Rexamine, Refine, And Redefine The Honors Role On The SHSU Campus
After a significant growth trajectory, it is time to step back and reconsider the role of the Honors College on the SHSU campus.
Objective
Expand Honors Outreach And Service
One means of changing perception of Honors College students and the Honors College itself is to become more visible in our service role. Our objective is to add significantly to the current honors service role, even though that role is already substantial.
KPI
Expanding Honors Service And Outreach
This will be a success if the honors college adds at least two significant service or outreach projects or initiatives.
Result
New Honors Service/Outreach In 2014-15
The most significant new Honors College service project for the 2014-15 academic year was "Project Intrepid," in which 16 honors students, under the supervision of Dr. Pamela Zelbst and Mr. David Yebra, worked with the Center for the Intrepid at Brooke Army Medical Center. The students assisted veteran amputees and burn victims in the physical and psychological aspects of adjustment. Honors students on the Zimbabwe seminar (in May 2015) worked with a clinic for pregnat HIV victims and coordinated with Mr. Mark Butcher to assist in bringing medical clinic assistance to the tribal areas of Zimbabwe. In addition, during the 2014-15 academic year, honors designated four honors seminars as ACE (community engagement) courses.
Action
Continuing And Expanding Honors Service Outreach
We believe that the most important by-product of these outreach/service initiatives was the benefit to the students and to those they served. However, the acclaim we received, both in public media and from our campus community, makes it more than worth our while to continue these initiatives. We hope to continue the Project Intrepid, and we will help honors students maintain contact with the public health initiatives in Zimbabwe. We will continue the ACE seminars (with the addition of a Sustainability Seminar in the fall of 2016). Honors is committed to expanding our service outreach. Besides the obvious benefits to our students and the recipients of their service, we believe that these projects have helped improve the image of the Honors College and our students on campus. We will continue and expand these outreach/service initiatives.
Goal
Enhance The Honors Educational Experience Without Sacrificing Quality.
The Honors College will continue to mine NCHC literature and conferences, as well as ideas from other honors programs inside and outside our region, for ways to enhance the honors educational experience without sacrificing quality.
Objective
Develop An Ongoing And Robust Honors Study Abroad Program
For the past few years, we have actively sought information on various honors study abroad ad National Collegiate Honors Council member institutions. Based on our findings, we are ready to pursue the formation of an annual study abroad program in the SHSU Honors College
KPI
Launch An Ongoing Honors Study Abroad Program
This will be a success if in the 2014-15 academic year, the Honors College at least puts into place definitive plans for a future study abroad. Even better would be to actually conduct an honors study abroad in the spring of 2015.
Result
2015 Honors Seminar In Zimbabwe
During the Spring 2015 mini-semester (specifically, May 10 through 30), the Honors College conducted its first study abroad seminar--an honors seminar in Zimbabwe.
Action
The Future Of Honors Study Abroad
Given the great success of the 2015 Honors Zimbabwe Seminar, we plan to go forward definitively with our honors study abroad program. In the spring of 2016, Dr. Kimberly Bell, the incoming honors dean, will lead an honors study abroad to London. In a later year, she will lead a study abroad to Greece. We will return to Zimbabwe in some future year. In fact, two of the honors students who took part in the Zimbabwe study abroad will travel to the 2015 National Collegiate Honors Council meeting in Chicago to present their experience. In June 2015, Dr. Young travelled with other SHSU faculty and staff to Costa Rica, where he scouted possibilities for a future honors study abroad there. Study abroad will become a staple element of the honors experience.
Objective
Strengthen And Enhance The Quality Of Honors Teaching
The Honors College will undertake a focused effort to increase and strengthen faculty involvement in honors classes by providing faculty development and support. This initiative will take shape in the form of written documents circulated to faculty and workshops/idea sessions on honors teaching effectiveness.
Indicator
Honors Faculty Development Survey
During 2014-15, the Honors College will undertake specific faculty development initiatives, particularly with the objective of increasing faculty understanding of honors educational practices and objectives.
Criterion
National Collegiate Honors Council Criterion
In seeking to enhance our connections and communications with honors faculty, we will follow criteria for honors teaching and faculty standards set by the National Collegiate Honors Council. We will produce our own teaching document to communicate these standards and criteria to our honors teaching faculty, both those who teach in seminars and those who teach in honors-only sections of regular courses.
Finding
Need For Further Improvement Of Faculty Development
The Honors College did a certain amount of faculty development and outreach, but it was not as systematic as the objective had outlined. We did not produce the written guidelines we envisioned, and while we did perform some faculty development outreach, we did not hold the series of workshops we had anticipated.
Action
Need For Improvement Of Honors Faculty Development
While the Honors College did provide some enhanced guidelines for honors faculty (including meetings in which we articulated guidelines and objectives for conducting honors seminars), we still have much work to do in this area. We will plan more structured outreach for the coming year, including more careful communication witht he instructors of honors sections in the disciplines and honors contracts.
Goal
Comprehensive Evaluation Of The Honors Admission Process
As a result of preliminary discussions in spring 2014, Honors College leaders determined the need to reexamine our admissions process. During the fall of 2014, the Honors College will undergo a thorough evaluation of our processes, procedures, and policies governing the Honors College. The objective will be to identify strengths and weaknesses in our current system and consider the possibility of revisions to honors admissions.
Objective
Re-examine The Standards For Honors Admission
Preliminary discussions, ongoing for the past few years, have raised the question of whether the current honors admissions process relies too heavily on certain criteria. We will use discussions with honors staff and honors admissions committee members, informed by recent national literature on assessment of student potential, to take a hard look at whether our current admissions practices overlook certain students with high honors potential.
KPI
Positive Recruitment Outcomes
The first indicator of the effect of this objective will be an analysis of the demographic of the Fall 2015 class. If we determine to make changes in the admissions process, the effect of the changes should be observable in the demographic of that class. This might mean an increase in the number of acceptances or increase in certain types of applicants, including minority applicants.
Result
Preliminary Fall 2015 Admission Numbers
Indications are that the honors class of2015-16 will show substantial growth overall. Preliminary examination suggests growth in certain demographics (for example Hispanic students whose first language is not English, who did not score high on verbal tests, but who show excellent potential as honors citizens) the gains are substantial. Followup studies will need to be done to confirm this, and, of course, the proof in this podding won't be known for at least two years.
Action
Evaluate The Fall 2015 Honors Class
Actually, this objective cannot be fully evaluated for at least one year, when we begin to get a full picture of how active, engaged, and successful thie Fall 2015 class of new honors students proves to be. Preliminary outcomes are promising, but through this year, we will actively follow up these new students in terms of their academic success, participation in honors activties, and other such measures. We will pay particular attention to those new honors students who might not have been admitted under previous admission practices.
Goal
Continue To Enhance The Honors College Impact On Undergraduate Research
Through the dramatic success of the Undergraduate Research Symposium, the Honors College has established itself as a major player in undergraduate research. Now it is time to connect our success with other, new initiatives on and off campus.
Objective
Connecting With Other Undergraduate Research Programs And Initiatives
The Honors College will continue to enhance its own role in undergraduate research, especially through our Undergraduate Research Symposium, but we will also seek to work with other campus programs to share our experience and expertise in undergraduate research. We will also seek to connect with, learn from, and contribute to regional and national undergraduate research initiatives.
Indicator
Dedicated Coordination With Other Undergraduate Research Initiatives.
The indication of success in this area will be records of contact and exchange with campus departments and programs, as well as outreach and coordination with external agencies and organizations, especially regional and national efforts in both honors education and undergraduate research. We will also continue to measure progress in our own URS.
Criterion
NCHC Assessment Guidelines
The general criteria for assessment which cover this objective are the National Collegiate Honors Council statements and guidelines concerning undergraduate research.
Finding
A Successful 2015 Undergraduate Research Symposium
The 2015 Undergraduate Research Symposium broke all previous records for presenters, audience, and faculty involvement. We added substantial numbers and types of student poster presentations, and improved the faculty mentoring role. This year's URS further cemented the honors leadership in undergraduate research.
Action
Continuing The Success Of The URS
The 2015 Undergraduate Research Symposium was another exceptional success. While we continue to troubleshoot and refine, we will continue the basic model that has continued to make the Honors College a centerpiece of undergraduate research at SHSU.