2022 Election

The National Collegiate Honors Council has provided me with a wealth of experiences and my decision to run for the position of Vice President is born from a desire to give back to an organization that has given me so much. To me, the past two years have highlighted the importance of the NCHC community, whether became apparent when we were unable to see each other in person at conference or workshops, or through the benefits of new virtual opportunities for members to gather and work through these challenging times. Regardless, NCHC has proven why so many of us are so dedicated to its mission.

Over the past decade, I have been increasingly involved in NCHC (participating on committees, helping organize parts of conference, and serving on the Board of Directors) and believe that these experiences will greatly benefit the organization. As Vice President, I would work diligently to ensure that NCHC is an inclusive and welcoming environment for members and non-members. The organization provides so much for so many people, and it is my belief that organizations, administrators, faculty, and students beyond the honors community would benefit by having more honors voices at the table. Likewise, NCHC could benefit from learning from non-honors organizations in the higher education landscape.

Ultimately, I believe that more people can and should benefit from the wonderful work of NCHC and its members and that the organization should actively work toward sharing this information as widely as possible.

The position of Treasurer of NCHC is a central one to the organization. It is the responsibility of the Treasurer in conjunction with the Finance Committee to ensure the financial health of the organization. This means overseeing financial operations of the organization and producing appropriate budgets balanced to match income and expenditures. The Treasurer and the Finance Committee must find a way within the limits of the resources of NCHC to support and further the priorities of the NCHC leadership and Board. Experience has shown that this is a complex matter as good ideas far outweigh the resources available to support them.

When I started my first term as treasurer three years ago, I was looking forward to rationalizing the way in which proposals were reviewed and financed, and setting straight forward and clear procedures for request for reimbursement, support for programs etc. Unfortunately, very little of this was achieved over the last three years since much of that time has been taken up with, what might be called, crisis management. No one can be unaware of the impact of the pandemic on all institutions. During the past three years there was significant danger of massive financial loss to NCHC due to the need to cancel or modify the National conference. In addition, the pandemic led to a proliferation of online offerings by NCHC, this was not in and of itself a bad thing, but since much of this had not been planned or budgeted for it put a significant strain on the finances and the financial management of NCHC. At this point, thanks to the hard work of the National Office it appears we have emerged from the pandemic in a sound financial position, I would therefore like to continue as Treasurer to put into place the structures and financial policies that will make the process of selecting and funding proposed activities and the associated issues of reimbursement and deposits, clear, straightforward, and transparent.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.