Dr. Ben WithersInterim Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education &

Director of the Honors Program

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Undergraduate Education Mission Statement

The mission of the Division of Undergraduate Education is to promote academic excellence through collaboration with colleges and support units across the University. The mission is realized through both administrative supervision and support of premier undergraduate programs and academic support units for students and faculty, as well as administrative leadership for curricular reform. Central to this mission is campus leadership on issues pertinent to student retention, curriculum reform, and innovation in teaching and learning.

My Priorities

Get to Know Division

Respond to External Review

Pick-up Loose Threads– Dual-Credit Degree Programs– Central Support for Transfer Students– Foster Continued Success of UK Core

Initiatives for Retention and Success– “The Study North” at the King Library– Strengthen Voice for central programming and

college collaboration

Honors Program

Majors in 11 UK Colleges Agriculture

Arts & Sciences

Business & Econ

Communications

Design

Education

Engineering

Fine Arts

Health Sciences

Nursing

Social Work

UG Studies

College 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Total %

Agriculture 16 22 9 17 20 18 102 6.67%

Arts & Sciences 131 115 102 96 82 122 648 42.38%

Business & Econ 21 17 13 17 13 14 95 6.21%

Communications 7 4 8 8 7 8 42 2.75%

Design 6 7 2 4 1 6 26 1.70%

Education 2 4 4 3 4 6 23 1.50%

Engineering 43 37 35 48 43 80 286 18.71%

Fine Arts 11 5 3 3 4 4 30 1.96%

Health Sciences 4 8 2 1 0 6 21 1.37%

Nursing 3 6 2 5 2 6 24 1.57%

Social Work 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0.07%

UG Studies 63 41 29 36 21 41 231 15.11%

Totals 307 266 209 238 197 312 1529 100.00%

Key Dates in Recent Changes to University Honors

2004: “Honors Program – Reform and Expansion Call for Proposals”

Spring 2010: Proposal for Interdisciplinary Honors Program (rejected)

Fall 2010: “Report of the ad hoc Honors Evaluation Committee,” Honors Program Evaluation Committee, November 9, 2010

March 8, 2012; Senate approves new curriculum

Why Neoteric?

UK has redoubled its emphasis on undergraduate education

100 more Students in Freshman Honors Cohort

Target of 10% of UG Population

Our Neoteric Curriculum

21 Credit Hours of Requirements

Spread Over Four years– 15 Credit Hours of Traditional Coursework

Classes can be in Honors (HON) or in an academic department (H-sections, H-options)

– 6 Credit Hours of Honors ExperiencesEducation Abroad

Service Learning

Undergraduate Research

UK Honors Curriculum

Sample Four Year PlanFirst Year

6-9 Credit Hours

3-6 Hours UK Core

3 Hours Comp&Com.

Second Year

3-6 Credit Hours

One Honors Course

One Honors Experience

Third Year

3-6 Credit Hours

One Honors Course

One Honors Experience

Fourth Year

3 Credit Hours

HON 398 Senior

Capstone

Honors Support and Mentoring

Honors Co-Curriculum and Living-Learning Communities

Honors Courses

HON courses– Seminars, limited to 20 students– Interdisciplinary, geared toward UK Core– 300 level Proseminar

H-Sections– Carry the prefix of the department or school – Small class format preferred: seminars or breakout sections – Taught by full-time faculty– Open to all honors students; instructor may choose to allow

other students to enroll

H-Options

Freshmen 2012: By the Numbers

310 Students

142 4.0 GPA in HS

82 Valedictorians

1171 AP Classes

144 GSP, GSA

32 ACT Median

50 National Merit Finalists

Students from 21 States

AL AR FL GA ID IL IN MD MI MO MS NY OH OR PA TN TX VA WI WV0

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Student Success through Engagement and Support

Access to personalized Honors advising and staff support

Enrollment in Honors Courses

Priority registration in other courses

Access to UK’s most dedicated faculty

Membership in Honors Community– Honors Program Student Council– Living-learning community– New Honors Dorm

What Honors Does For Students….

Complements: “Thread” Honors classes with major requirements and UK Core

Deepens: Through upper-level courses or research in a major

Broadens: Multi-disciplinary HON Seminars, Classes with the best students from across campus

Enriches: Through specially-designed assignments, education abroad, service learning

What Honors can do for Departments/Colleges

Offers faculty a way to teach Honors students in departmental courses (H-Sections; H-Options)

Opportunity to recruit Honors students to your majors and minors

Encourages advanced undergraduate research

We should examine the potential to link distinction in majors to Honors

Neoteric Policies and Procedures

Curriculum is new; policies still being formed and written

Honors staff will work to ascertain demand for different types of courses

Honors staff will work with colleges and departments to identify H-Section courses

Students should be able to graduate with multiple honors: Honors Program and in major

Impact of new VBB process still to be determined

What can we do with the Honors Curriculum

Leave the choice of courses entirely flexible (Michigan State)

Provide coherence and community through– certificates (Texas A&M)– “commendations” (U. Iowa)– clustered courses tied to living-learning

programs (Maryland College Park)

Constellations: Fixed & Flexible

Ursa Major

The Plough

The Wain

Septarshi (7 Sages)

Otava (Salmon Wier)

3 Hunters Pursuing the Great Bear

Coherence and Community through “Constellations”

A “constellation” is a groups of 3-5 courses based on a multi-disciplinary theme

Themes emerge from student interests and faculty research/teaching

Themes linked to campus dorms, living-learning communities

Some Suggestions for Course Constellations

Honors Humanities/Great Books

Sustainability

Entrepreneurship (iNET)

Copy Culture: Replication

Society, Economics, and Disease

Chellgren SLC Coordinators

Identify a general theme around which to organize a cluster;

Recruit a small team of faculty colleagues to serve as members of the SLC;

Schedule and lead planning sessions of the SLC;

Submit a brief outline by Dec 10 that summarizes the proposed cluster.

Each coordinator will receive a $ 1000 research/travel stipend for their leadership during the fall 2012 semester.

Honors Program