SRHC Day Three

Saturday was the last day of the Southern Regional Honors Council meeting. SAU students Chris Harris, Samson King, Thomas Kue, and Suraj Manandhar along with faculty members Deborah Wilson and Ed Kardas presented a panel discussion: Preliminary Research Prior to Implementing an iPad 2 Honors Seminar Course. Missing was Carter Jones (for personal reasons). After giving the panel we all realized that there will be a lot of work involved in preparing for the iPad 2 Pilot Project. Here is a picture of the panelists:

From L to R: Ed Kardas, Deborah Wilson, Chris Harris, Suraj Manandhar, Samson King, & Thomas Kue

After that panel, we all walked back to our hotel, the Marriott Courtyard, to check out and load the bus. After those tasks were completed, we walked back to the Peabody Hotel for the final sessions of the meeting. Nimendra Mawalagedara read her paper, Hamas: The Transition from Terrorism to Democracy, to a packed room. At the same time, Deborah Wilson led a panel consisting of three honors directors: Rebecca Oliver (Arkansas State University), Barbara Pemberton (Ouachita Baptist University), and Ed Kardas (Southern Arkansas University). Also participating was faculty member and chair of Arkansas State's psychology department, Loretta McGregor. Many students attended and the free ranging discussion covered a gamut of topics including:

• Test scores and GPA
• Residence Halls and Honors
• Best Practices
• Student Concerns and Issues

Two concrete proposals to emerge from our discussions were to: revive AHA (Arkansas Honors Association) as a yearly meeting for directors and staff. Rebecca Oliver has tentatively agreed to host the next meeting. Watch this space for details. Another proposal was to encourage Arkansas two-year colleges to develop honors programs. That will serve many ends including attracting better students to the two-year schools and allowing for the transfer of honors credits earned there into existing honors programs at the four-year schools. The SAU Honors College will begin talks with South Arkansas Community College, SAU Tech, and the University of Arkansas Community College at Hope soon.

The work finally done, we hoofed back to the bus a made our way back home. First, however, we stopped for lunch in Malvern. Many of us decided to take a chance at a Chinese food buffet near the Walmart and were quite pleased with their fare.

From L to R clockwise: David Wingfield, Arun Sharma, Gloria Lee (hidden), Joy Tan, Nimendra Mawalagedara, Suraj Manandhar, Subir Shakya, Olawale Ajigbotafe, & Clay Kardas.

Clay Kardas drove up after school Friday and attended sessions Saturday. He will attend Arkansas State's Honors College next year. He met with their director and assistant director. He also got to visit his godmother, Loretta McGregor.

Next year, SRHC will be in Tampa, 1000 miles away. The SAU Honors College commits to send students who are on the program with a paper or poster. But, I won't be driving you by bus that far.