
In This Issue...
NCHC23: Call for Student Poster Judges |
From the President
Dear Colleagues,
We have had a busy first six weeks with James Zebrowski, our new Executive Director. He is settling into his leadership role, building trust between the members of the professional team, and talking with many folks inside and outside NCHC.
On Friday 9/1 James met with the members of the Board of Directors; we had a nice meeting and James was able to share what he is learning as he meets with members of the organization and works with professional affiliates. The Board and NCHC professional staff meet monthly to discuss priorities and make sure our pathways of communication are flowing smoothly.
On Wednesday 9/27 James will meet with chairs of NCHC’s committees at a meet and greet Zoom session. Committee chairs should have received an email about this meeting and an invitation from me.
On Thursday 10/5 we will host a NCHC Executive Director Listening Session via Zoom. After a brief introduction by James, we will open the floor for insights from NCHC members. Please share your thoughts on how NCHC can best serve its members, be they deans, directors, faculty, professional staff, or students. More information about this session can be found below.
There will also be opportunities at our Annual Conference in Chicago for members to meet James, and they will be shared on the conference schedule as we get nearer to November.
I hope the fall term is off to a wonderful start and you and your students are embarking on exciting academic adventures.
Susan Dinan
President
National Collegiate Honors Council
From the ED
Dear Members of the Council,
I hope this message finds you well and brimming with enthusiasm for the start of a new academic year! It is during these moments of fresh beginnings that the spirit of learning and innovation is most palpable.
As I reflect on my first 30 days at NCHC I remain inspired and motivated. I've observed and appreciated our community's dedication and passion, and I'm encouraged by our legacy and potential. As I continue to explore the discipline of honors education -and- the depth of the council, I am reminded of a simple statement, “There’s always one more thing to learn.” To that end, I am eager to meet with each of you in our upcoming Membership Listening Session scheduled for October 5. During this time, I hope to meet our diverse communities and dynamic membership and learn of the many ways that NCHC HQ can better support its network. Register here.
At the heart of my vision for NCHC is a commitment to engagement and inclusivity. I firmly believe that our strength as a council lies in the connections we forge and the collaborative spirit we nurture. To that end, I have provided a summary of today’s newsletter below, calling out some key points of action and requests from your fellow members.
I invite you to participate in the Student Poster Judging sessions during the conference. This is a wonderful chance to interact with our student members and provide valuable feedback. Your academic expertise and encouragement can leave a profound impact on these young scholars, and I encourage you to reach out to Mike Sloane, at: sloane@uab.edu, to express your interest in being a judge.
Additionally, for student attendees eager to take an active role in shaping the conference experience, consider volunteering as a Student Moderator. This is an excellent opportunity for students to network, lead, and contribute to our vibrant honors community. Training will be provided, and I encourage interested students to apply.
I’d like to also highlight the Student Fishbowl, a cherished NCHC tradition that offers students a platform to share their honest thoughts and experiences in honors programs. Jim Ford, Co-Chair of the Teaching & Learning Committee, is seeking recommendations for outstanding honors students with diverse perspectives to participate in this enlightening conversation. Please recommend students before October 15 by e-mailing Jim Ford, at: jford@rsu.edu.
The deadline to submit to UReCA, the NCHC Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity, has been extended to September 22. You may submit your student work here.
Finally, Honors in Practice (HIP) is now accepting submissions for Volume 20 (2023). The deadline is January 1, 2024. Share your innovative honors practices and interdisciplinary pedagogical insights. Submit articles framed within broader contexts, discuss applications beyond your campus, and contribute to the field of honors education. Continue reading for a full description on submission guidelines and additional ways to engage with NCHC publications. Send your finished works to Ada Long, at: adalong@uab.edu.
As we continue to prepare for NCHC23, mark your calendars with the important dates listed in this newsletter. Don't forget to join us at the Awards Ceremony on Friday, November 10th, during NCHC23 National Conference in Chicago as we celebrate the achievements of our fellow members. Please join me in congratulating the below award recipients.
Together, we will make NCHC23: Revolutionary Honors, a celebration of liberty, equality, and humanity. I look forward to meeting each of you in Chicago and experiencing this enriching program together! Looking ahead, I'm excited to continue our collaboration.
Best Regards,
James N. Zebrowski, Jr., M.S.
Executive Director
National Collegiate Honors Council
Member Listening Session
Calling All NCHC Members!
Join us for a members-only virtual listening session with James Zebrowski, the newly appointed Executive Director for NCHC. This interactive event is designed to provide NCHC members with a discussion-based platform to voice their ideas and opportunities directly to NCHC leadership. During the session, James will attentively listen as members share their insights on how NCHC can best serve the needs of their campus and honors program alike. Your valuable input will help shape the future of NCHC, so don't miss this opportunity to be heard and make a meaningful impact.
Sign Up to Attend Here
NCHC23
Opportunities Still Available to Participate in NCHC23!
Call for Student Poster Judges
If you are a faculty member, honors director, or dean attending the Chicago conference, please consider devoting 90 minutes of your time to serving as a judge for the student poster competition in one of the categories listed below. The Student Poster sessions are the main mechanism through which students participate in our annual conference and judging posters is a wonderful way in which to interact with students and give them feedback. Please contact Mike Sloane at sloane@uab.edu providing him with your areas of expertise and judging category preferences. (see below)
Judges must be available to review posters and talk with about 8-12(?) student presenters between 9am-10:30am and/or 1:00pm-2:30pm on Friday, November 10 at the NCHC conference in Chicago. Before committing to a particular session, presenters should check the time(s) of their own presentation(s) to make sure they are available for the student poster session period. Judges interact with students and submit ratings at the end of the session. There is also an option to provide anonymous written feedback, which will be returned to the presenter. Judges are asked to be available for the entire 90 minutes
We need judges in the following poster groupings at the following times:
Student Poster Session #1
Friday, November 10, 9:00-10:30am
1. Art & Visual Media
2. Arts & Humanities
3. Diversity
4. Education & Pedagogy
5. Natural Sciences & Mathematics
6. Social Justice
Student Poster Session #2
Friday, November 10, 1:00pm-2:30pm
7. Business, Engineering, Computer Science
8. Environmental Sciences
9. Health Sciences
10 Social and Behavioral Sciences
Please contact Mike Sloane at sloane@uab.edu and indicate: a) your first and second category preference; b) your academic discipline and areas of expertise.
Thank you for participating!
Call for Student Moderators
NCHC23 will be filled with opportunities to learn, engage, share, and make meaningful connections. Students can make the most of their conference experience by volunteering as a session moderator! This is a great way to network and lead in our honors community. (Training will be provided.)
Student Moderators are assigned to conference sessions upon review of a student's application to participate. Responsibilities of Student Moderators include—but are not limited to—the following:
• Arriving early to assigned General Session room
• Ensuring presentation room is set up correctly
• Introducing session presenters
• Keeping track of time for each presentation
• Reminding presenters of time frames
• Encouraging and facilitating discussions following each presentation
If you are interested in serving as a Student Moderator at #NCHC23, please fill out an application below. Before you fill out the application, please reach out to your honors director and verify that your institution will be paying for your conference registration, as well as your travel/lodging in Chicago.
If you are also a conference presenter: there is a section of the application to indicate the time/date of your scheduled presentation(s). Times for #NCHC23 presentations will be released soon; please wait until you find out your scheduled presentation time to complete your application.
Applications close Monday October 2, 2023!
Apply to be a Student Moderator
Call for Student Fishbowl
Dear honors friends,
I am Jim Ford, and I am Co-Chair (with Aaron Stoller) of the Teaching & Learning Committee. Every year we sponsor the Student Fishbowl, a signature NCHC event in which a group of students from different honors programs and colleges have an honest conversation about their experiences in honors—what they love, and what they don’t. It’s time for us to recruit students for the Fishbowl. I want to find a diverse group of eight outstanding honors students to participate.
The Fishbowl is an NCHC tradition and one of my favorite sessions at the conference. A group of students sit in a circle in the center of the room, facing each other, with a larger group of faculty, staff and other students seated around them. The student “fish” have a conversation with each other about honors, answering a series of questions about their own honors experience—what they love about honors, and what they might change. It’s a fascinating conversation, and one that new honors directors are often encouraged to attend.
I ask you to recommend one student for the panel. These should be students that are definitely attending the conference, and that you believe would present an interesting perspective on honors. Please send me a name and email address for any potential students by October 15 so that we can begin assembling the group. I hope to get a balance of majors, backgrounds, kinds of programs/colleges represented, etc. We will email the students selected to let them know you have recommended them, ask them if they are willing, and let them know everything they need to know. The Fishbowl itself will be on Friday, November 10th at 11am.
We would love to have one of your students in the Fishbowl this year. Either way I hope you will join us in Chicago, and at the Fishbowl. Thanks for your help.
Thanks,
Jim
jford@rsu.edu
Dates and Deadlines
Take note of these upcoming important dates for NCHC members!
October 2 | Student Moderators Deadline |
October 5 | Membership Listening Session via Zoom |
October 14 | Final in-office payments deadline for NCHC23; NCHC may require payment on-site if not received by this date. |
October 15 | Student Fishbowl deadline |
UReCA Deadline Extended to September 22
The deadline to submit to UReCA, the NCHC Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity, has been extended to September 22. You may submit your work here:
https://ureca.submittable.com/submit
Download Flyer to Share with your Students!
Call for HIP Submissions
Honors in Practice is accepting submissions for Volume 20 (2023). The deadline is January 1, 2024.
Editorial Policy for Honors in Practice
Honors in Practice (HIP) is a refereed journal of applied research publishing articles about innovative honors practices and integrative, interdisciplinary, and pedagogical issues of interest to honors educators. HIP employs a double-blind peer review process. Authors should include discussion of how central ideas and practices may be applied in campus settings other than their own, and the thesis should be located within a larger context such as theoretical perspectives, trends in higher education, or historical background. Essays should demonstrate awareness of previous discussions of the topic in honors publications and other relevant sources; bibliographies of JNCHC, HIP, and the NCHC Monograph Series are available on the NCHC website.
Brief Ideas about What Works in Honors
HIP also publishes short descriptions of a successful course, project, idea, or assignment. Submissions should be 500-750 words long; they should have three keywords; the abstract should be short (preferably one sentence); and references (if any) should be internal.
Submission Guidelines
We accept material by e-mail attachment in Word (not pdf). We do not accept material by fax or hard copy, nor do we receive documents with tracking.
If documentation is used, the documentation style can be whatever is appropriate to the author’s primary discipline or approach (MLA, APA, etc.), employing internal citation to a list of references (bibliography).
All essay submissions to the journals must include an abstract of no more than 250 words and a list of no more than five keywords. For a submission to “Brief Ideas about What Works in Honors,” the abstract should be short (preferably one sentence) and include a maximum of three keywords.
Only the “Brief Ideas” have minimum or maximum length requirements; otherwise, the length should be dictated by the topic and its most effective presentation.
Accepted essays are edited for grammatical and typographical errors and for infelicities of style or presentation. Authors have ample opportunity to review and approve edited manuscripts before publication.
All submissions and inquiries should be directed to Ada Long at adalong@uab.edu.
Abstracting and indexing services providing coverage of HIP are Academic OneFile; Cabell’s Directory of Publishing Opportunities in Educational Curriculum & Methods and Educational Psychology & Administration; Current Abstracts; Education Abstracts; Education Index; Education Research Complete; Education Source; Educator’s Reference Complete; ERIC; InfoTrac; and OmniFile Full Text Mega. Current and back issues of HIP are available in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Digital Commons repository: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/natlcollhonors/ and for purchase on the NCHC website.
NCHC Awards: Congratulations!
Congratulations to the following 2023 Award Winners!
2023 Honors Newsletter Competition
1st place (Print - Student)
Ball State University, News & Notes
2nd place (Print - Student)
Iona University, The Pinnacle
* * * *
1st place (Electronic - Student)
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo,
Newsletter of the Cal Poly University Honors Program
2nd place (Electronic - Student)
Bentley University, Columnas
3rd place (Electronic - Student)
University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, The Aggregate
* * * *
1st place (Print - Faculty/Admin/Student)
Drexel University, Honors Bound
TIE - 2nd place (Print - Faculty/Admin/Student)
Youngstown State University, With Honors
TIE - 2nd place (Print - Faculty/Administrator/Student)
University of Missouri-St. Louis, Bellerive
* * * *
1st place (Electronic - Faculty/Administrator/Student)
University of Wyoming, Honors College Magazine
TIE - 2nd place (Electronic - Faculty/Administrator/Student)
Suffolk University, The Torch
TIE - 2nd place (Electronic - Faculty/Administrator/Student)
University of Missouri-St. Louis , Provenance
Be sure to attend the Awards Ceremony on Friday, November 10th during NCHC23 to congratulate all our 2023 award winners and celebrate with a dessert reception to follow!