Category Archives: Honors News

Honors updates!

Ole Miss, SMB Honors College Thesis Can Equal Jobs

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This story about the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College at Ole Miss shows how the undergraduate thesis required of honors students can help them in their search for postgraduate employment–and how the honors focus on undergrad research can be a model for the university as a whole as it seeks to find the best jobs for grads.

Students Get a Mentor for Engaging in Intellectual Curiosity

By Rebecca Lauck Cleary
April 23, 2012

OXFORD, Miss. – The undergraduate thesis is a hallmark of the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College at the University of Mississippi. Now, students will have someone available to assist them with getting started on their projects.

That person is Jason Ritchie, the new assistant dean of undergraduate research at the SMBHC.

Exploratory research has been a required component of the Honors College since its creation in 1997. Most students begin their research in the junior year, leading to a thesis in the senior year, although some students begin earlier. The thesis is an opportunity for students to devote time to exploring topics that particularly interest them in their fields; it’s a chance to learn to ask questions as the discipline asks them and to answer those questions using the methodology of the discipline.

Undergraduate research is vital to a student’s training, said Honors College Dean Douglass Sullivan-González.

“The SMBHC is deeply committed to the role of independent research in preparing our students to be citizen scholars,” Sullivan-González said. “When the leaders of the future start tackling tough issues, we want them to be trained to look closely and clearly at what’s really going on when things look ‘knotty.’ We expect our students to be leaders in finding creative, effective solutions to public challenges.”

Since 2000, Ritchie has been assistant and associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry at Ole Miss and was named the Cora Lee Graham Outstanding Teacher of Freshmen in 2007. Before that, he obtained his bachelor’s degree in chemistry in 1994 at the University of California at San Diego, where he performed undergraduate research on conducting polymers. He earned his Ph.D. in chemistry in 1998 from the University of Texas at Austin, where he studied the surface chemistry of high-temperature superconductors. He then went on to post-doc at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, studying electrochemistry in rigid polymers.

He has a strong interest in the leadership development of younger chemists, and he believes that serving as assistant dean of undergraduate research will allow him to help develop the careers of students across the university.

“The students come here and it’s intimidating,” Ritchie said. “They need help in the basic process of how to get started with research. I will put together a database of faculty projects so they can look at it and find their interests, and I will give them resources and advice about how to approach faculty members. They may be scared, but I will help them open up the conversation.”

Even the brightest students may be ruffled by the thesis requirement, and Ritchie hopes to alleviate their fears and work with them to find both internal and external research opportunities.

“When a graduate goes on a job interview, they don’t talk about their GPA, they talk about their thesis project, so it really sets them apart and marks them as a strong and independent thinker,” he said. “I personally learned far more doing my undergraduate thesis than I did in class. The honors thesis is a capstone for a student’s undergraduate years, bringing together everything they have learned the past four years.”

Ritchie will work not only with Honors College students, but those across all areas of campus.

“We think this unparalleled learning experience should be available to all students at the University of Mississippi,” Sullivan-González said. “Much of what Dr. Ritchie will undertake will be geared toward increasing and supporting undergraduate research campuswide, not just in the SMBHC.”

The most important lesson of the thesis may be how to stick with a tough assignment when there is only the students’ own character and passions to keep them going. This May, 130 SMBHC seniors are en route to be commissioned, having completed all Honors College requirements, including the thesis.

For more information on the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College, go to http://www.honors.olemiss.edu/.

Campus News–IU Hutton Honors College

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The following story from the Indiana Daily Student is another example of how honors innovations benefit students from the university as a whole. In this case, an undergraduate publication run by Hutton honors students gives all students a chance to publish their work.

Here is another great piece of student journalism, which describes the Hutton publication.

By Alexea Candreva, Indiana Daily Student

Feb. 12, 2012

Students spend hours planning and researching before writing papers. With the work and passion that goes into academic papers, some students want to have their work published.

One of these students, junior Tess Kuntz, decided to submit her essay from a bilingual education course she took her sophomore year to the spring 2011 edition of the Undergraduate Scholar.

“I heard about the Undergraduate Scholar through the (Hutton) Honors College’s emails,” Kuntz said. “I wanted to have my essay published because I’ve noticed that there aren’t that many academic essays written about education by undergraduates.”

The Undergraduate Scholar, a publication of undergraduate student work, allows students to receive more than just a grade for their classwork.

The Scholar had its first meeting of the semester Thursday, Feb. 2.

Hutton Honors College student volunteers coming from a variety of majors run the publication, but any undergraduate may submit works to the Scholar. The group, which consists of about 20 members, decides together what work will be published.

“We receive around 11 or 12 submissions in a smaller semester,” junior and design editor Erin Boland said. “In the fall there’s always fewer.”

Staff members are required to read all submissions before attending discussion meetings. At the discussion meetings, the coordinator introduces each submission, and staff members vote “yes,” “no” or “maybe.”

Although there are no set rules for what undergraduates may submit to be published, the Scholar does look for certain qualities in essays.

According to the Undergraduate Scholar, the staff chooses to publish essays based on mechanics, style, content, clarity and contemporary appeal.

“We don’t really do creative writing,” Boland said. “We look for academic papers, like something you wrote for a term paper or a research paper for one of your classes.”

The publication gives students a chance to have their work seen by more than just their instructor who graded it.

“For you to say you were published in something, that’s a pretty big deal,” Boland said.

The publication also takes art submissions such as photography, paintings and drawings to include throughout the pages. Even though the Scholar does not publish every submission it receives, the staff invites students to send in as much of their work as possible.

“There’s no harm in trying. Selections are anonymous,” Boland said. “You never really know what exactly will get in. Anything from any major is
fair game.”

In addition to more submissions, the publication welcomes new staff members.

“I joined this year at a call-out meeting,” freshman and Undergraduate Scholar Coordinator Sireen Yang said.

Yang is taking over as coordinator this semester while the coordinator from last semester is studying abroad.

After their initial meeting, staff members are divided into four editing groups, which make changes in style and grammar as they see fit, but they do not change anything important without consulting the author first, Boland said.

“I like the variety you are exposed to. There are so many different topics,” Yang said. “And it’s nice to get to know the people in your editing group.”

A stand with copies of the publication is in the Hutton Honors College student reading room.

Though Boland said the distribution is limited at this time, group members said they hope to spread more awareness of its existence and increase participation in the semesters to come.

“I think word-of-mouth really just helps us the most,” Boland said. “Hopefully it plants a seed in people’s minds.”

Campus News–Clark Honors, U of Oregon

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This is the first in a series of reports from campus newspapers and blogs, featuring honors news as the students see it. We chose the story below because, in addition to being an excellence piece of journalism, it also shows how honors innovations can enrich the lives of honors students, improve the communities in which they live, and serve as pilot programs that can be expanded to include non-honors students as well.

Today’s post is from the Oregon Daily Emerald at the University of Oregon. This truly outstanding news feature story about students from Clark Honors College attending prison classes with inmates is by staff writer Emily Schiola. Congratulations to her, and to Clark Honors for participating in such an interesting and valuable program.

By Emily Schiola
Published March 1, 2012

University Student David Liggins, a former Oregon State Penitentiary inmate, is now in his second term at the University of Oregon studying psychology. Liggins, 35, who was incarcerated for 14 years, participated in the Inside Out program that pairs inmates and University students in college level courses.

“The program helps guys get out of that institutional mode,” said Liggins, who credits the program for keeping him inspired to continue his education.

Every week, 24 students climb a long staircase and enter a small room in the Oregon State Penitentiary filled with bookcases and chairs. Light from a small window shines on the pale yellow walls, casting rectangular shadows throughout the room. They discuss “Crime and Punishment.”

The course is part of the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program, and at the end of the three-hour class, 12 students pass a row of bars and security checks to board a bus headed home. For the other 12, they already are home.

A year ago, David Liggins was one of those students and would’ve returned to his cell to begin reading for the next class. Today, he is a student at the University and an intern for the program.

Liggins appeared in front of ASUO Senate last fall seeking a grant for an expansion of the program. The request was granted last week — approving $20,000 in additional funding.
“This program made me want to get away from being institutionalized,” Liggins says.

Since its birth in 2007, the program has sent classes of roughly a dozen students in the Clark Honors College into the Oregon State Penitentiary to take a class with inmates. Class topics have ranged from literature to sociology. The $20,000 expansion approved last week will now allow the program to become available for all students at the University, not only honors students.

Liggins says he owes a lot of his success to the Inside-Out Program, which sends university students, or “outside students,” into a prison to take a class with inmates who are called “inside students.” It is offered at over 120 universities in 37 states across the country.
One of his favorite classes was a literature class about ethics and morals with one of the program’s pioneers, University professor Steven Shankman.

Shankman was the first professor from the University to teach a class with the program. One of his responsibilities was interviewing the inside students.

“Those guys were so hungry for education,” Shankman said. “Their minds are so open, and their motives are so pure.”

Most classes in the program were criminal justice courses, but Shankman thought a literature and ethics class could be just as impacting.

“We were forced to meet ethics and morals head on and question ourselves,” Liggins said. “It is really touching to tie life with that experience.”

Shankman explained that it was the inside students who were the most nervous to participate in the class.

“Prison is not very good for self-esteem,” he said. “But once they saw how welcoming and nonjudgmental the outside students were, things really changed.”

Liggins spoke to how refreshing it was to see the University students once a week. “It is very easy to become isolated,” he said. “To see faces of people who are excited about the future brings fresh life.”

He also talked about the effect the program has on people who are going to be in prison for the rest of their lives.

“For the ‘lifers’ it means so much to them,” Liggins said. “There is a lack of life in there, and to get the chance to learn with people who are so hopeful is very touching.”
Liggins is spending his time completing his second term as a psychology major and taking care of his teenage daughter. He is committed to gaining an education and inspiring other students like himself.

He hopes to someday work with children of incarcerated parents. Liggins said children often follow in their parents’ footsteps, and he wants to work to prevent that.

“It is something that is very dear to my heart because I’m a single parent,” he said.
Liggins hopes the grant from the DFC will make it possible to touch more lives. ASUO Chief of Staff and former Inside-Out Program participant Kerry Snodgrass is overjoyed with the expansion.

“This has been a huge initiative of the ASUO Executive,” she said. “Ben and Katie started working on it as soon as they got into office.”
Snodgrass described the experience as sobering and said it challenged her preconceived ideas about inmates.

“Being in that space with so many students who are so excited to receive an education just made me value my education so much more,” Snodgrass said. “It makes me want to fight harder for education in this state.”

With this money, the program also plans to send interested faculty members to a week-long training in Pennsylvania. It includes courses on teaching methods and philosophies as well as courses in safety.

“It is really important to be aware of students’ safety,” Northwest Regional Program assistant for Inside-Out Katie Dwyer said. “This is not only physical safety, but emotional safety as well.”

Dwyer was part of the first class offered in 2007 when she was only a freshman. She said she soon realized the importance of the program and has been involved ever since.

“If you are the kind of student hoping for more intensity of conversation, then this is an experience like no other,” she said. “People’s opinions and lives are very present during the class.”

Classes will be offered to all University students who are accepted next winter term. The number of classes depends on department interest and is not known at this time.

Liggins encourages anyone who gets the chance to take the class. He says the program changed his life.

“This program gives you a voice on the inside,” Liggins said. “It makes you feel like a human again.”