Honors Program Committee Meeting Minutes Wednesday
September 2, 2015
1pm Conference Room – Honors Center
Present: William Campbell, Rhyannon Bemis, James Buss, Leanne Wood, Ani Mathers, Stephen
Ford, Rachel Buchanan Elizabeth Skoglund, Darby Dicks
I.
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III.
IV.
The meeting began with an introduction of committee members.
Rhyannon Bemis was elected unanimously chair of the Bellavance Honors Program
Committee for 2015-2016.
Committee Accomplishments- An Overview
A. The Honors Director welcomed new committee members and
addressed/reviewed the accomplishments of the Honors Program Committee
over the past two years which included the development of policies and
procedures for the Honors Program.
B. The Annual Report was distributed and discussed.
C. The Honors Director distributed additional demographic information.
D. The Committee reviewed Honors retention data and graduation rates both
within the Honors Program and within Salisbury University.
E. The Honors Director explained that the focus of the program for the past
recruiting year was to map Honors student enrollment to the students at
Salisbury University.
1. Because of this, the SAT scores, although 100 points higher than the average
scores of SU students dropped somewhat from the previous year.
2. 22% of the students in the Honors Program are out-of-state students.
3. In keeping with national standards, the Honors Program is comprised of
approximately 10% of the student population.
4. There are an historic number of active students in the Honors Program,
taking Honors courses.
F. A copy of the Annual Report will be kept in the library.
Honors College Proposal Update
A. The Director reviewed the status of the Honors College Proposal.
1. The Honors College Proposal was approved by the Honors Program
Committee in April and sent to the Faculty Senate.
2. The Director distributed a paper that was sent to the State Board of Regents
outlining national standards for Honors Colleges and where we stand in the
process.
V.
3. The Honors Director distributed a copy of the letter that the President sent
to the USM Chancellor, requesting the move from an Honors Program to an
Honors College. The letter addressed how the new Honors College at SU
would advance the mission of the university and included a strategic plan for
implementation.
4. The Director explained that we have addressed the financial concerns of
moving to an Honors College: full time director, assistant director, support
staff have already been hired, and scholarships are being offered to Honors
students.
5. The Director mentioned that there would be an additional cost incurred with
an external review of the newly proposed Honors College.
6. The Director discussed that he has met several times with the Development
office to discuss fundraising strategies for the new Honors College and the
naming opportunities and endowed chairs, and smaller opportunities for
sponsorship.
7. The Director distributed a document which addressed the institutions within
the USM system that currently have Honors Colleges and those that have
Honors Programs. Salisbury University is the largest institution within the
USM that does not currently have an Honors College. Two smaller
institutions are also making application for the move to Honors Colleges.
8. The Honors Director and the acting Associate Provost will be attending the
Education Committee of the State Board of Regents on September 22.
a. We should have a response in October.
b. If the proposal is approved, the three year implementation plan would
begin in the spring 2016.
c. The Honors Program Committee could then move forward with proposed
changes to Honors courses.
d. The faculty would begin dialogues about larger curricular issues.
e. Signage could change once proposal is approved, and Admissions could
begin marketing the Honors College.
9. Stephen Ford in consultation with the Senate President discussed the role of
the faculty senate in approving the proposal.
10. The Honors Director reiterated that the Board of Regents had to receive the
proposal before curriculum can be addressed.
Procedural issues
A. There was a short discussion about posting minutes to Honors Program
Committee meetings on the Honors website with a link to the faculty Senate
website.
B. There was a short discussion about the number of voting members needing to
be present to conduct an Honors Program Committee meeting: 4 out of 7.
C. The committee agreed that the Honors Program Committee chair would receive the
minutes from Joan, redact sensitive content, then send to the student editing the
Honors website to be posted, then contact the Faculty Senate webmaster with the link.
VI.
Meeting was adjourned and the committee will be notified about the results of the
Board of Regents meeting before scheduling another committee meeting.
Respectfully submitted,
Joan Wallace