2010 Site Visitors - Ada Long
| Email: | adalong@uab.edu |
| Institution: | University of Alabama at Birmingham |
| Address: | 316 Cook St. St. George Island, FL 32328 |
| Phone: | (850) 927-3776 |
| Fax: | (850) 927-2051 |
| Institution Type: | Large University |
| Program Type: | University-wide |
| Program Enrollment: | 320 per year |
| Total Enrollment: | 16,000 |
| Present Position: | Emeritus Professor of English and Former (1983-2004) Honors Director |
| Previous Honors Positions: | |
| NCHC Member Since: | 1983 |
NCHC Activities Related to Honors Program Assessment:
Workshop leader for two NCHC Site Visitor Training Institutes:
- Brooklyn, 2000
- Chicago, 2002
Consultant/evaluator for honors program and colleges at the following institutions:
- University of Arkansas at Little Rock (2008)
- Wayne State University (2007)
- Roosevelt University (2005)
- Indiana University of Pennsylvania, April (2002)
- Eastern Kentucky University, March (2002)
- (Information on additional site visits performed is available upon request from this Site Visitor)
Other Activities Related to Honors Assessment:
- Author of A Handbook for Honors Administrators, 1995
- Contributing co-editor of Place as Text, 2000
- Frequent "Beginning in Honors" and "Developing in Honors" session leader, 1990-2003
- Co-Editor, Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council, 1999 – present
- Co-Editor, Honors in Practice, 2004-present
- NCHC Honors Semesters Committee, 1997-present
- NCHC Publications Board, 1997-present
- NCHC Personnel Committee, 2004-present
- Organizer and co-teacher, NCHC Faculty Institute on “ Island as Text: Coastal Ecology and Culture,” April 5-8, 2003
- Co-Chair, NCHC Long Range Planning Committee, 1999, 2001; member, 2000
- Administrative Director/Sponsor
- NCHC Honors Semester 2000 in Spain, Fall 2000
- NCHC Past President and Chair of the Nominating Committee, 1996
- NCHC President and Organizer/Program Chair of the annual retreat, 1995
- NCHC President-Elect and Conference Program chair for annual conference in San Antonio, 1994
- Vice President and organizer of the NCHC Forum on Assessment, 1993
- Executive Committee, 1989-97
- Conference Planning Committee, 1988-2002; chair, 1994-95
- Committee on Women and Minorities, 1991-98
- Chair, Ad Hoc Committee on Scholarships, 1991-96
- Columnist, The National Honors Report, 1990-97
Self-Identified Areas of Special Interest and Experience of NCHC Recommended Site Visitors
- Admission Criteria
- Advisory Boards
- Alumni Relations
- Buildings & Honors Space
- Diversity
- Fundraising
- Curricular Design in General
- Experiential Education
- NCHC Honors Semesters
- Interdisciplinary Team Teaching
- Recruitment & Retention of Honors Faculty
- Research about Honors
On the Role of the Site Visitor as Consultants & Program Reviewers
Ada Long, Emeritus Professor of English & Former Honors Director, University of Alabama-Birmingham
I adhere to two basic principles as a site visitor: (1) the purpose of any site visit is to help the students, faculty, and staff of a program or college to be their best; and (2) context is everything. What works for one program or college might be the undoing of another. A site visitor needs to know and understand as much as possible about a program/college's mission, institutional context, historical background, current practices, resources, and immediate goals in order to make recommendations that are appropriate and useful. A site visitor should also exercise respect and humility in making recommendations.