| Email: | robert.spurrier@okstate.edu |
| Institution: | Oklahoma State University |
| Address: | The Honors College |
| Phone: | (405) 744-6796 |
| Fax: | (405) 744-6839 |
| Institution Type: | 4-Year, Public, Doctoral Institution |
| Program Type: | Honors College (Institution Wide, General Honors, Honors in Major) |
| Program Enrollment: | 881 |
| Present Position: | Director, The Honors College |
| Previous Honors Positions: | Director, University Honors Program; Director, Arts & Sciences Honors Program |
| NCHC Membership Dates: | 1988-Present |
NCHC Activities Related to Honors Program Assessment:
Site Visits:
- University of Nevada Reno (2009)
- Alvernia University (Pennsylvania) (2009)
- University of Mississippi (2007 & 2002)
- University of West Florida (2007)
- Wayne State University (2007)
(Information on additional site visits performed is available upon request from this Site Visitor.)
Activities in other areas or organizations related to honors assessment or site visits, workshops, etc. regarding honors programs/colleges and/or other academic areas.
Co-author NCHC monograph, Assessing and Evaluating Honors Programs and Honors Colleges (2005) with second edition scheduled for 2010. NCHC Institute on Honors Assessment and Evaluation (facilitator, 2008 and 2010; co-chair, 2006 and 2004). Keynote Speaker, 1999 Commonwealth Honors Program Conference (Massachusetts).
Self identified areas of special interest and experience.- Honors Admission and Advising Issues
- Honors Budgeting
- Honors College Issues
- Honors Governing Boards
- Honors Grading Expectations
- Honors Office Staffing
- Honors Space
- Interdisciplinary Team Teaching
- Managing Honors Growth
- NCHC Involvement
- Program Reviews and Self-Studies
- Recruitment and Retention of Honors Students
The Role of an NCHC-Qualified Site Visitor
Robert "Bob" Spurrier, Director, The Honors College, Oklahoma State University
As Rosalie Otero and I wrote in ASSESSING AND EVALUATING HONORS PROGRAMS AND HONORS COLLEGES: A PRACTICAL HANDBOOK (2005), "The site visitors who are selected will do their best to provide an objective evaluation of the Honors Program or Honors College as well as any challenges that it faces, but they also will be advocates for Honors education." What I try to do as a consultant or as a member of an external review team is provide a national perspective that is supportive of the institution's Honors Program or Honors College based on my experience of 20 years in NCHC, including a term as president (1998-99) and currently as NCHC Secretary and a member of the Assessment and Evaluation Committee.
A key to productive consulting and program reviews is communication beginning well before the consultant or review team comes to campus and continuing until the written report is finalized after the campus visit. In some instances, informal communication may continue for weeks or months after the formal report has been submitted.
Making use of NCHC's Basic Characteristics of a Fully Developed Honors Program and (if applicable) Characteristics of a Fully Developed Honors College provides an excellent starting point, but these characteristics never should be used as a one-size-fits-all strait jacket regardless of institutional setting or needs.
The bottom line for any consulting or external review is that it should be conducted in a manner that can be most beneficial for the Honors Program or Honors College and for the institution as a whole.