SAU Honors College

The SAU Honors College was founded in 2003 by Dr. David Rankin, president of SAU. Dr. Lynne Belcher served as founding director and is retired from SAU. The Honors College seeks and admits qualified students who seek to pursue a serious academic program with equally gifted peers and committed teachers. Honors classes are small and provide academically enriching opportunities for students and the faculty who teach them. Currently, SAU enrolls nearly 170 honors students and graduates about 66% of admitees in four years or less. Anyone interested in applying to the Honors College or seeking further information should contact the director, Dr. Edward P. Kardas at epkardas@saumag.edu or at 870 904-8897.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Honors College Report April 7, 2010

Honors College Report April 7, 2010

Recruitment: Thus far, 25 students have applied for admission and 13 have been accepted. We have not yet received complete application packets from the remaining applicants. We hope to admit 40 freshmen.

Early Signing Bonus: Students admitted who agree to enroll in the Honors College by Monday, May 17, 2010 will receive an additional $100 added to their first year stipend. That money will come from an anonymous donor and will not be paid until after students register.

Two-year schedule: The Honors College and LPA working with Dr. Crouse have agreed to multiyear cycle of honors general education classes. As part of the arrangement, Composition I and II will no longer be offered for honors credit. The cycle will begin in the Spring 2011 semester. This schedule will allow students and faculty to plan ahead more easily (and make my life much more easy). Honors students must enroll in at least 9 hours but not more than 18 hours of honors general education classes. In addition, honors freshmen will not be allowed to enroll in any honors courses until after they have completed the honors seminar course. Here is a graphic:

Nine seniors to graduate as Honors College scholars: The Honors College will graduate the following students as Honors College Scholars in May: Nana Bawa, Roshan KC, Michaela Krcova, Mary McMillan, Kourtney Walls, Nicole Hall, Sidney Kilgore, Lauren McCarn, and Apil Tamang.

Faculty Panel Discussions Held: Six honors faculty participated in panel discussions about how they teach honors classes. On February 26, 2010 Dr. Shawn Krosnick, Dr. Lynne Belcher, and Dr. Chrisanne Christensen spoke. See: http://sauhc.blogspot.com/2010/03/teaching-honors-panel-discussion.htmlfor more information on that session. On March 31, Mr. Dan May, Dr. Jamie Brandon, and Dr. Svetlana Paulson spoke. See: http://sauhc.blogspot.com/2010/03/another-honors-faculty-panel-discussion.html for more information on that session. The next such panel will be held early in the Fall 2010 semester.

Honors Students to live in Village Apartments: As many as 16 honors students may opt to live in the SAU Village Apartments in 2010-11. They will be assigned a specific landing so that they may live near each other.

Faculty Research Grant: Dr. Edward P. Kardas and Ms. Deborah Wilson were awarded an SAU Faculty Research grant in the amount of $4,480 for a research project entitled: Optimizing admission decisions in Honors College by adding the Noncognitive Questionnaire (NCQ) to traditional academic measures. That research seeks to find and add non-numerical variables (e.g., positive self-concept, prefers long term goals, community service, and others) to the honors admission process. The goal is to reduce the number of suspensions and dismissals from the Honors College.

Research Poster Presentation: Dr. Edward P. Kardas and Dr. Chrisanne Christensen will present a poster to the Southwestern Psychological Association at its meeting in Dallas on April 8, 2010. The title of the poster is: So you want to teach honors general psychology? It was their research that led to the new policy making first year honors students take honors seminar before enrolling in other honors courses.

Upcoming Events:

Student Research Presentations: The four students who recently attended the Southern Regional Honors Council meeting in Greenville, SC will present their papers on campus in the Reynolds Campus and Community Center at noon on April 21, 2010. The titles are:

Sydney Kilgore - 1000 Years of Suffering: The Ancient Tradition of Chinese Foot-Binding
Mary McMillan- Acts of Resistance in Frederick Douglass’ Narrative
Nitish Narula - Construction of Histatin-resistant Strains of Candida albicans
Nitish Narula - The CRABS CLAW (CRC) gene tree: a phylogenetic analysis of the Eudicots
Joshua Manuel - Whatever Happened To The [Wo]Man Of Tomorrow? Race and Gender Bias in Graphic Novels

Annual Banquet: April 21, 6 p.m. with sponsored tables @ $100 each and eBay auction. Thus far, 12 people have sponsored tables! The students who attended the Southern Regional Honors Council meeting will show a 5-minute long film highlighting their trip. The Honors College Association will present humorous awards. The highlight of the evening will be the presentation of honors medallions and certificates. Dr. Lynne Belcher will do the honors assisted by David Wingfield.

Annual Matriculation: Sunday, August 29, 2 p.m. Mark your calendars now.

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