thursday will culminate with our annual
student social. This is your chance to meet students from across the
country, share ideas, and show off your skills on the dance floor!
Please feel free to contact Sara Brady for more information. We look forward to seeing you in San Antonio!
~Sara Brady
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City as TextTM
Register Now
 There is still time to register
for the San Antonio City as Text™ session, Thursday, October 23,
11:15am - 5:00pm. City as Text™ is an active exploration of the
conference site that introduces newcomers to the multiple discussions
of both exploration and the look and lore of a given city. Small groups
armed with maps and assignments undertake a walkabout, a structured
exploration of areas within the site that yields information and
impressions to pursue further. The wrap-up session provides everyone
with a complex collection of images pulled from the several
destinations and encounters that will be reported to the entire group.
City as Text™ serves well as a mixer and as a way to frame
participants' experiences of the conference; local experts and keynote
speakers will deepen the sense of place participants develop at an
annual conference. For newcomers to NCHC, City as Text™ is a prime
occasion to delve into active-learning strategies fostered by the
organization.
Don't miss your chance to experience City as Text™ in San
Antonio. The registration deadline was September 15th, but we are
extending it to September 17th. If you register
by Wednesday, September 17th, orientation materials will be mailed to
you to assist you with your exploration. Latecomers will be
accommodated in each exploration as space permits. For arrivals after
noon on Thursday, there will also be an opportunity for a smaller scale
exploration of the areas close to the hotel location.
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NCHC Student of the Year
Still taking nominations
Don't
forget to submit your nomination for the NCHC Student of the Year
Award. We are looking for one honors student who has had an impact on
his or her honors program and who has participated in honors at the
regional and/or national level (attending and/or presenting at
conferences, etc.). This is the only NCHC award designed, judged, and
presented by honors students.
The winner will be recognized during the 2008 NCHC Conference in San Antonio and will receive a cash award.
To nominate a student: have the student complete this form
and submit a resume or list of accomplishments, if available. Honors
directors must also provide a letter in support of the student's
nomination that elaborates on why this student should be chosen NCHC
Student of the Year. Please nominate only one student for this award.
Questions should be directed to Kathleen King. The application deadline is Monday, September 29, 2008. We will be unable to accept nominations after the deadline.
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President's Column
This
fall, the National Collegiate Honors Council completes the governance
cycle with leadership changes in the Board of Directors. The
effectiveness of our leadership is dependent on members who are deeply
committed to honors education and the organization's mission. Our Board
officers and leaders bring expertise from diverse geographical areas,
scholarly disciplines, and require dedication to a three year term of
office. Immediately following the election of officers and the Board of
Directors in November 2007, a cycle of leadership roles and
responsibilities was initiated. The Board of Directors set direction
for hiring an Executive Director and creating stability for the
National Office. Engagement of new Board members was enhanced through
an orientation held at the winter Board meeting. Based on the
collaboration of the National Office staff members and the Board of
Directors, we built a stable, productive National Office. As senior
Board members reach the end of their terms, it is appropriate to pause
and recognize their achievements and dedication. Each of these
individuals has significantly contributed to the National Collegiate
Honors Council. As we complete the leadership cycle, please join me in
celebrating and recognizing the dedication of our retiring Board
members:
Kate Bruce
University of North Carolina Wilmington
Patrice Berger
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Sara Brady
Hillsborough Community College
John Britt
Lee College - Texas
Hesham Elnagar
Northern Arizona University
Will Lee
Texas A & M
Shane Miller
West Virginia University
Ruth Randall
Johnson County Community College
Robert L. Spurrier, Jr.
Oklahoma State University
Our continued success is dependent on you! We need each
member's vote in the next election. Candidates for Vice President and
the Board of Directors will be introduced in the Open Forum on Friday,
Oct. 24 in San Antonio. When you receive your ballot, vote and support
continuity in successful leadership.
~Hallie Savage
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NCHC Office Welcomes Betty Talley!
The
NCHC national office is pleased to welcome Betty Talley as Director of
Operations. Betty comes to us with a background in the fields of
business, law and manufacturing and has budget, supervisory and trade
show experience. Originally from Canada, Betty earned her bachelor's
degree at the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, has dual citizenship-U.
S. and Canadian, and speaks both English and French. Betty may be
contacted at (402) 472-9151 or nchcadm@unlserve.unl.edu. Welcome, Betty!
~Cindy Hill
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Acadia Experience
Partners in the Parks™
The
University of Maine at Augusta was host to Partners in the Parks™, the
Acadia Experience this past August 9-15. In cooperation with the
National Collegiate Honors Council, and supported by a generous
donation from LL Bean, the experience involved honors students and
faculty from all over the country, and the world - as far away as Viet
Nam and Azurbaijan.
 The
fifteen participants came from the University of Maine at Augusta, the
University of North Carolina Wilmington, Mount Mercy College, Rowan
University, the University of Texas, California State Polytechnic
University, Western Connecticut State University, Texas A&M, the
College of Charleston, and Columbia College. Students gathered in
Acadia for interdisciplinary instruction on a variety of topics
including Environmental Philosophy, Sustainable Architecture, Fire
Ecology, Maine Literature, Photography, Archeology, Biology, and
Astronomy. Instructors included professors from the University of Maine
at Augusta, the University of Maine, the Island Astronomy Institute,
the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National Park Service in a
collaborative educational experience which involved hiking, boating,
camping, and service.
 The
outcome of this important project has many facets. In addition to
experiential learning, a partnership with the National Parks Service
has been established and top university students have been exposed to
the great outdoors doing what they like best - learning. Instruction
took on many forms, combining leadership and team building with
camping, cooking and menu management, as well as topical discussions on
a variety of subjects. Utilizing the opportunities the National Park
Service has to offer gives students a broader understanding of their
environment and the preservation of the valuable resources available to
them. For more information, visit the Partners in the Park™ website.
Partners in the Parks™ , the only nationwide project featuring a
partnership with higher education that has been accepted by the
National Park Service for the 2008 Centennial Challenge, was recognized
by Secretary of the Interior, Dirk Kempthorne, and National Parks
Director, Mary Bomar, as an opportunity to protect the parks and to
cultivate a new generation of visitors.
The University of
Maine at Augusta is proud to be a part of this project with plans to
continue partnerships that embrace higher education at its best -
collaborating with the myriad valuable resources available in this
state, involving top instructors, and motivating students by addressing
their varied learning styles and introducing them to their full
potential for optimal citizenship.
~Kathleen King
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Call for Papers
Honors in Practice
Honors in Practice is accepting submissions for the 2009 volume.
The
deadline is January 1, 2009.
You will find the editorial policy and publication guidelines for paper
submissions below.
Editorial Policy for Honors in Practice
Honors in Practice (HIP) accommodates the need and desire for articles
about nuts-and-bolts issues, innovative practices in individual honors
programs, and other honors topics of concern to the membership. HIP
complements the semi-annual scholarly journal of the NCHC, Journal of the
National Collegiate Honors Council (JNCHC). Both journals
employ a double-blind review system. JNCHC publishes scholarly
essays that stress research in and on honors education. HIP
publishes practical and descriptive essays: descriptions of successful honors
courses, suggestions for out-of-class experiences, administrative issues, and
other matters of use and/or interest to honors faculty, administrators, and
students. Submissions and inquiries should be directed to Ada Long or, if
necessary, 850.927.3776.
Deadline
HIP is published annually. The deadline for
submissions is January 1, 2009.
Submission Guidelines
We will accept material by e-mail
attachment (preferred) or disk. We will not accept material by fax or
hard copy.
If documentation is used, the
documentation style can be whatever is appropriate to the authorʼs primary
discipline or approach (MLA, APA,
etc.), but please avoid footnotes. Internal citation to a list of
references (bibliography) is preferred; endnotes are acceptable.
There are no minimum or maximum
length requirements; the length should be dictated by the topic and its most effective
presentation.
Accepted essays will be edited for
grammatical and typographical errors and for infelicities of style or
presentation. Authors will have ample opportunity to review and approve
edited manuscripts before publication.
~Ada Long
Monograph Series Submission Guidelines
The Publications Board is also interested in receiving manuscripts on diverse topics
in honors education and urges people with expertise interested in writing such
a monograph to submit a prospectus.
Prospective authors should submit a proposal discussing the purpose or scope of
the manuscript, a prospectus that includes a chapter by chapter summary, and a
curriculum vitae.
Direct all inquiries, proposals, and manuscripts to the General Editor of the
Monograph Series:
Dr. Jeff Portnoy
General Editor, Monograph Series
Honors Program
Georgia Perimeter College
555 N. Indian Creek Drive
Clarkston, GA 30021
(678) 891-3620
All monograph proposals will be reviewed by the NCHC Publications Board. A
committee of the Publications Board will review all completed manuscripts and
forward recommendations concerning the publication to the Publications
Board.
~Jeff Portnoy
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Candidates for Board of Directors
Nominee for Vice President
Bonnie Irwin
Eastern Illinois University
I am deeply honored to have
been nominated for Vice President of NCHC. I have served the organization in
numerous ways and have been involved in honors education since 1995. I have
worked to support honors education in our state by serving as
Secretary-Treasurer of the Honors Council of the Illinois Region since
2005. As a member of NCHC, I have
chaired the Membership and Marketing Committee, served on the Board of
Directors, and served as NCHC secretary since 2007. I have also been a member of the last four
conference planning committees and have recently completed the NCHC evaluation
and assessment institutes. Through this range of service, I have become quite
familiar with the workings and aspirations of the National Collegiate Honors
Council.
As our campus budgets tighten
and pressure builds to homogenize higher education, we need to work together to
demonstrate the value of the unique and specialized opportunities we give our
talented students and safeguard their access to high quality education and
support. I seek to build on the accomplishments of past officers, boards, and
committees to strengthen, grow, and continue to professionalize NCHC. By sponsoring
research and gathering data nationally, NCHC can help its members lobby to
improve their own programs. By
continuing to seek grant funding, we can strengthen our tradition of innovation
and experiential learning. By enhancing our marketing and public relations, we
can shine a spotlight on the accomplishments of our students.
I look forward to the
intellectual adventure of facilitating excellence both within our organization
and at our member campuses.
Nominees for Board of Directors
 Bernice Braid
Long Island University-Brooklyn
NCHC's membership has always been its best resource - not so
much the institutions, but the individuals who have represented them. Faculty and students alike have shaped us,
through their energy, imagination, and deep commitment to honors. All have been collegial and receptive to
those who have approached NCHC - from small to large colleges/universities,
from rural to urban institutions, from U.S. to international partners in the
exciting enterprise we share.
My own professional life has been full of NCHC
projects. From service on the Board of
Directors, as member-at-large and as President in its formative years, to
continuing involvement with the Honors Semesters and other committees, I have
been actively engaged in furthering NCHC's mission, and have seen its dramatic
growth in substance and outreach. My
special interests have been in ventures that foster integrative learning, like
City as Text™, and initiatives to support students, most recently helping to
establish the Portz Fellowship - a new project to be launched in 2009 that will
provide funding and recognition directly to students whose schools are members
of NCHC.
The next few years should be pivotal for us. We have established an efficient and
responsive headquarters; several standing committees are offering enrichment
programs that broaden and deepen our understanding of what honors is, does, and
can be; more of our members participate in conferences and institutes than
ever; and our publications have become an important voice in the world of
higher education. We are beginning to
see that honors is gradually taking on leadership roles in extrapolating from
our most inventive practices so that wider circles of students and faculty can
also benefit from our greatest insights.
It has been a privilege to have contributed in all these
arenas. My Ph.D. is in Comparative
Literature, which I have translated into a particular interest in
cross-cultural perspectives and ways of learning that permit those perspectives
to configure our ways of seeing the world and ourselves in it. My years as
Honors Director at Long Island University, and those in NCHC, have prepared me
well to participate in the growth of this organization, and I think thereby to
contribute to honors in general.
 Ellen Buckner
University of Alabama-Birmingham
A board member for the National
Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC) must bring to the organization experience and
hopefully success in honors education. My experience is in the initiation and
growth of a departmental honors program. In 2000, I began the Honors in Nursing
program at UAB, a departmental honors program and one of a very few in Nursing.
It has flourished with over 100 graduates and numerous presentations and
publications. Honors in Nursing students have participated in international
projects, competed for prestigious scholarships and attended NCHC national
conferences. Since many university-wide honors programs must articulate with
departmental programs for student completion, I am prepared to facilitate those
opportunities and collaboration among varied levels of honors. I have been an
active member of the UAB Honors Council for over 15 years and NCHC for 8 years.
I have served as chairman of the Science & Math Committee and a member of
the conference planning and investment committees. I co-edited a NCHC monograph
on "Teaching Science in Honors" scheduled for publication in 2009.
I am an advocate for honors education because it strengthens
the academic experience. Honors education is transforming, opening doors that
otherwise might be closed to non-traditional students. Honors education engages
students at the highest levels: intellectual, emotional, experiential. It
demands university and faculty support and challenges us to require the best
from students. It is a model for faculty, students and administrators for best
practices in education. As a 30+ year faculty
member, I am passionate about the quality of teaching and learning. I am dedicated to the development of programs
in ways that strengthen the total undergraduate experience. As a board member I would continue to
advocate for honors education nationally and internationally.
 Elizabeth Callahan
Saint Louis University
Greetings. I am grateful to the members of NCHC to be
considered to serve as an NCHC Board member. I am currently beginning my
third year as the Honors Director of the Saint Louis University Honors
Program. Our Honors Program consists of over 500 students. At both
our St. Louis, Missouri and Madrid, Spain campus locations, we offer many
academic, cultural, study abroad, service, and social
opportunities to our Honors students. I teach several Honors courses each
semester. I incorporate
City as Text™ experiential learning and
service learning into each of my courses. I am the faculty advisor for the
Presidential Scholars and to our Honors Student Association. I created and
supervise our Honors Ambassador Peer Mentoring Program. I supervise our Honors
Program Health and Wellness Program. I oversee our university's
scholarship program. I am a faculty member in the Sociology/Criminal Justice
Department. I co-chair the undergraduate initiatives committee. I facilitate
faculty development workshops. I serve as a mentor for the Center for Women in
Transition. I am an attorney and a mediator. I teach yoga and Pilates at the
university.
Prior to coming to Saint Louis University, I served as
a Co-Director of the Lincoln University (an HBCU) Honors
Program in Jefferson City, Missouri.
I have been active in NCHC for the past six years. I attend
the national meeting every year. I currently serve on the Honors Semester
and Faculty Institute Committee and the Portz Grant Committee. I have attended
several NCHC workshops and seminars including a Faculty Institute in Lincoln,
Nebraska and Honors Program Assessment/Evaluation and Site
Visitor Workshops in Portland, Oregon. I am scheduled to co-facilitate an
NCHC Faculty Institute in August 2009. I am in the process of planning to
co-sponsor an NCHC Honors Semester Abroad in 2010.
Thank you again for your consideration. I appreciate the
opportunity to serve.
 Laurie Fiegel
Iowa State University
I am honored to be a candidate for the NCHC Board of
Directors. This will be my 15th
year working in Honors and I'm still as excited as the day that I started. Working with Honors students is an ever
challenging experience that pushes those in the field to continually work on
our own professional growth. My start in
Honors was somewhat unusual, as I actually started in Student Affairs as a
Resident Hall Director responsible for the Honors College
building. Because of the exciting and
fulfilling experience I had as the Resident Hall Director with the Honors
students, I was thrilled when an opportunity to move into the Academic Affairs
side of Honors developed for me. Viewing the various aspects of an Honors
program through the different positions that I've held gives one an enriched
perspective when considering the future of Honors.
NCHC has been a
large part of my honors experience.
However, when I first came to the organization I was not sure exactly
how a professional staff member fit into such a large organization.
Over the years, this area has continued to be
of interest to me as programs continue to grow and more professional
positions
are being added. I joined the
professional development committee four years ago and I presently serve
as the co-chair. My goal as part of this committee has been to
start addressing the role of professional staff members within Honors.
NCHC faces some challenges in the future as
the organization continues to increase in size.
One challenge will be to address the needs of the membership whose
positions are as diverse as the institutions they represent. What are
the professional honors advisors or
the program coordinators getting out of NCHC?
This is one of many questions we will need to answer as our
organization
continues to move forward.
My experience with NCHC has been wonderful. I've had the opportunity to meet many honors
partners who have turned into great mentors and friends. Experiences and opportunities I received
working with NCHC have had a significant impact on my professional career and
now I would like the opportunity to give back by helping to meet the goals and
objectives of our organization.
 Maureen Kelleher
Northeastern University
I am a relatively new member of NCHC but my staff and I have
taken advantage of the many resources available through NCHC to ratchet up our
program over the last four years. I am entering my 5th year as
Director of the Program at Northeastern University.
I started my relationship with NCHC with my first national
meeting in New Orleans
and made arrangements for a three-person consulting team from NCHC to come to
my campus in the spring of 2006. Since
that time, the recommendations from the NCHC team have helped guide some of the
program development that we have undertaken.
In the interim, my staff has gone to
City as Text™ workshops in Lincoln,
Nebraska and the forthcoming one in Minneapolis. Our students have
gone over the past two years
to Partners in the Parks™ experiences in Utah
and New York City. We have presented papers and workshops at the
annual meetings - starting last year and continuing this upcoming
year. We have also had an article published in HIP and another one in
JNCHC.
And in 2007, we won Best Honors Publication for our new newsletter, The
Honors Perspective.
I have also been recently appointed to two NCHC committees:
Honors Advising and Major Scholarship Preparation Committee and the Large University
committee. I feel that NCHC has provided
critical hands-on support and equally fruitful role models. I would be happy to serve in an organization
that provides such critical support for honors programs on a national
basis. I will bring to the board the
honors experience of rapid program development and implementation, together
with my years of running academic programs at my university for both
undergraduate and graduate students. As
a sociologist, I bring an interest in the development of structural
opportunities for exciting undergraduate experiences.
 Stephen Kiefer
Kansas State University
As
a faculty member in the Psychology Department at Kansas State
University since 1982 (Department Head, 1996-2006), I had been involved
in Honors at multiple levels: teaching honors courses, supervising
honors theses, and serving on the Honors Advisory Council for the
College of Arts & Sciences. Two-and-a-half years ago, the
university centralized the college honors programs into the University
Honors Program and I was selected as its first Director. Since that
appointment, we have been building the university program by working
with each of the colleges. I have found the National Collegiate Honors
Council to be a valuable resource as I organized the structure and
developed the honors program for our institution. I have attended the
NCHC meetings (I also attended the regional meeting my first year) and
have been an active participant in many of the sessions and
opportunities. I particularly enjoy the student involvement in the
meetings.
My goal for serving on the Board of Directors would reflect the goal
that we have for our own Honors Program: students come first and
everything should ultimately provide them with excellent opportunities
to enhance their education. Working in a large, state university has
some unique challenges for honors and I believe it is important that
this perspective be heard and encouraged in the workings of the
national organization. The diversity of institutional settings is a
strength of the NCHC and I think that this variety of views must be
fostered continuously. With my teaching, research, and administrative
background and success (multiple federally-funded research grants, over
70 peer reviewed publications, teaching awards, and time spent as
Department Head), I am able to offer the NCHC a blend of experience and
enthusiasm that will benefit our organization.
 Kim Klein
Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania
I am
seeking a term on the NCHC Board of Directors because I have seen first-hand
the profound impact that Honors education can have on students, faculty,
institutions, and the community. I
believe that NCHC has a unique opportunity and role to play as a leading advocate
for innovation in higher education to meet the global challenges our students,
faculty, and institutions face in the 21st century.
As Honors
director at a small public university in Pennsylvania,
my job is to help talented young men and women become leaders, equipped and
empowered to develop multi-disciplinary solutions to global issues. Like many of you, I inherited a program that needed
attention. Over the past six years, I
have reinvigorated that program, given responsibility and accountability to our
students, and elevated student, faculty, and administrative perspectives of the
program and its impact. We have launched
major curricular and co-curricular efforts that emphasize international
engagement, independent research, and interdisciplinary teamwork and
problem-solving. We have championed
student-led initiatives that have encouraged students at local urban public
schools to pursue higher education; promoted regional civic engagement; and
developed service-learning projects that have aided students in Kenya and the Philippines and received international
recognition.
My
students and I have shared our successes and challenges by making multiple
invited presentations at the past four NCHC conferences. I have also contributed to NCHC by serving on
the Honors Semesters and International Education Committees for the past three
years and assisting with City as Text™ and serving as a consultant at the past
two NCHC conferences.
I
would be honored to serve on the NCHC Board of Directors and advance
its efforts to advocate on behalf of Honors educators and the next
generation of global leaders.
 Steve Kramer
Southwest Minnesota State University
Hello.
My name is Steve Kramer and I am beginning my seventh year as director
of the honors program at Southwest Minnesota State University. I was
awarded a B.S. in philosophy from the University of Oregon, and an M.A.
and Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Colorado at Boulder. In
addition, I hold a graduate interdisciplinary certificate in
environmental policy from CU Boulder. My work experience includes
extensive experience in conservation biology, field ornithology and
environmental activism. This includes work for such organizations as
the Oregon Natural Resources Council, the United States Forest Service,
Stanford's Center for Conservation Biology, and Wildlife Conservation
International of the New York Zoological Society.
While not always recognized by others, I believe that the
history of honors education demonstrates a record of innovation that we
all can be proud of. Many of the hallmarks of undergraduate education
today-from first year seminars to civic engagement, writing across the
curriculum to undergraduate research-were pioneered in honors programs.
The primary function of the board of directors, as I see it, is to
promote and publicize this ongoing innovation. One of the areas I am
particularly interested in seeing the NCHC take a prominent role is in
the current discussions about the meaning and value of a liberal
education in the 21st century. I cannot think of a topic that is more
central to what we do, whether you come from a small rural university,
such as my own, or a large research institution. As a member of the
board I would seek to foster this conversation by strengthening
connections with such initiatives as the LEAP initiative of the
AAC&U. Not only is this a subject worthy of our continued
reflection, it is one about which we have much of value to say.
 Larry Levinson
Governors State University
Serving both as a faculty member and honors administrator, I
passionately believe that honors programs are a means of creating an enriched integrative
learning community and a way of promoting students' greater civic engagement.
At Governors State University, I first served for four years
as the Honors Director of the College of Arts and Sciences. In 1998, I oversaw
the development of a university-wide honors program that stresses
interdisciplinary learning and civic engagement. Ever since then, I have served
as the University Honors Director and Chair of the Faculty Honors Council. Our Honors program has grown to include honors
seminars (whose yearly theme is taken from the NCHC conference), an annual
honors retreat, a service learning project (Rebuilding Together-Metro Chicago),
and extensive involvement in the Honors Council of the Illinois Region
(HCIR). In regard to the HCIR, I have
served two terms as its president, sought to expand its membership and hosted/organized
two HCIR student research conferences.
In regard to the NCHC, I have presented at three conferences
(Chicago- Build it and They Will Come,
St. Louis- The Praxis of a University
Honors Seminar and Denver- The Pleasures and Pitfalls of Honors Growth). Viewing the NCHC as an extension of the
learning committee, I have been a regular attendee (and beneficiary) of the NCHC conferences
since the early 1990's. For the past
few years I have also served on the Committee
on Teaching and Learning.
In light of the above, as a NCHC Board member I would work
toward furthering the experiential dimension of honors education by promoting
conference participation, civic engagement projects and inter-program support
services.
 James O'Donnell
Wayne State College
I am honored to be nominated for service on the NCHC Board
of Directors. Like many other members of
the NCHC, my Honors experiences trace back to my undergraduate studies, in my
case at St. Mary's College
of Maryland. Later my professional career took an
extremely focused path, as most do, but for the last several years my interests
and work have broadened "back" to my liberal arts roots. In my current role as an Arts and Humanities
dean and Honors Program director, I particularly enjoy the diversity of people,
ideas and perspectives that I work with on a daily basis. I also thoroughly enjoy the camaraderie and
collaboration I have found in working with people whose common interests
revolve around undergraduate students and a burning desire to continually
enhance and pursue excellence in the Honors experience.
The educational values I treasure most are formed
from principles that embrace the need for clearly articulated expectations of
student achievement, the importance of nurturing in the student a deep
understanding of oneself and of developing respect for the complex
identities of others, the need for continual focus on learning and quality of
student accomplishment, the importance of supporting learning through student-focused
pedagogical practices, and recognizing society's need for people who have been
prepared for a full and rewarding life. At
the core of my leadership philosophy is the strong belief that collaboration in
the pursuit of agreed-upon goals is the most powerful means of collectively
working toward the future. Because of
these values and beliefs I am certain I would thoroughly enjoy and be
comfortable in any role on the board "team", as our NCHC organization
considers initiatives and policy changes to support its goals of continued
development and prominence.
It has been an exhilarating experience to fuel the Honors
Program at Wayne State College as it has grown from 70 students to more than
275, witness the increased academic preparation of our Honors students as
indicated through the standardized test scores they bring to us, provide pedagogical
facilitation for a significantly larger number of faculty colleagues who teach
our Honors courses, and applaud Honors research work that has become
increasingly sophisticated and goal-focused.
I attribute this qualitative and quantitative growth in large part to
our relationship with the NCHC which began in 2004. Service on the board would be a fitting way
for me to repay the NCHC for the benefits that our students have reaped.
 Bipin Pai
Purdue University-Calumet
I am grateful to have been nominated to serve on the NCHC
Board of Directors. My passion for
teaching and interacting with students has led me to pursue a career in
education. In 1979, I started working as
a faculty member in mechanical engineering at Purdue University-Calumet. My love for teaching and working with
students is possibly the reason I received the university's outstanding teacher
award in 1997. I was appointed and have
served as the founding director of the Honors Program at Purdue University-Calumet
since the summer of 2005.
Although the Honors Program is fairly new at Purdue
University-Calumet, it has grown substantially from modest beginnings ~ 13
students in Spring 2006 to about 140 students in Fall 2008. The most significant increase occurred this
semester (Fall 2008) after we instituted a new honors scholarship to
outstanding students. As the Director of
the Honors Program, I have attended and participated in the annual NCHC
Conferences in St. Louis
(2005), Philadelphia
(2006), and Denver
(2007) along with faculty and students, and I look forward to attending the San
Antonio Conference in 2008. From these
conferences, I have learned strategies on how to grow the Honors Program and have
taken steps in implementing these strategies, which has benefited the Honors
Program at Purdue Calumet.
If selected to serve on the NCHC Board, one of my primary
goals is to help students attend the annual NCHC Conferences at a reduced
cost. I see no reason why students
should pay the same amount as faculty or other staff attending these
conferences. I am willing to work
closely with the Finance Committee to help re-structure the budget while adhering
to the strategic initiatives, goals and objectives of NCHC's Mission Statement.
 Doug Peterson
University of South Dakota
I am an associate professor of psychology and am starting my
fifth year as Director of Honors at the University of South Dakota. The Honors Program at USD has approximately
370 students (~100 entering freshmen and ~55 graduates each year). Prior to serving as director, I was a member
and then chair of the campus wide oversight committee for the Honors
Program. I have taught honors seminars,
freshmen honors orientation courses and work closely with the senior thesis
process. I continue to teach one course
per semester for the Psychology Department as well as a non-honors first year
experience course on poker and the meaning of life. I have attended the NCHC conference and
meeting each year since becoming director and for the past two years have
served on the NCHC finance committee. I
have presented either individually or as part of a panel at both regional and
national meetings on topics including: the evaluation of honors teaching;
student perceptions of honors courses; and delivery of a team-taught,
interdisciplinary, writing-intensive course.
I have attended an NCHC site visitor workshop and continue to be very
interested in the areas of assessment and evaluation at both an individual
course level as well as program-wide. I
have been pleased with the current direction of the NCHC and have two areas
that I would like to see developed.
First, develop a stronger commitment to empirically based research about
honors and honors education, without undermining the case studies and the
sharing of ideas that have made the national and regional meetings so valuable.
Second, I support increasing member access to national NCHC data which includes
increasing the amount and type of data available.
Student Nominees for Board of Directors (1-year term)
 Laurie Bachand
Paradise Valley Community College
Laurie
Bachand has been an active participant in the honors program at
Paradise Valley Community College in Phoenix, Arizona. Locally, she
spent her first semester working with the students in Palomino II
Elementary School and created The Bully Blockers Club. Together they
explored diversity, compassion for others, and safe alternatives to
violence when dealing with conflict. Laurie took the opportunity to
present this honors project at the 2008 Western Regional Honors
Conference. Regionally, she participated in the S.L.I.C.E. program,
which took students on an alternative spring break to San Diego for
service projects dealing with immigrants and refugees in the community.
Laurie has been nominated to the Board of Directors as a student
representative for a one-year term. She truly believes that the
National Collegiate Honors Council is an integral piece in providing
students with the best educational experience possible. She would like
to see NCHC further support national organizations, such as AmeriCorps,
and honors societies, such as Phi Theta Kappa, to help increase the
awareness of the many possibilities for honors students to do their
part in creating the change necessary for a better tomorrow.
 Amanda Bowman
Columbia College
The position of NCHC student representative is a
privilege because common precepts of honors programs include challenge and risk
that build self-confidence, foster leadership, and encourage creativity. Just
as Technicolor™ enhances movies, honors - the "Emerald City" of academia-provides
vibrant color to the educational process.
I am a
single mother, a nontraditional honors student at Columbia College, working
toward my BFA and BA certification in dance, and a member of Alpha Lambda
Delta. I serve as staff assistant to the program's director, who is the current
NCHC vice president and rising president. I am thrilled to be serving on the
planning committee for the 2009 NCHC conference as an event coordinator and
assistant to the chair.
While professionally dancing with the Columbia
City Ballet, the Columbia Classical Ballet, and the Kirov Ballet in Washington,
D.C., I have participated in many outreach dance performances that have given me
the insight that dance can make a difference: it can underscore problems, bring
joy, and heal. Moreover, my involvement in fundraising through commercials and
silent auctions provides me with skills to coordinate various events and design
engaging activities for students.
With my
extensive dance background and connections with the esteemed Kirov, I hope to
bring dance into the Master Class program, and I've already conversed with the
Kirov regarding their participation in 2009. Today, dance is being televised
nationally in popular shows, and incorporating dance into our conference will
bring another dimension of learning to the program and will draw additional
attendees.
Should I
be chosen, I will contribute my creativity and innovation as an artist and my
passion for honors, for I believe that honors is not just achievement. It's
about scholarship and the journey of intellectual discovery. Thank you for
considering me, and I look forward to working with you in the future.
 Ben Jackson
Freed-Hardeman
My name is Ben Jackson and I am a
Junior Biochemistry major at Freed-Hardeman University in Tennessee. I have presented at the Tennessee Collegiate
Honors Council twice, once on the topic of sleep deprivation and once as part
of a group presentation about honors travel. I presented at the Southern
Regional Collegiate Honors Council last year on the topic of ekphrastic
poetry. I attended the national
conference for the first time last year in Denver. I was elected to the office of Senior Senator
of Freed-Hardeman's Honors Council for two consecutive terms. My responsibilities include representing the
interests of upper classmen in the Honors College and helping to facilitate
continued involvement in the program. I
have experience in interacting with very diverse groups of people, and I would
use this experience to the benefit of NCHC.
Growing up, I attended 9 different schools in such places as Alaska,
Germany, and Florida, and as a result I have learned that common ground is
everywhere, and that people can accomplish almost any goal if they are willing
to work together. As a student
representative, I would work hard to take NCHC in the direction it needs to go,
which is one that stresses active student involvement in their education with
the help of dedicated mentors and opportunities for experience based
learning. I would try to gain a
knowledge of what the honors student body is interested in, and use that
knowledge to further your interests. I would emphasize the importance of
networking and sharing creative ideas that have worked to the benefit of
individual programs, and in that way benefit everyone. I appreciate your time in reading this
message and I thank you for your consideration.
Taylor Stockett
Lee College
 Pratik Talati
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Greetings! My name is Pratik Talati, and I am running for the one-year
student representative position on the NCHC Board of Directors. I am a member
of the interdisciplinary University Honors Program and am pursuing a double
major in Chemistry and Mathematics at the University of Alabama
at Birmingham.
I am heavily involved in my honors program, including having been elected as a
class representative to serve on our Honors Council, which decides on seminars,
interviews and selects students for the program, and chooses scholarship
recipients; serving as Chair of the Steering Committee, a student-led body that
organizes the extracurricular and community service activities of our program;
and participating on the editorial board of our literary journal Sanctuary. I have given presentations at
the Southern Regional Honors Council (SRHC) meetings in Charlotte (2007) and Birmingham (2008) and attended the Denver
NCHC meeting. After being elected Student Vice-President of SRHC at the Charlotte meeting, I
worked closely with Mike Sloane, Faculty SRHC Vice-President, in organizing the
SRHC conference in Birmingham
last spring. I expanded the SRHC contact database in an effort to reach non-SRHC
member programs and fought for a significantly reduced student registration fee.
I organized an off-site student reception and party on the first night of the
conference and for bus transportation to that event as well as the gala at the
Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. I was also instrumental in expanding the
types of program presentations to include music performances, art and sculptor
exhibits, and a digital film festival, which made the Birmingham conference one
of the best attended in recent years. NCHC could improve communication among
honors students across the country by having an accessible electronic phonebook
or registry on the NCHC website, which would be especially important for
attendees at the conferences by allowing students to keep in touch. In
addition, a message board would allow for continuous conversation about means
to improve NCHC conferences from a student's perspective, boost awareness of
possible honors exchange programs, and facilitate NCHC's efforts to offer
honors semesters both here and abroad.
Student Nominees for Board of Directors (2-year term)
 Nathan Torno
Texas A&M University
Howdy!
My name is Nathan
Torno and I am a Junior Applied Math Major at Texas A&M University.
My participation in honors began with my freshman experience in
Lechner Freshman Honors Hall. Lechner residents come from a wide
variety of backgrounds and are involved in every dimension of our
campus life but there was always that common commitment to academics
that bound us together. That year I was elected as Hall Council
President and through that position I immersed my life in the realm of
Honors. That passion carried over as I volunteered for one of our
honors student organizations, HIP (Honor Invitational Peer) Leaders,
which helps to host our Summer Honors Invitational Program. HIP
leaders make it easier for high school students to learn about the
resources Texas A&M and Honors has to offer while encouraging them
to ask questions that will help them discover a good fit in a
prospective college. The HIP Leaders organization is also an
avenue for my professional development as I will help to coordinate our
2009 program as the Vice Chair of the organization.
Through
my experience in
honors housing, recruiting, and through taking Honors courses, I have
been immersed in the different roles that students play in honors
education. That perspective, along with connections
all over Texas A&M's Honors Community, grant me the unique ability
to represent a diverse group of students and their needs on NCHC's
Board of Directors. I plan and have Texas A&M Honors Programs
support to
attend all meetings of the Board. I hope to aid NCHC in continuing a
trend towards a strong student cooperation that will ensure an
energetic and progressive future for honors programs and colleges
across the nation.
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2008 Board of Directors
President
Hallie Savage, Clarion University of Pennsylvania
President Elect
Lydia Lyons, Hillsborough Community College
Past President
Kate Bruce, University of North Carolina Wilmington
Vice President
John Zubizarreta, Columbia College-South Carolina
Secretary
Bonnie Irwin, Eastern Illinois University
Treasurer
Rolland W. Pack, Freed-Hardeman University
Annmarie Guzy, University of South Alabama
Greg Lanier, University of West Florida
*Will Lee, Texas A&M University
Kathy A. Lyon, Winthrop University
Jay Mandt, Wichita State University
*Shane Miller, West Virginia University
Deborah Craig, Kent State University
*Roxanne Moralez, Texas State University-San Marcos
Patrice Berger, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Rosalie Otero, University of New Mexico
*Sara Brady, Hillsborough Community College
Ruth Randall, Johnson County Community College
John Britt, Lee College-Texas
James Ruebel, Ball State University
*Hesham Elnagar, Northern Arizona University
Richard I. Scott, University of Central Arkansas
*Sarah Fann, University of North Carolina Wilmington
Bob Spurrier, Oklahoma State University
*Student Member
NCHC Staff
Cindy Hill, Executive Director (402) 472-9155
Carolee Martin-Brink (402) 472-9150
Judy Smith (402) 472-9150
Trish Souliere (402) 472-9172
Betty Talley (402)472-9151
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