NCHC Summer Giveaway Winner

 Jenna Holmes was lucky enough to be drawn as NCHC's first winner of the Summer Registration Giveaway! Congratulations Jenna!

2025 Spring Graduates

We had 11 honors graduates for Spring 2025. We are extremely proud of the accomplishments these graduates have made. 

(From left to right) Grace Edwards, Jonathan Parker, Aiden Thacker, Gage Ward, Rylee Griffis

(From left to right) Ashlyn Broughton, Teressa Hedglin, Jacob Stroman, Brooke Burton, Carmen Lok, Alexis Goodwin

Electric Guitar Show

The Electric Guitar Show was a hit! The students got to show off their guitars for the first portion of the event, then a jam session followed. 

The early crowd for the event

The Brinson Fine Arts lobby was full as soon as the event started, everyone excited to see what the students had been working so hard on all year.

The jam session group

Various people played for the jam session including some of the honors students, SAU faculty, and even SAU's President Hicks!

President Hicks played his acoustic guitar

Honors student Jonathan Parker played saxophone

Senior Projects 2025

Honors College seniors Gage Ward and Jonathon Parker  along with another computer science student presented Computer Science Senior Design Projects yesterday. The group created their senior project on how to get cows to eat in smaller areas. 

Pictured above is their presentation

 

Pictured above on the left is Gage Ward and on the right is Jonathon Parker 

Honors students Christian Wiggins and Aiden Thacker presented their senior project of a game called, Blight's Grasp. The group of computer science students along with a few art students designed the game over the course of two semesters.

 

Pictured above on the right hand side on the left is Christian Wiggins, and on the right is Aiden Thacker

Pictured above is their presentation

The Honors College is so proud of its students, and the hard work they've put in! Congratulations seniors!

Electric Guitar Making Showing and Concert

The students from Electric Guitar Making, one of the full Honors courses that was offered this spring, will be hosting an exhibition of their electric guitars created during the semester, as well as a concert on  May 5th, 2025. Below are some photos throughout the semester, exhibiting the students' hard work in creating each of their guitars. Each student worked hands on throughout the entire process, from brainstorming the design they wanted, to creating the name for their final piece. 

William Ashcraft 

"The Astronaut"

"Taking this class, I learned how much I enjoy woodworking; cutting, sanding, and routing the body was easily my favorite part of the course. It was so relaxing."

Lakken Caffey

"The Fabricator"

"Taking part in this Guitar-building course has been a great opportunity for me! As a graphic designer, much of my work takes place in a 2D space, so having the chance to get my hands on a 3D medium has been a lot of fun and a good change of pace."

Monet Coppersmith

"Scintilla"

"My favorite part was installing the hardware and electronics. In the past I did robotics, and this brought back fun memories for me. Soldering the electronics and installing the hardware is when I really felt the bass come to life, and you see your vision and hard work pay off."

Alyzia Devereaux 

"Hope"

"My guitar is my baby. I started this class wondering what I would do, and if I could really accomplish this, but I did it! All of us did it! The research phase, and before we had our guitars, was interesting."

Jade Dillard

"The BUG!!!"

"The BUG!!! did genuinely go beyond my expectations. It plays, it turns a rich orange-brown at certain angles and a pretty emerald green at others, and it makes for a fantastic art piece. When something comes out as good as my guitar did, all of the mess seems worth it."

Lilly Henry

"Glitoris"

"Guitar building is a skill that not a lot of people can say they’ve practiced, and it was an amazing opportunity to be a part of this class."

Rory Lowther

"Alma Cósmica"

"At the start, I set my aspirations atmospherically high with pages of ideas and artists to look up to, which made some of the simpler aspects of my guitar feel like they didn’t measure up. However, whenever I took a step back and looked at the process it took to get to this point, I realized that the path—full of learning opportunities and challenges—was the most important aspect of this class, not just the guitar itself."

Mtende Moyo

"The Daydreamer"

"The Daydreamer. I look at it and am reminded of my time in class this semester, but also all the thoughts that ran, and still run, through my head. An opaque mirror. Creative or exhausted, optimistic or uncertain, regardless of the myriad of emotions and memories, they’re all parts of myself."

Gabrielle Nelson

"Leto"

"The overall outcome of the design is my favorite part of the guitar. I love how what started as my hand drawing later came to life through the engraving. Now that I have my own guitar, I want to learn how to play it."

Gavin Nussey

"Belle"

"I would absolutely build another guitar. This project has made me more interested in learning to play and I would not mind making another one."

Allison Parker

"Icarus"

"The longest part of the journey was definitely the shaping and painting, and the fastest part was putting in the guts and getting it to be play-worthy. It was very cool seeing it turn from a couple slabs of wood into a working, playable guitar that you guys can see now."

Jonathon Parker

"If someone ever asked me about making a guitar I would highly recommend it. While it looks intimidating, if you have the right tools, it is not a hard process. It requires a bit of patience, but the end result is very much worth it."

Madeline Reynolds

"The Amoeba"

"I have learned so much in only a few months of class. Even outside of the classroom, I have gained knowledge in an area I’ve never really poked my nose into. I’ve become more appreciative of the time and energy it takes to build such beautiful and intricate instruments."

Lilly Smutz

"Lucifer"

"The latin saying around the edge is, Audaces fortuna juvat, or fortune favors the bold; I felt that this phrase kind of embodies my experience through the class and how it made me feel."

Emily Stanich

"Gobstopper"

"If I had one piece of advice for anyone making a guitar, it would be to take your time. Don’t rush the process. There are so many details that make a difference in the final outcome. Overall, I’m really proud of Gobstopper, and I had a lot of fun bringing this idea to life. I will definitely do this again!"

Each one of these guitars is truly a work of art and really exemplifies the creativity and dedication our honors students offer. We really appreciate the willingness of the course professor, Professor Nathan Lambert for making this class available for honors students to take. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for some of these students, and we're very proud of each student's final product. 

SOAR Conference

On April 23, 2025 SAU hosted the SOAR Conference in the Reynolds Building. Honors College students in the Full Honors 3D Printing class presented posters of the projects that they have been working on throughout the semester. The objective of the students' projects was to replace a commonly used object that is typically made of metal or wood materials with a 3D printed version using more eco-friendly materials. 

Molly Fanning and Joseph Bailey presented A Reusable Card Holder with Personalization and Restoration in Mind

Logan Barnett and Savannah Sivils presented A lightweight Restorable 3D Printed Bottle Opener

Jameson Foster, Christin Flory, and Jayla Carter presented a Sustainable 3D Wall Anchor for Lightweight Fixtures

Andrew O'Grady and Julissa Olivarez presented a Restorative Redesign of the Grinder Protection Cover

The students showcased not only their finished projects, but also how they were able to decrease the material waste created by the 3D printers. Through this course, along with the guidance of their professor Dr. Zghair, our students were able to highlight the increased sustainability practices that 3D printing could offer in the near future. SAU Honors College is proud of the hard work students have put in!

Honors Recognition Ceremony

This years SAU Honors Graduate Recognition Ceremony had a wonderful turn out! Students received a warm welcome from Dr. Wilson.

Students were congratulated for their years of hard work and received their Honors College Medallion. They were also given the opportunity to win some wonderful door prizes including the beautiful table donated by Ivan Smith.  

Thank you to the SAU faculty and staff that helped put it all together and congratulations students! 

 

New Honors Courses Following Covid

 New Full Honors Courses Following Covid 

Welcome 

Dr. Connie Wilson welcomed our soon-to-be graduates on Sunday, April 6, 2025. She gave them some good advice and brought them some SAU Foundation t shirts. 

I followed her and thanked Dr. Antoinette Odendaal and Mrs. Lynndon Watson for the work and effort they put in to make our 2025 Recognition Ceremony a success. 

Thanks also went to Ivan Smith for donating a nice sidepiece, Mulekick for two $25 gift certificates, Backyard BBQ for 2 $25 gift certificates, and to Walmart for two $20 gift certificates.  

What follows is the text of my remarks. 

Covid 

As if we don’t remember back five years. Three of us, two SAU faculty members and an honors student, had just presented at an international meeting in Havana and were returning home next day. Little did we realize the changes awaiting us as we sipped Bucanero Fuerte beers on the porch of the Hotel Presidente gazing at the former Gulf of Mexico. 

Back 

The virus hit the fan shortly later. SAU closed long enough for faculty to scramble to convert to online instruction. Previously, I had sworn, literally, never to teach an online course. Now I had to do so. However, my conversion to online was easier than most because I had long used my own web pages as outlines for my in class lectures. I just beefed them up, nearly to the point of textbooks, learned enough BlackBoard, and made my tests open book and open notes. Now, I regularly teach online and I like it. It is different than face-to-face teaching, for sure. It is funny, I have met several of my online students after they have completed my online courses. One such meeting took place at a restaurant cashier check out! 

Changes 

Six feet spacing, masks, hand washing, isolation all followed. Other changes included the SAU Budget and that affected the Honors College. The administration had to estimate how to make ends meet. Travel was an immediate casualty in all budgets. That was especially troublesome to the Honors College because we had worked hard to make travel a more integral part of the honors experience. Much of that travel was stateside: Boston, Denver, Seattle, Washington DC, New Orleans, and Kansas City just to name some of the destinations associated with the annual meetings of the NCHC (National Collegiate Honors Council). But, we traveled internationally too. Six trips to Cuba, group trips to Paris and to Italy along with individual students visiting Mexico, London, and China. Only now have we recovered from that Covid imposed isolation. Another loss was to our original suite of full honors courses. We offer two types of courses. The full honors courses are smaller and only register honors students. They are financially inefficient and they were funded out of the budgets of the colleges offering them. You can see the connection to their demise and the Covid related budget shortfalls.  

What were those courses? They included regularly offered sections of  US History, Philosophy, General Psychology, and World Literature. They also included one off courses. So, after Covid the Honors College was left only offering contract honors courses. Those courses are regularly offered courses in which honors students and faculty contract to elevate the course to honors level. For example, in honors Human Genetics, honors students used to receive a 23 and Me Kit. With it, they would swab their cheeks and send that sample to the company. That was the elevation. They got to identify their own genome then make and oral and written report on it. As you may have heard, the 23 and Me company has gone bankrupt and many worry that the genetic data they collected will no longer be private. Any new owner could make that data public is the fear. The Web is full of advice now on how to have one’s genetic data deleted. Of course, we did not anticipate such a turn of events.  

So, the Honors College was stuck only offering contract courses for several years following Covid. Some well-funded private colleges only offer full honors courses, an ideal solution. Being a public college and recovering budget-wise, SAU did not have that option. But, the Honors College and the administration still yearned to restore full honors courses. Recently, that actually happened. 

The New Full Honors Courses 

It was obvious to Dr. David Lanoue, SAU’s Provost, and to the Honors College’s staff and faculty that full honors courses needed to be reinstituted. The problem was money, primarily. Recall that our previous suite was funded by the departments offering the courses, not the Honors College. Dr. Lanoue offered to pay out of his budget for a new set of full honors courses. The idea was to offer full honors courses that would appeal to honors students and that would be created and taught by honors faculty. The first course, Ancient Egypt was offered in Fall 2023. It was taught by Dr. Svetlana Paulson, a veteran honors faculty member who has been with the Honors College since its founding. Understand, these courses needed to pay for themselves. What that means is that if they enroll eight or more students they are at least breaking even within the SAU budget. 

In the Spring semester of 2024 we offered two full honors courses. Dr. Krista Nelson, a renowned scholar offered the Psychology of Serial Killers. As you might imagine, that course far exceeded its minimum required enrollment of eight. That course resulted in a publication as well with many of the honors students receiving authorship credit. The other course offered that semester was Sustainability of Natural Resources. It was offered by Kathryn Watson and I audited the class myself. One reason I did so was to add to the enrollment total. The course only had four students and Dr. Lanoue graciously allowed the course to make, given that Nelson’s course had so many students. Taken together, the two courses earned SAU a little money. 

In the fall of 2024, SAU newcomer, Brianna McCartney offered Positive Psychology. According to the APA, positive psychology is  “a field of psychological theory and research that focuses on the psychological states (e.g., contentment, joy), individual traits or character strengths (e.g., intimacy, integrity, altruism, wisdom), and social institutions that enhance subjective well-being and make life most worth living.”  Positive Psychology is the most popular course at Harvard. It teaches students how to be happy. As you might imagine, McCartney’s enrollment was large. Again, the course gave birth to a publication. 

This current semester, the Honors College filled three full honors courses! Two of them are a little unusual. Nathan Lambert is teaching honors students how to make an electric guitar. He suggested to us that he has built several guitars himself and that, maybe, students would like to do the same. Here, and with the next course, we actually had to hold enrollment at 10 students. The guitars start out as kits and students learn about guitars, music, and craftsmanship. At the end of the course they will hold a guitar concert! 

The other unusual course is 3D printing. There, Dr. Hayder Zghair is teaching honors students of any major the ins and outs of fabricating 3D plastic items. He is using five 3D printers purchased by the Honors College so that the two students can share a printer. 

There’s more. McCartney, Lambert, and Zghair are co-authors of a submission to NCHC’s 2025 meeting in San Diego along with Dr. Odendaal and myself. Should our proposal be accepted, we will present much of the same information I am imparting to you right now to our fellow honors colleagues from around the world. Fingers crossed. 

The other full honors course offered this semester is World Literature II. Dr. Shannin Schroeder, another long-term veteran professor of the Honors College took it upon herself to offer, once again, one of the courses from our original suite of honors courses. I like that she has brought one of our original full honors courses back. 

For the Fall 2025 semester we are now registering students for Ancient Greece, taught by Paulson, General Psychology, taught by McCartney, and Poverty in America, taught by Amber Overhauser. We are confident all three will make. 

Conclusion 

Yes, Covid was bad, horrible, and earthshaking. But, like the old saw, “There is a silver lining in every cloud.” Thanks to our provosts, Lanoue and Robin Sronce, we now have a new set of full honors courses. We are also offering again courses from our original suite. Having these full honors courses makes our program all the stronger.