November 8, 2021
Honors faculty and students present at 2021 NCHC conference
Honors College faculty and students presented at the 2021 NCHC conference.
Honors College faculty and students presented at the 2021 National Collegiate Honors Council conference on Oct. 27-31 in Orlando, FL.
This year’s conference focused on “Reimagining Honors – Past, Present, Future.” Participants were asked to think about how to take the lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic to imagine a new, potentially different, future.
The conference was held in the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort and participants were able to visit the park when not attending sessions.
The following teams presented in-person at the conference:
Find Your Voice: An Honors Student Initiative on Sexual Assault Education
Georgia Sasser
Allie Jessee
Tim Christensen
This session will explore the development of an honors student project about sexual assault education. The project highlights students applying Human Centered Design to engage a target audience on social media. Core components of their presentation included: social media strategy for developing projects; necessity of social media in digital-age projects; and engaging campus communities on sensitive issues.
Edible Landscape Initiative: An Honors Social Impact Project
Gerald Weckesser
Heather Mauzy
The Edible Landscape Initiative – Find out how a group of college freshmen established an orchard on campus, creating a showcase to improve environmental awareness on campus and in the community. In the process, students learn lessons in empathy, perseverance, self-confidence, team dynamics, and how to navigate university bureaucracy.
Maggie Baile, left, and Carmen Walker were two of the Honors College students who traveled to Florida for the 2021 NCHC conference.
Engaging Honors Students in Honors Research
Bhibha Das
Carmen Walker
Elizabeth Hodge
Tim Christensen
Gerald Weckesser
High-quality research examining the impact and value of honors education is important. One promising strategy to conducting this critical research is using honors students as research assistants. This session will discuss best practices for using honors students to engage research for their personal and professional development.
Honors College Curriculum Potential Pitfalls and Pivots Post-Pandemic
Elizabeth Hodge
Bhibha Das
Peyton Thomas
Maggie Baile
The global pandemic upended the field of higher education and halted in-person learning. This disruption to normal instructional plans significantly impacted faculty and students. The purpose of this presentation is to share the pitfalls and pivots faced with the rapid transition from face-to-face to online teaching.