2022 Election
The updated candidates for your 2023 NCHC Board of Directors are listed below. Additional candidates for multiple positions were nominated from the floor at the 2022 Annual Business Meeting, held at the NCHC Annual Conference in Dallas. Please see below for all changes to the 2023 slate of nominees.
If you are a current member of NCHC, and are listed as the contact for your institution, you will receive an email invitation to vote on November 30, 2022. Elections are held by an independent vendor, Big Pulse, and results are vetted through NCHC's accounting firm, HBE.
The 2022 Election will open on Wednesday, November 30, 2022, and close on Wednesday, December 7, 2022.
If you have questions concerning this vote or process, please contact the NCHC office at nchc@unl.edu
2022 Ballot Proposal
In addition to selecting leadership, there is one additional proposal that requires the attention of the voting membership. At the Summer 2022 Board Meeting, the Board of Directors moved the following:
Motion 28: Amend by-laws to lower the cost of lifetime professional membership fee to $1000 by sending it to the general membership for a vote in December 2022.
Lifetime Professional membership in NCHC, currently a $3,000 fee, affords one individual access to NCHC membership benefits regardless of current institutional membership. NCHC Benefits (including member discounts on events) do not apply to additional faculty/staff/students under Lifetime Professional Membership without an Institutional Membership.
Office of Vice President
Darryl Peterkin, Morgan State University
Having been involved in honors education since the late 1990s, I have cultivated a deep understanding of the opportunities and challenges that face us as honors educators. I began my honors journey in 1998 as Assistant Dean of Honors at Dillard University in New Orleans, LA. From 2010-2022, I was the Director of the Clara I. Adams Honors College at Morgan State University in Baltimore, MD. I am currently the Assistant Dean for Student Success in the James H. Gilliam, Jr. College of Liberal Arts at Morgan.
I was elected to the NCHC Board of Directors as a Professional Member in 2020. I am the secretary of the NCHC Advocacy Committee and am a member of the NCHC Publications Board. I have also served on the NCHC Nominating Committee, the Programming Committee, and the Policy and Procedures Workgroup. I have enjoyed collaborating with honors colleagues from around the globe to expand access to and enhance the quality of honors education.
At the regional level, I am the president of the Northeast Regional Honors Council (NRHC), vice president of the Maryland Collegiate Honors Council (MCHC) and have recently concluded my term as president of the National Association of African American Honors Programs (NAAAHP).
If elected to serve NCHC as its Vice President, I will focus upon rebuilding the capacity of our National Office and supporting the staff. I also want to enhance NCHC’s digital infrastructure by making the NCHC website more attractive and useful to the membership and creating a more robust social media presence that resonates with honors students and potential partners. Lastly, I will continue to encourage NCHC member institutions to become more engaged in their local communities, replacing the common stereotype of “honors elitism” with diverse images of honors professionals and students striving to be good neighbors always ready to extend a hand in friendship and service to others.
James Buss of Northern Kentucky University has withdrawn his candidancy for 2023 Vice President.
Office of Treasurer
John Emert, Ball State University
The community of honors education has positively impacted me throughout my personal journey as an undergraduate, as an instructor, and as an administrator. The work of the National Collegiate Honors Council to support and promote undergraduate honors education transforms potential to reality each semester for thousands of students and hundreds of instructors and administrators. This is important work for academe and for our society; for these reasons, I welcome the opportunity to serve as Treasurer for our organization.
I have been a lifetime professional member of NCHC since 2012 and have served as an NCHC Program Reviewer since 2018. I am a member and co-chair of the Finance Committee; I have also served on the NCHC Publications Board, Advocacy Committee, and several Conference Planning Committees. I completed the NCHC Faculty Development Institute in October 2001, the NCHC Program Reviewer Institute in July 2017, and co-directed an NCHC Summer Semester in London, England, in 2004.
I am currently completing my sixth year as Dean of Honors College at Ball State University. Upon completion of 33 years of collegiate service, I have been granted the status of Dean Emeritus of Honors College and Professor Emeritus of Mathematical Sciences, effective May 31, 2023. My continued dedication to promote and support Ball State University and the National Collegiate Honors Council will not waver in the coming years. I look forward to my further professional and personal growth as my journey continues.
Keith Garbutt of Oklahoma State University has withdrawn his candidacy for 2023 Treasurer.
Board Candidates At Large
- Anne Dotter, Johnson County Community College
- Emily Hill, University of Iowa
- Sara Hottinger, Coastal Carolina University
- Liz Hynes-Musnisky, Nassau Community College
- Beata Jones, Texas Christian University
- Fawn-Amber Montoya, James Madison University
- Patricia Smith, University of Central Arkansas
- Joshua Stockley, University of Louisiana-Monroe
- Christopher Syrnyk, Oregon Institute of Technology
Anne Dotter, Johnson County Community College
An active member of National Collegiate Honors Council for over a decade, I have participated in the work of a number of committees, including the Diversity Committee, the Advocacy Committee and more recently, the Publications Board. As an NCHC certified reviewer since 2016, I was selected to conduct about half a dozen program-reviews to date. The many exchanges about present day honors education, experiences applying best practices and what is to become of our field as higher education faces new challenges, have broadened my understanding of our raison-d'être and prepared me to contribute to the Board of Directors.
For over a decade, my career in honors education has straddled a research institution and a two-year college, which leads me to be sensitive to the specific challenges honors educators face in such different institutional types. Questions of diversity and inclusion in honors are a common thread across institutions, one that I have made a priority in my own work, leading the Honors Program at Johnson County Community College to be 35% diverse at a predominantly white institution. The opportunity to join the Board of Directors would allow me to give back to this community of learners who has given me so much and contribute to the strengthening of NCHC's support of honors education world-wide. As a board member, I will stand firmly in support of social justice, especially our mindful inclusion of all students and colleagues in our professional organization.
Emily Hill, University of Iowa

It is with great enthusiasm that I am running to serve as a Professional At-Large member on the NCHC Board of Directors. Currently, I am serving on the NCHC Advocacy and Student Affairs Committees. I have attended five NCHC annual conferences and presented my research on twice-exceptional college students at four of them. For nine years, I have worked professionally in honors education as an advisor, student life coordinator, instructor, and most currently, the associate director of the University of Iowa Honors Program. Through all these roles at three higher education institutions, I have observed the ever-growing need for specialized honors student support staff to address advising, experiential learning, student programming, mental health, learning disabilities, and diversity and equity issues. The list of these needs goes on, but unfortunately many honors programs’/colleges’ budgets and staff are limited. As honors education evolves from its beginnings of providing a center for challenging and creative academics to now also playing a pivotal student support service role on college campuses, it will be essential that NCHC continues to research the key barriers to honors education for students and develop resources, professional development trainings, and recommendations for its membership to use to recruit, support, and retain a diverse and talented honors student population. If given the opportunity to serve as an at-large member, I will support the organization’s strategic initiatives by working towards creating more access to resources and trainings outside of the annual conference, encouraging our members to conduct honors education research, and generating more ways for our faculty, professional staff, and student members to engage with our vibrant NCHC community throughout the entire year.
Sara Hottinger, Coastal Carolina University

As someone who has been an interdisciplinary student, teacher, scholar, and administrator, I am committed to ensuring that interdisciplinary, inclusive pedagogy is at the heart of honors education. I earned my Bachelor of Arts in women’s studies and mathematics from Beloit College and my Ph.D. in feminist studies from the University of Minnesota. I began my academic career in women’s studies at Keene State College, where I lead the effort to establish a women’s and gender studies major. I also coordinated interdisciplinary general education and served on the honors advisory board, where I helped launch a new interdisciplinary honors program.
In my current position, as the founding dean of the HTC Honors College at Coastal Carolina University, I have built an interdisciplinary college that offers a rigorous and engaging honors curriculum. In addition, I have worked with my faculty to launch new interdisciplinary academic programs that are housed in our college but open to all students at CCU, including undergraduate majors in women’s and gender studies and sustainability and coastal resilience and a graduate certificate in women in technology. These programs give our faculty the opportunity to teach in both honors and in their field of expertise and provide our students with the opportunity to engage with real-world, complex issues from multiple disciplinary perspectives.
As part of my service to NCHC, I am interested in helping other honors professionals navigate the transition from program to college. I am also interested in collaborative research projects that help us think about the ways in which our limited cultural understanding of a “typical” honors student both shapes our practices as honors educators and restricts who seeks out, applies to, and is accepted into university honors programs.
Liz Hynes-Musnisky, Nassau Community College

At Nassau Community College, I work to create an atmosphere wherein students feel that they and I are partners in education. My fondest memories of learning are those that include feeling like I was part of the decision-making process in the classroom. Since I know that a nurturing classroom environment positively impacted my learning, I try to work with my students to create a comfortable, supportive atmosphere so that they will grow as college students and global citizens.
I am deeply involved in Nassau Community College having served on many committees including the Middle States Steering Committee, Appointments, Tellers and Elections, the Faculty Student Association, and the Academic Senate. I so enjoy being part of the decision-making process that I sought leadership positions on the Academic Senate and served as secretary during the Spring 2021 semester and was elected chair in May 2021. My experiences as a member of each of these committees has strengthened my understanding of and respect for shared governance.
In committees and as Coordinator of the Honors Program, I have worked to cultivate relationships with students, faculty, and administrators. I believe in collaborative leadership and approach conversations with a willingness to listen and learn.
Beata Jones, Texas Christian University
“I am a professional member of NCHC from a private, four-year institution, with more than fifteen years of relevant honors experience, diverse involvement in my campus honors program and college, service in honors organizations at national and international levels, publications in various NCHC and international scholarly outlets, and passion for honors as a former valedictorian at the largest business school in the country. My goal for service in NCHC is to use my knowledge, skills, initiative, energy, and diverse honors contacts around the world, helping advance a coherent NCHC agenda that strengthens our honors practice, while lending a hand to projects and initiatives, as defined by the board and the committees.
My experience in honors began with the co-creation and leadership as a director of a unique business honors program at Texas Christian University (TCU) called Neeley Fellows. I was responsible for strategic planning and daily program implementation for over 90 students, which resulted in a 92% retention rate. I have also served as a director of all honors at the Neeley School of Business, further expanding honors' influence within business. As an Honors Faculty Fellow at the John V. Roach Honors College, and the chair of the Honors College Faculty Advisory Committee-- the key faculty leadership role within the college, I helped craft the Honors College mission, vision, values statement, and learning outcomes, then helped translate the learning outcomes into a coherent honors curriculum. Based on evidence-based best practices and innovative pedagogy, I developed several new honors classes, and a summer Honors Abroad Program, and I helped introduce ePortfolio into the TCU honors curriculum and assisted students with their honors theses. The courses and programs allowed me to mentor students in and out of the classroom, including providing opportunities for students to present research at conferences, and have their work published in professional journals in Information Systems. Currently, as a Director of the Neeley Honors Research, I am reimagining undergraduate honors research experience with an ad hoc committee.
My involvement in NCHC includes membership in the Teaching and Learning Committee, chairing the Professional Development Committee for four years, chairing the newly established Programming Committee, serving on the NCHC Board for a year to fill a vacated board spot, and serving on the Annual Conference Planning Committee. I regularly attend national conferences, present in sessions, lead meetings, and serve in the consultants’ corner. I periodically contribute to the NCHC publications: JNCHC, HIP, and monographs, helping to shape the shared understanding of our field. As a part of the ProDev committee, I was instrumental in helping to initiate the NCHC virtual consultant program and a community of practice program that will finally be implemented in 2023.
My leadership within honors spans not only U.S. and NCHC, but the globe. I played a key role in launching a series of Honors International Faculty Institutes (HIFI) that have provided five years of faculty development for honors professionals from the United States, several European countries, China, and Saudi Arabia. More recently, due to the pandemic, we offered two successful Honors International Faculty Learning Online (HIFLO) events, virtual versions of the HIFI institutes. In my role as a co-founder of the institutes, I help organize and facilitate the sessions, coordinate the marketing, do program design, schedule, secure the Digication e-portfolio platform, and more. The scope of my international reach in honors extends to serving as an editorial board member of the Journal of the European Honors Council (JEHC), reviewer, Guest Editor of the journal’s last issue, and the author of several JEHC notes and articles over the last few years. I have been a program reviewer for the European Honors Conference (EHC) and have served as an Advisory Board member for the CoTalent Project sponsored by the European Union’s Erasmus+ project. The project developed tools to spot honors talent in the classroom. Most recently, I served as an ambassador for honors in Poland, bringing the ideas of honors education to the Poznan University of Economics and publishing in Honors Around the World.
As a member of the NCHC board, if elected, I plan to contribute my knowledge of honors education, a broad interdisciplinary and international perspective, sensitivity to issues facing a professional organization, and a unique set of personal values and attributes as an honors faculty, administrator, mentor, chair of a multitude of committees and faculty groups, institute leader, scholar, former valedictorian, and an immigrant from Poland. During my career, I had the opportunity to learn about honors education from the perspectives of different stakeholders around the world, developing sensitivity to their needs, and contributing my skills and passions to shape their collective agenda in various settings. I was given the gift of honors education late in my life and it transformed me. I would like to continue to repay that gift, by helping NCHC inspire others to action in honors education, building a more inclusive and cohesive community of practice, grounded in best practices and research. As an NCHC board member, I am committed to making a difference.”
Fawn-Amber Montoya, James Madison University
The first 12 years of my experience as a professor and administrator were at Colorado State University-Pueblo. This Hispanic Serving Institution had a population that ranged from 2,500 to 5,000 students. The vast majority of the students I worked with were first-generation, Pell Grant eligible and historically underrepresented minorities. While there, I directed the Honors program and over two years saw it double in size while increasing its diverse student population.
I have been in my current position at James Madison University for two and a half years. JMU enrolls over 20,000 undergraduate students. While I have been at JMU, I have successfully collaborated with a team of staff to determine admissions standards, revise curriculum, create new pathways for capstone completion, and define the best approaches to student engagement. In addition, my experience at JMU has allowed me to understand how an Honors college needs to communicate to both internal and external stakeholders and build collaborative relationships with students, faculty, and staff.
While I have been a faculty member and administrator at two drastically different institutions, my approach has been the same. I champion interdisciplinary teaching and scholarship, place diversity, equity, and inclusion at the core of my work, and model a collaborative leadership style.
As an NCHC board member, I would be a resource for small programs to discuss strategies for stability and growth. For those that are part of larger programs or colleges, I could be a collaborative partner to explore strategies to serve historically underrepresented students.
Patricia Smith, University of Central Arkansas

As a career professional and one who specializes in research in honors education, I believe that honors education can be used effectively as an instrument for narrowing equity gaps, and that it is our responsibility to engage in this work. My goal for the National Collegiate Honors Council is for it to maintain its position in the national honors community, and for it to continue as an organization known to be welcoming to honors deans, directors, faculty, staff, and students regardless of institutional size or affiliation. My goal as a board member would be to help develop NCHC as an organization focused on making evidence-based and strategic reforms to develop inclusive communities for students, faculty, and administration. As a board member, I would work to create and sustain a community that is committed to removing barriers that hinder our ability to provide the meaningful, positive, high-impact experiences of an honors education to all deserving students. As student enrollment is declining, institutions are beginning to face a new era of financial difficulties. It will be critical during this era that NCHC is equipped as an organization to support its member institutions and to advocate for the needs of all honors programs and colleges.
Joshua Stockley, University of Louisiana-Monroe

Hello, I am Dr. Joshua Stockley. Thank you for your consideration for the NCHC Board of Directors.
The first thing I bring is teaching experience, being an honors professor since 2006. My goal is to create an applied and interdisciplinary academic environment that facilitates critical thinking, inspires individuals to share their experiences, encourages articulation of different perspectives, uncovers new ideas, and impacts the broader community. Through these pedagogical efforts, students develop the skills required of global citizenship. My passion was recognized by students when awarded the SGA Faculty Award of Excellence.
The second thing I bring is administrative experience. I became Director of the ULM Honors Program in 2012. As director, my priority was to apply the aforementioned approach and to make this honors experience accessible to any individual from anywhere. My students are disproportionately low-income, first generation learners. I work diligently on behalf of underrepresented groups to remove barriers to participation and create partnerships for success. I bring a proven commitment to inclusion.
Finally, I bring my institutional perspective, not uncommon to the honors community. I serve a program without a large endowment, infrastructure, budget, or staffing; however, I have managed to grow our program, increase diversity, build courses, implement changes, connect alumni, establish private/public partnerships, and reposition honors into our strategic planning. Service to the board allows me to represent similarly situated programs and to ensure NCHC actions are consistent with its strategic initiatives of organizational excellence, professional development, research, advocacy and partnership, and diversity and inclusion.
Christopher Syrnyk, Oregon Institute of Technology

Thanks for reading my statement.
From my university experience, I have served as a senator on our faculty senate for four years. During a difficult time for our institution, I served as the Faculty Senate Vice President, and President, which included a strike and starting the hard work of healing an institution. I have served on and chaired numerous departmental and university-wide committees. Recently, I have been Co-Chairing Oregon Tech’s 75-Anniversary Committee: a demanding endeavor given the multi-faceted nature of this event. Lastly, I just completed 10 years of service on, and I also chaired for a 2-year super term, our state-wide Oregon Writing and English Advisory Committee, comprised of Oregon’s 7 public universities and 17 community colleges; we work with the State of Oregon to address legislative matters, access and equity, and many curricular-focused policies.
From my honors experience, I would highlight how I have been an active member, also at the national level. I yearly contribute in numerous ways to the NCHC national conference. I currently Co-Chair the NCHC Partners in the Parks committee. Regionally, I have just finished a term as President of the Western Regional Honors Council. And I am enjoying serving on the NCHC Conference Planning Committee for Dallas 2022.
These different levels of involvement—university, state, nation—show my experience at working with various groups to make real progress. In all ways, I seek to improve an organization’s culture with a positive attitude geared toward productive collaboration. And I seek to accomplish real work of value to the organization. My experience is diverse and significant: as a Board member, I can serve a diverse constituency and contribute significant work.
My Main Goals for NCHC:
1. To appreciate the opportunities to grow and learn through service: I wish to apply myself to the completion of a project, the advancement of our organization, and the tasks of any committee that may foster this growth and learning through active service.
2. Work to promote meaningful relationships across organizations: I seek to bring together current and new Honors educators and administrators at the state level, the regional level, and nationally, to work across all institutions that appreciate Honors education and to foster these relationships, for by forging meaningful relationships we show that we value all members and can promote a sense of shared community.
3. Work to extend the value of the NCHC: I wish to work at policy formation that ensures the future viability and relevance of the NCHC, work that builds on the years of good work past Boards have accomplished, which is important work we can do as Board Members in our service to and as ambassadors for NCHC and Honors education.
Student Board Candidates - 2 Year Position
- Daniel Cho, United States Air Force Academy
- Agustin Echeverry, United States Air Force Academy
- Shayan Hosseini, University of Nevada-Reno
- Clay Loper, Angelo State University
- Kelsey Monaghan‐Bergson, United States Air Force Academy
- Jillian Richarz, The University of Tampa
Daniel Cho, United States Air Force Academy

I am a sophomore at the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA). Throughout most of high school, I spent much of my time tutoring my younger brother. Gabriel, who has a learning disability, would complain to me that he was frustrated and discouraged in school. But through many long afternoons at the dinner table with algebra homework and evenings on the couch talking through American history, I’d learn through Gabriel that an innate love for learning had been with him all along, and that the right environment of curiosity that I could present for him was all it took for his interests to bloom. The Martinson Honors Program has been that environment for me at USAFA, giving me the opportunity to explore the intersectionalities of engineering, humanities, and the military in a core curriculum while diving into more focused analytical research that I’ve been conducting as an aeronautical engineering and math double major. As a member of the NCHC Board, I am looking to help improve the state of honors colleges at a national level from a student perspective, in the hopes that an environment of curiosity may reach as many undergraduates as possible.
Agustin Echeverry, United States Air Force Academy

Agustin was born in Medellin, Colombia to a middle-class family dedicated to cattle farming. When he was 18 he moved to the United States by himself and worked odd jobs—from bartender to gaucho (cutting steak) at a Brazilian steakhouse, up to sous chef at a hotel. After a year in the US, he enlisted in the US Air Force where he served as an intelligence analyst in Hawaii for three years. At the end of his tour working for the National Security Agency, he received his appointment to the United States Air Force Academy where he is now a sophomore majoring in Foreign Area Studies with a double minor in Portuguese and Spanish. He is currently an active member of the institution taking part in the leadership team of the Martinson Honors Program, participating in the mountaineering and skiing clubs, and serving as President of the Portuguese club. Over his career he has been highly decorated, earning the meritorious outstanding volunteer service medal with over 400 hours of service, the Air Force Achievement Medal for his service in the Honor guard, earning his wings for completing free fall parachuting school, and his Air Assault device with the Army.
Shayan Hosseini, University of Nevada-Reno

I am a First Generation student from Iran. I am a McNair Scholar and recipient of the Freddye T. Davy Scholarship at NCHC22. My education in the United States started in 2018. I received an Associates of Arts degree from the College of Southern Nevada (2021) while I was finishing my high school career.
After moving to the U.S., I was looking for a place to belong to, but I did not find my community until I joined Honors. Honors matters to me because I felt welcome, encouraged, and appreciated in Honors, and the feeling was so welcoming for me that I wanted to share it to as many people as I could, that is why I joined the outreach team at my Honors college and became the Associate Coordinator of Marketing, Publicity, and Outreach at University of Nevada, Reno’s Honors College and redesigned the outreach approach of my college. Our outreach team surpassed our strategic goals of enrollment for Fall of 2023 in Fall of 2022.
My goals at NCHC are to learn and create and fine tune academic programs such as Honors and within Honors to be able to appeal and provide better experiences to more international audiences and more backgrounds. Coming from an international background to America, I learned early that most of the education systems here are “one fits all” and it is not taken into consideration the personalization that is needed for effective and efficient learning. I hope to learn more about administering programs such as Honors during my time at NCHC and provide a fresh international background to the council.
Clay Loper, Angelo State University

Hey y’all! My name is Clay Loper, and I truly appreciate you considering me to serve as a student member on the NCHC Board of Directors. I am currently in my second year at Angelo State University, I am majoring in business management as well as marketing, and I plan to graduate with my MBA.
At Angelo State, I have been able to take advantage of many opportunities to advance myself as a person and as a leader. I am currently serving as an officer for the Honors Students Association, president of the school’s Ultimate Frisbee team, senator in our Student Government, and a student representative on the board of the WHIT program, a non-profit which provides free tutoring for foster students. Through all of these opportunities, I have seen the value in fostering an informed, engaged, and excited community, and how that can truly benefit everyone involved with an organization.
I believe that if something is worth doing, it is worth doing with excellence. This applies to all areas of my life, and it is especially relevant in my involvement with honors.
This past summer, I had the opportunity to go on a Partners in the Parks trip to Glacier National Park. This week was genuinely one of the best experiences of my life. The natural beauty of the park was absolutely magnificent, but what I enjoyed even more was the people on the trip and the time that we had together. The whole experience truly encapsulated what honors means to me. There is extreme value in education and service, as well as immeasurable worth in community and connection with others.
I believe that NCHC does so much good for everyone that it serves, and I would love the opportunity to be able to represent my peers across the country on the Board to continue improving upon the good that NCHC is doing and to continue to make this organization the best that it can be.
Kelsey Monaghan‐Bergson, United States Air Force Academy

Kelsey “M-B” is a sophomore at the U.S. Air Force Academy and couples her passions for equity, sustainability, and innovation with action and practical application. Active in AFWERX and USAFA Spark, she is in the running for the Spark 2023 finals with her Astro Psychiatric Artificial Intelligence proposal and works with AF Futures (Pentagon) to develop innovation education throughout the Department of Defense (DoD). As the Cadet-in-Charge of Schulte Assembly (a gender issues forum) and board member of the Multicultural Student Council, she has pushed for representative policies, such as the military neurodiversity initiative. She has worked with the DoD, Government Accountability Office, and Democratic Dialogue Project on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA) to improve the organizational climates of government programs, institutions, and dynamics of civ-mil relationships. Additionally, Kelsey works as the Palm Oil and Conservation Programs Coordinator with the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, and other environmental organizations to analyze international supply chain data to influence local and national policy and legislation, assess adversary influence and threats, develop an international database for consumers and producers, and mitigate climate change through research and application. Upon graduating, she aspires to be a Judge Advocate and environmental/social lawyer.
Jillian Richarz, The University of Tampa

As an NCHC Student Board Member, I am determined to ensure that students have the opportunity to experience different landscapes and to form connections with other individuals regardless of their socio-economic situation. As a result of receiving the Partners in the Park scholarship, I traveled to Maine, something I never would have done without the support of NCHC. More importantly, through this experience, I made lasting friendships with other honors students through our time and service together.
To me, learning through service work is vital as it provides a hands-on opportunity for growth and progress for everyone involved. I was a Girl Scout for over five years and have volunteered at the Pasco Environmental Adventure Camp Experience, a program that gives low-income students the opportunity to learn about Florida wildlife and its preservation for free. Additionally, I served as the Community Outreach Officer in my high school’s chapter of the Interact Club which involved contacting members of the locality and organizing volunteer opportunities. In addition to participating in honors events, I am currently the Event Coordinator of the University of Tampa Philosophy Club where we are passionate about having meaningful conversations and examining various perspectives.
Student Board Candidates - 1 Year Position
- Helen Agee, United States Air Force Academy
- Andrew Ai, Northern State University
- Anushree Chauhan, Rowan University
- Eliza Davis, Notre Dame of Maryland University
- Madeline Olson, United States Air Force Academy
- Temera Sinclair, Hillsborough Community College
Helen Agee, United States Air Force Academy

Born and raised in Dallas, TX, I moved to snowy Colorado Springs to attend the United States Air Force Academy and study Management with a minor in Philosophy. In my two and a half years at USAFA, I have had many leadership opportunities, such as mentoring basic cadets as a Military Guidance Officer, training a new wave of athletes as the Captain of the Competitive Climbing Team, and researching common terminology for space assets and threats with the NATO Alliance Space Deterrence Framework. Whether we are deeply discussing due process or learning interview and application techniques from experienced professors, the Martinson Honors Program provides the opportunity to interact with incredible students and teachers in ways cadets would not be able to do in regular classes and cohorts. I want to help the honors programs excel, just as my own program continues to push me towards success. I hope to join the National Collegiate Honors Council Board of Directors because I am passionate about increasing the visibility and influence of honors programs around the country through research support, opportunities for networking, and conferences for professional development.
Andrew Ai, Northern State University
Hey, my name is Andrew Ai. I am a third-year student at Northern State University double majoring in Secondary Math Education and Mathematics.
In my college experience, I have served as president of the international student association, senator of the Student Government, and the Living Learning Communities Resident Assistant at Northern State University. At the same time, I am also the substitute teacher at the Aberdeen School District.
As a student leader and educator, I consider myself a good team player, a quick learner, and a detail-oriented person. Which gives me the qualification for holding this position. I hope that I can use my experience and acquired skills to serve all of you. If I get elected, I will do my best to help NCHC to create and offer more opportunities and resources to all scholars for their research. I would be glad to contribute my time and efforts to make a difference in the NCHC community.
In the end, as an international student, a new immigrant, an educator, and part of the Asian American community, I hope you will give me a chance to serve all of you on the NCHC student board. Let us show our diversity to our community and this great nation!
Anushree Chauhan, Rowan University

Being involved in my community has always been of utmost importance as it has helped me find myself and my passions, which have even developed into my career goals. Since joining honors, I have been able to accomplish this in a multitude of ways. Through experiences that are honors or not, I have gained an appreciation for service and leadership skills. These include leading our Honors Food Insecurity program (FIP) by preparing meal kits for college students, serving as Rowan’s honors student organization’s vice president by hosting events, contributing to my college as a resident assistant, and my community by working at a homeless shelter to tackle food insecurity. These are a few experiences that have geared my qualities of time management, organization, and leadership capabilities. For example, during FIP, I am responsible for budgeting, shopping, finding friendly recipes, and preparing the ingredients weekly for the team. Also, as serving as vice president of the honors student organization, I have been able to be a student liaison and leader as well as host events like letters for those in the military and a student semi-formal. By participating in NCHC, I would be able to serve on a committee and bring a student’s perspective to honors faculty nationally. By serving as a liaison, I would offer ways to better student experiences on honors and opportunities they are interested in. As a student board director, I would wish to serve to create better opportunities for students and the community.
Eliza Davis, Notre Dame of Maryland University

My name is Eliza Davis and I am a sophomore at Notre Dame of Maryland University currently pursuing a degree in history and political science. As a first-year honors student this semester in the Morrissy program, I have already had many opportunities to engage with my peers on and off campus and have forged new friendships in the process. At present, I am participating in a research project with a fellow Morrissy student and the director of the honors program to track the effects on students of Notre Dame of Maryland’s recent decision to transition to a co-educational program next fall. I believe that I can be a good fit to be a student representative on the National Collegiate Honors Council because I am consistently building new leadership skills and involving myself in the campus and community in Baltimore to work with others. I can provide perspectives from a small school and ensure that the hard work and efforts of mine and other institutions will be considered and considerately represented.
Madeline Olson, United States Air Force Academy

My name is Maddie Olson. I am a political science major and French minor at the US Air Force Academy and am from Minneapolis, Minnesota. I am very interested in the humanities and language, and I love to read and write. I am a member of the club soccer team at USAFA, where I play right back. In my free time, I am often doing something active. I love to lift weights, run, and ski in the Rockies! I am a member of the leadership team in my squadron at USAFA; as a cadet I challenge myself to grow into the best leader I can be in preparation to become an officer. I want to be on the NCHC Board because I love the honors program here at USAFA and want to take advantage of leadership opportunities given to me. This program has already improved my experience here by so much, and I want to continue that throughout my time here.
Temera Sinclair, Hillsborough Community College

I am Temera Sinclair, I am an honor student at Hillsborough Community College, in Tampa, Florida; Majoring in Political science, with the goal of becoming an Immigration Attorney and a CongressWoman. I also have the honor to be positioned as the Vice President of the 2022-2023 chapter of our Student Government Association. To begin, the desire to be a student representative for the National Collegiate Honors Council derives from my determination to give students like myself the opportunity for their opinions, ideas and suggestions to be heard, considered and supported with action. I strongly believe that the honors program has the potential to expand in size, effectiveness, value, and opportunity; with which I know I have the ability and qualifications to bring to the table. As we've learned from this year's conference every individual and every community deserves for their voices to be heard including community colleges, with that being said, Thank you for your attention and time.