Annual Report, 2014-2015The Honors Program at Ferris State University

Curriculum Development and AssessmentWhen the program was founded in 1997, it was envisioned as a cohort-based residential program. This model served the

Program well in the early days, as it grew quickly and garnered significant notice.

That growth opened up new oppor-tunties: transfer students were admit-ted in 2006; the diversity of majors and interests grew, including the number of terminal Associate Degree seekers in the program; changes to the residential life scholarship and subsequent changes to the housing policy created a commuter population where there was none before. At the same time, more and more students started entering college with a significant proportion of their general education credits already fulfilled: in 2015, about 40% of all entering Honors first time in any college (FTIAC) students had more than 12 credits already completed. And, as students are becoming more aware of the challeng-es of student debt, they are accelerating their programs and graduating in two or three years.

All of these changes put pressure on the traditional cohort-based residential model. Students no longer move in a lock-step through courses; even those in the highly structured curricula at Ferris. We can no longer assume that every student will need public speaking, or one social awareness and one cultural enrichment general education course.

As the program adapts to this new population, it has moved to a model where we provide personalizable academic enrichment and challenges, while supporting students in their aspira-tions for graduate school or other career opportunities. We see ourselves increasingly as providing the small-college experience to students who want the resources of a mid-sized university.

In 2014, we introduced more flexible admissions requirements. After a year of study, the faculty recommended a series of revisions to the curriculum, which were endorsed by the Academic Senate and approved by the Provost. These include the introduction of Honors Contracts, a mechanism for allowing students to pursue Honors coursework in their major. The Honors Students have formed an Honors Student Council to unify the work of the Honors Programming Board and the Honors Peer Mentors, as well as review Honors Contracts, Cultural Events and Travel Funds disbursement. The Alumni Advisory Board convened in Fall 2014, and has passed a set of bylaws for the Honors Alumni Association.

Finally, the Program is developing its process of assessment, developing the first draft of a comprehensive assessment plan, completing its 5-year Academic Program Review self-study, and embarking on the the first NCHC-approved external review this coming academic year.

The Honors Program has grown and matured from a live-learn community, with a focus on supporting a cohort of primarily FTIAC Pre-Pharmacy students, to a mature, adaptable Honors Program with students from all majors on campus. Its adaptability has been rewarded with increased enrollments and greater retention, which have now stabilized at about 325350 first-year students annually, with 2030 transfers. As the total enrollment of the Honors Program rapidly approaches 1000, the feasibility of Honors College status has been raised.

Honors class of 2015

1

2

This year has been a challenging and exciting one. As a part of the regular cycle of Academic Program Review, we were tasked with completing a compre-hensive self-study to be submitted to Academic Program Review Committee in August. As the NCHC develops a new program for external reviewers and certification or recommendation of programs, we took the opportunity to conduct the mandated self-study in line with the NCHCs process.

This task was complicated by the departure of our long-time scretary, Tammy Babcock, who took a promotion to become the secretary for the Budgetary Planning and Analysis Office.

The report, which stands at a collosal 1,800 pages with appendices (165 without) details the Programs history and vision for future, with particular atten-tion to the strategic opportunities that present themselves.

The curriculum revisions proposed by the Curriculum Revision Task-force were endorsed by the Academic Senate with a 97% approval vote, and subsequently endorsed by the Provost. The Program is rapidly approaching 1,000 students--in-deed, at the time I write this, we expect to welcome back 1,006 students in the fall. A commuter population has appeared, and the Program has begun finding ways to support them.

We welcomed Deb Savides, recently of Payroll, to the Program as Secretary Level 3 in June. Deb holds a Master of History, and teaches regularly at Ferris. We also reformulated our part-time position as a Community Manager. The position is responsible for our social media presence as well as our general public relations and marketing. Allegra Damari, a recent graduate of the Honors Program at Ithaca College, joined us in August.

One final note: as I have a great deal of data to share, I would like to highlight one interesting finding. As part of our self-study, we sent a survey out to all current students, alumni, and community members asking about their perceptions of the program. To the right, there are two pie charts of the responses to the question I would not have come to Ferris if the Honors Program were not available to meone from current students and one from Alumni. About 30% of both current and former students mostly agree or completely agree. This finding is not only consistent with our anecdotal sense of the role of the program on campus, it supports our vision of the program as providing a small-col-lege environment in the large University.

I look forward to another challenging and exciting year, as Im sure you do as well!

Welcome from the Director

The purpose of the Honors Program at Ferris State University is to provide intellectual challenges, resources and support to highly able and motivated

students, while encouraging service and leadership for the public good. 2014-2015 saw the largest enrollment, both FTIAC and transfer, in the history of the program, thanks to the new admissions criteria adopted in Spring 2013. These gains were continued in the recruiting for the class of 2015, which we anticipate yielding about 325 FTIACs and 30-35 transfers.

The big story, however, is our improved retention rates. Significant gains in retention across the 2-3 year transition in the past two academic years have caused the total population of Honors to skyrocket to an anticipated total of about 1,000. FTIAC reten-tion rates are shown in the chart on the next page.

With a recruiting target of 350 FTIACs and 30 transfers, we had previously projected passing 1,000 total students in 2018-2019. But that projection was based on retention rates between 2009 and 2013. The upswing in retention across all years in 2014 and 2015 (anticipated) has accelerated our growth.

DEMOGRAPHICS2014 was not just our largest class ever, it was our most diverse.

While we continue to make strides in all aspects of diversity, we have yet to achieve an enrolled popula-tion that reflects the ethnic distribution of the eligible population. This is especially true with African-American students.

By College

As in previous years, the College of Arts and Scienc-es represents about 50% of the current student body, although it is down slightly from last year. The largest increase is in the College of Engineering Technology, which is up to 10% from 8% last fall. Health Professions is up slightly to 16% from 15%, despite changes to the Priority Consideration program.

By Gender

The gender balance of the programmeasured both in terms ofincoming FTIACs student and current students remains at 65% female. As discussed previously, the fact that retention by gender has balanced itself in the last two academic years means that the percentage of women starting the program is now equal to the percentage of women currently in the program. We will discuss Honors retention by gender in Student Life section.

By Ethnicity

As previously mentioned, the percentage of non-White students in the entering FTIAC class has stayed above 10% for the third straight year. While we take this as a success, there is still more work to do. As you can see from the charts to the right, our success in recruiting African-Americans in 2014 were not continued into 2015. At the same time, our work with the Center for Latin@ studies and other organi-zations in Grand Rapids and Holland are bolstering the number of Hispanic / Latino students in the program.

We will continue these efforts, along with our collab-oration with OMSS, to further develop the ethnic diversity of Honors in the future.

Dr. Peter Bradley, Director

3

2014-2015 saw the largest enrollment, both FTIAC and transfer, in the history of the program, thanks to the new admissions criteria adopted in Spring 2013. These gains were continued in the recruiting for the class of 2015, which we anticipate yielding about 325 FTIACs and 30-35 transfers.

The big story, however, is our improved retention rates. Significant gains in retention across the 2-3 year transition in the past two academic years have caused the total population of Honors to skyrocket to an anticipated total of about 1,000. FTIAC reten-tion rates are shown in the chart on the next page.

With a recruiting target of 350 FTIACs and 30 transfers, we had previously projected passing 1,000 total students in 2018-2019. But that projection was based on retention rates between 2009 and 2013. The upswing in retention across all years in 2014 and 2015 (anticipated) has accelerated our growth.

DEMOGRAPHICS2014 was not just our largest class ever, it was our most diverse.

While we continue to make strides in all aspects of diversity, we have yet to achieve an enrolled popula-tion that reflects the ethnic distribution of the eligible population. This is especially true with African-American students.

By College

As in previous years, the College of Arts and Scienc-es represents about 50% of the current student body, although it is down slightly from last year. The largest increase is in the College of Engineering Technology, which is up to 10% from 8% last fall. Health Professions is up slightly to 16% from 15%, despite changes to the Priority Consideration program.

By Gender

The gender balance of the programmeasured both in terms ofincoming FTIACs student and current students remains at 65% female. As discussed previously, the fact that retention by gender has balanced itself in the last two academic years means that the percentage of women starting the program is now equal to the percentage of women currently in the program. We will discuss Honors retention by gender in Student Life section.

By Ethnicity

As previously mentioned, the percentage of non-White students in the entering FTIAC class has stayed above 10% for the third straight year. While we take this as a success, there is still more work to do. As you can see from the charts to the right, our success in recruiting African-Americans in 2014 were not continued into 2015. At the same time, our work with the Center for Latin@ studies and other organi-zations in Grand Rapids and Holland are bolstering the number of Hispanic / Latino students in the program.

We will continue these efforts, along with our collab-oration with OMSS, to further develop the ethnic diversity of Honors in the future.

Enrollment

4

* estimated

* estimated

2014-2015 saw the largest enrollment, both FTIAC and transfer, in the history of the program, thanks to the new admissions criteria adopted in Spring 2013. These gains were continued in the recruiting for the class of 2015, which we anticipate yielding about 325 FTIACs and 30-35 transfers.

The big story, however, is our improved retention rates. Significant gains in retention across the 2-3 year transition in the past two academic years have caused the total population of Honors to skyrocket to an anticipated total of about 1,000. FTIAC reten-tion rates are shown in the chart on the next page.

With a recruiting target of 350 FTIACs and 30 transfers, we had previously projected passing 1,000 total students in 2018-2019. But that projection was based on retention rates between 2009 and 2013. The upswing in retention across all years in 2014 and 2015 (anticipated) has accelerated our growth.

DEMOGRAPHICS2014 was not just our largest class ever, it was our most diverse.

While we continue to make strides in all aspects of diversity, we have yet to achieve an enrolled popula-tion that reflects the ethnic distribution of the eligible population. This is especially true with African-American students.

By College

As in previous years, the College of Arts and Scienc-es represents about 50% of the current student body, although it is down slightly from last year. The largest increase is in the College of Engineering Technology, which is up to 10% from 8% last fall. Health Professions is up slightly to 16% from 15%, despite changes to the Priority Consideration program.

By Gender

The gender balance of the programmeasured both in terms ofincoming FTIACs student and current students remains at 65% female. As discussed previously, the fact that retention by gender has balanced itself in the last two academic years means that the percentage of women starting the program is now equal to the percentage of women currently in the program. We will discuss Honors retention by gender in Student Life section.

By Ethnicity

As previously mentioned, the percentage of non-White students in the entering FTIAC class has stayed above 10% for the third straight year. While we take this as a success, there is still more work to do. As you can see from the charts to the right, our success in recruiting African-Americans in 2014 were not continued into 2015. At the same time, our work with the Center for Latin@ studies and other organi-zations in Grand Rapids and Holland are bolstering the number of Hispanic / Latino students in the program.

We will continue these efforts, along with our collab-oration with OMSS, to further develop the ethnic diversity of Honors in the future.

Despite the myriad of changes happening in the Program, the core experience remains Honors cours-es. Honors students are required to complete 10-credits worth of Honors courses including COMH121: Public Speaking Honors and two 200-level or above general education courses designated with an H.

In anticipation of the new curriculum that will come into effect in Fall 2016, the Program has been offering Honors contracts to students interested in pursuing Honors work in their major. These have grown dramatically in the past academic year, with more than 50 completed in Spring 2015. It is clear that the students enjoy these contracts, and faculty report a high level of satisfaction with the process.

HONORS COURSESThe Program offered nine sections of 200-level general education courses in Fall 2014, and 10 in Spring 2015. As has been the case since 2012, these were dominated by Languages and Literature. As the new curriculum comes into force, we expect this to change.

Enrollment in the courses has been strong, as demonstrated in the chart below. COMH has consistently filled at close to, or over, 100% in all recent semesters except Spring 2015. This was, ironically, because COM decided to offer 7 sections instead of the requested 6.

The 200-level general education courses dipped somewhat with the rise in Honors Contracts. We do not know what impact Contracts will have on course enrollment in the future, but we will keep a close eye on this process as it develops.

This year has seen one curricular innovation to highlight: Reacting to the Past. Reacting to the Past is an in-depth academic role-playing game devel-

oped at Barnard College in the early 2000s. Dr. Bradley used it in his Critical Thinking classes at his previous institution from 2006-2013. These are highly engaging games that require students to adopt the persona and agendas of historical figures and reenact historical moments of the clash of ideas. For the most part, this is done through competing speeches. Reacting was introduced to Ferris by Neil Patten and Donna Smith in their Public Speaking Honors class in Fall 2014, and it was an immediate success. They have since gone on to present it at a Southern States Communication conference in Tampa, and have developed more classes that use the technique. We expect Reacting to significantly enhance our students experience in COMH.

HONORS CONTRACTSIn their first year of use, 8 students completed Honors contracts in 4 distinct disciplines. In Fall 2014 alone, 14 students completed contracts in 11 distinct disciplines; and in Spring 2015, 55 students complet-ed contracts in 20 distinct disciplines. 22 students complet-ed contracts in Stats for Life Sciences, signaling the need

for an Honors section of that course.

The results of one of these contracts, Bryce Morgan, Plastics Engineering student, is shown to the left.

SCHOLARSHIPSEdwin Harris Memorial Scholarship: Shaelyn Domansky, 2014; Mary Stoll, 2015

Maude Bigford: Aubrey Hire and Tony MacArthur, 2014; Felicia Doolin and Nicole Outman, 2015.

COMPLETION76 students earned their medallion in 2014-2015, down slightly from Spring 2014, but well within range of normal for the past five years. 71 of those completed in Spring semester. Of those, 57% report going to graduate school immediate-

ly, and 17% report having some immediate future plans for a job or intern-ship. We added a new category this year, gap year, for those who intend to go to Graduate school, but are wait listed or need a year to prepare their application. 7% of 2015 medallions fall into that category.

5

Through our partners on campus, the Honors program offers special opportunities for its students seeking placement in our graduate or professional programs.

COLLEGE OF PHARMACYEnrollment in the Pre-Phar-macy program continues to decrease, in real numbers as well as percentage of the Program.

As the College of Pharmacy transitioned from a 2-year undergraduate requirement to a 3-year undergraduate requirement, the number of Honors students enrolling dipped dramatically from 35 in 2013 to only 7 in 2014. Thankfully, we recovered in 2015, with 33 students (or 32% of the entering class) hailing from Honors.

MICHIGAN COLLEGE OF OPTOMETRYEnrollment in the Pre-Opt Program, and subse-quently MCO, has been very strong in the past few years. MCO admitted 10 Honors students in 2015, who make up a full 26% of their entering class. This is a record year for early-admission, as previous years high in 2011 entered after com-pleting undergraduate.

COLLEGE OF HEALTH PRO-FESSIONSThe Nursing program in the College of Health Professions changed their priority consideration for Honors students from a reserved seat model to a competitive model. Starting in Fall 2016, 25% of the 64 seats in the Nursing program will now be awarded competitively based on the students record, rather than on the basis of a waiting list.

The rates of admission to Nursing under the reserved seat model did not fluctuate from year to year, so no chart is included in this report.

As we move forward under the new model, we expect greater variation, and will track comple-tion of the Program and admission to Nursing for Honors students. We do expect the rate of admission to stay the same or increase slightly from the current rate of about 10-15 students annually.

There has been no change to the priority consid-eration offered by Molecular Diagnostics or Diagnostic Medical Sonography in the College of Health Professions.

* estimated

* estimated

* estimated

* estimated

Curriculum

2014-2015 saw the largest enrollment, both FTIAC and transfer, in the history of the program, thanks to the new admissions criteria adopted in Spring 2013. These gains were continued in the recruiting for the class of 2015, which we anticipate yielding about 325 FTIACs and 30-35 transfers.

The big story, however, is our improved retention rates. Significant gains in retention across the 2-3 year transition in the past two academic years have caused the total population of Honors to skyrocket to an anticipated total of about 1,000. FTIAC reten-tion rates are shown in the chart on the next page.

With a recruiting target of 350 FTIACs and 30 transfers, we had previously projected passing 1,000 total students in 2018-2019. But that projection was based on retention rates between 2009 and 2013. The upswing in retention across all years in 2014 and 2015 (anticipated) has accelerated our growth.

DEMOGRAPHICS2014 was not just our largest class ever, it was our most diverse.

While we continue to make strides in all aspects of diversity, we have yet to achieve an enrolled popula-tion that reflects the ethnic distribution of the eligible population. This is especially true with African-American students.

By College

As in previous years, the College of Arts and Scienc-es represents about 50% of the current student body, although it is down slightly from last year. The largest increase is in the College of Engineering Technology, which is up to 10% from 8% last fall. Health Professions is up slightly to 16% from 15%, despite changes to the Priority Consideration program.

By Gender

The gender balance of the programmeasured both in terms ofincoming FTIACs student and current students remains at 65% female. As discussed previously, the fact that retention by gender has balanced itself in the last two academic years means that the percentage of women starting the program is now equal to the percentage of women currently in the program. We will discuss Honors retention by gender in Student Life section.

By Ethnicity

As previously mentioned, the percentage of non-White students in the entering FTIAC class has stayed above 10% for the third straight year. While we take this as a success, there is still more work to do. As you can see from the charts to the right, our success in recruiting African-Americans in 2014 were not continued into 2015. At the same time, our work with the Center for Latin@ studies and other organi-zations in Grand Rapids and Holland are bolstering the number of Hispanic / Latino students in the program.

We will continue these efforts, along with our collab-oration with OMSS, to further develop the ethnic diversity of Honors in the future.

Despite the myriad of changes happening in the Program, the core experience remains Honors cours-es. Honors students are required to complete 10-credits worth of Honors courses including COMH121: Public Speaking Honors and two 200-level or above general education courses designated with an H.

In anticipation of the new curriculum that will come into effect in Fall 2016, the Program has been offering Honors contracts to students interested in pursuing Honors work in their major. These have grown dramatically in the past academic year, with more than 50 completed in Spring 2015. It is clear that the students enjoy these contracts, and faculty report a high level of satisfaction with the process.

HONORS COURSESThe Program offered nine sections of 200-level general education courses in Fall 2014, and 10 in Spring 2015. As has been the case since 2012, these were dominated by Languages and Literature. As the new curriculum comes into force, we expect this to change.

Enrollment in the courses has been strong, as demonstrated in the chart below. COMH has consistently filled at close to, or over, 100% in all recent semesters except Spring 2015. This was, ironically, because COM decided to offer 7 sections instead of the requested 6.

The 200-level general education courses dipped somewhat with the rise in Honors Contracts. We do not know what impact Contracts will have on course enrollment in the future, but we will keep a close eye on this process as it develops.

This year has seen one curricular innovation to highlight: Reacting to the Past. Reacting to the Past is an in-depth academic role-playing game devel-

oped at Barnard College in the early 2000s. Dr. Bradley used it in his Critical Thinking classes at his previous institution from 2006-2013. These are highly engaging games that require students to adopt the persona and agendas of historical figures and reenact historical moments of the clash of ideas. For the most part, this is done through competing speeches. Reacting was introduced to Ferris by Neil Patten and Donna Smith in their Public Speaking Honors class in Fall 2014, and it was an immediate success. They have since gone on to present it at a Southern States Communication conference in Tampa, and have developed more classes that use the technique. We expect Reacting to significantly enhance our students experience in COMH.

HONORS CONTRACTSIn their first year of use, 8 students completed Honors contracts in 4 distinct disciplines. In Fall 2014 alone, 14 students completed contracts in 11 distinct disciplines; and in Spring 2015, 55 students complet-ed contracts in 20 distinct disciplines. 22 students complet-ed contracts in Stats for Life Sciences, signaling the need

for an Honors section of that course.

The results of one of these contracts, Bryce Morgan, Plastics Engineering student, is shown to the left.

SCHOLARSHIPSEdwin Harris Memorial Scholarship: Shaelyn Domansky, 2014; Mary Stoll, 2015

Maude Bigford: Aubrey Hire and Tony MacArthur, 2014; Felicia Doolin and Nicole Outman, 2015.

COMPLETION76 students earned their medallion in 2014-2015, down slightly from Spring 2014, but well within range of normal for the past five years. 71 of those completed in Spring semester. Of those, 57% report going to graduate school immediate-

ly, and 17% report having some immediate future plans for a job or intern-ship. We added a new category this year, gap year, for those who intend to go to Graduate school, but are wait listed or need a year to prepare their application. 7% of 2015 medallions fall into that category.

Outstanding Professor2015 Spring Anne Spain Biology2014 Fall Neil Patten Communication2014 Spring Paul Klatt Biology2013 Fall Charles Vannette Foreign Languages (German)2013 Spring Bradley Isler Biology2012 Fall Stephen Lee Pharmaceutical Sciences2012 Spring Diane Maguire Business / Professional Golf Management2012 Spring Annette Keyt Management

6

Through our partners on campus, the Honors program offers special opportunities for its students seeking placement in our graduate or professional programs.

COLLEGE OF PHARMACYEnrollment in the Pre-Phar-macy program continues to decrease, in real numbers as well as percentage of the Program.

As the College of Pharmacy transitioned from a 2-year undergraduate requirement to a 3-year undergraduate requirement, the number of Honors students enrolling dipped dramatically from 35 in 2013 to only 7 in 2014. Thankfully, we recovered in 2015, with 33 students (or 32% of the entering class) hailing from Honors.

MICHIGAN COLLEGE OF OPTOMETRYEnrollment in the Pre-Opt Program, and subse-quently MCO, has been very strong in the past few years. MCO admitted 10 Honors students in 2015, who make up a full 26% of their entering class. This is a record year for early-admission, as previous years high in 2011 entered after com-pleting undergraduate.

COLLEGE OF HEALTH PRO-FESSIONSThe Nursing program in the College of Health Professions changed their priority consideration for Honors students from a reserved seat model to a competitive model. Starting in Fall 2016, 25% of the 64 seats in the Nursing program will now be awarded competitively based on the students record, rather than on the basis of a waiting list.

The rates of admission to Nursing under the reserved seat model did not fluctuate from year to year, so no chart is included in this report.

As we move forward under the new model, we expect greater variation, and will track comple-tion of the Program and admission to Nursing for Honors students. We do expect the rate of admission to stay the same or increase slightly from the current rate of about 10-15 students annually.

There has been no change to the priority consid-eration offered by Molecular Diagnostics or Diagnostic Medical Sonography in the College of Health Professions.

* estimated

* estimated

* estimated

Despite the myriad of changes happening in the Program, the core experience remains Honors cours-es. Honors students are required to complete 10-credits worth of Honors courses including COMH121: Public Speaking Honors and two 200-level or above general education courses designated with an H.

In anticipation of the new curriculum that will come into effect in Fall 2016, the Program has been offering Honors contracts to students interested in pursuing Honors work in their major. These have grown dramatically in the past academic year, with more than 50 completed in Spring 2015. It is clear that the students enjoy these contracts, and faculty report a high level of satisfaction with the process.

HONORS COURSESThe Program offered nine sections of 200-level general education courses in Fall 2014, and 10 in Spring 2015. As has been the case since 2012, these were dominated by Languages and Literature. As the new curriculum comes into force, we expect this to change.

Enrollment in the courses has been strong, as demonstrated in the chart below. COMH has consistently filled at close to, or over, 100% in all recent semesters except Spring 2015. This was, ironically, because COM decided to offer 7 sections instead of the requested 6.

The 200-level general education courses dipped somewhat with the rise in Honors Contracts. We do not know what impact Contracts will have on course enrollment in the future, but we will keep a close eye on this process as it develops.

This year has seen one curricular innovation to highlight: Reacting to the Past. Reacting to the Past is an in-depth academic role-playing game devel-

oped at Barnard College in the early 2000s. Dr. Bradley used it in his Critical Thinking classes at his previous institution from 2006-2013. These are highly engaging games that require students to adopt the persona and agendas of historical figures and reenact historical moments of the clash of ideas. For the most part, this is done through competing speeches. Reacting was introduced to Ferris by Neil Patten and Donna Smith in their Public Speaking Honors class in Fall 2014, and it was an immediate success. They have since gone on to present it at a Southern States Communication conference in Tampa, and have developed more classes that use the technique. We expect Reacting to significantly enhance our students experience in COMH.

HONORS CONTRACTSIn their first year of use, 8 students completed Honors contracts in 4 distinct disciplines. In Fall 2014 alone, 14 students completed contracts in 11 distinct disciplines; and in Spring 2015, 55 students complet-ed contracts in 20 distinct disciplines. 22 students complet-ed contracts in Stats for Life Sciences, signaling the need

for an Honors section of that course.

The results of one of these contracts, Bryce Morgan, Plastics Engineering student, is shown to the left.

SCHOLARSHIPSEdwin Harris Memorial Scholarship: Shaelyn Domansky, 2014; Mary Stoll, 2015

Maude Bigford: Aubrey Hire and Tony MacArthur, 2014; Felicia Doolin and Nicole Outman, 2015.

COMPLETION76 students earned their medallion in 2014-2015, down slightly from Spring 2014, but well within range of normal for the past five years. 71 of those completed in Spring semester. Of those, 57% report going to graduate school immediate-

ly, and 17% report having some immediate future plans for a job or intern-ship. We added a new category this year, gap year, for those who intend to go to Graduate school, but are wait listed or need a year to prepare their application. 7% of 2015 medallions fall into that category.

Rachel Crane, Architecture 15, with her poster at Senior Symposium 2015

Bryce Morgan Honors Contract:

CNC Router- Programming and Machining

7

Through our partners on campus, the Honors program offers special opportunities for its students seeking placement in our graduate or professional programs.

COLLEGE OF PHARMACYEnrollment in the Pre-Phar-macy program continues to decrease, in real numbers as well as percentage of the Program.

As the College of Pharmacy transitioned from a 2-year undergraduate requirement to a 3-year undergraduate requirement, the number of Honors students enrolling dipped dramatically from 35 in 2013 to only 7 in 2014. Thankfully, we recovered in 2015, with 33 students (or 32% of the entering class) hailing from Honors.

MICHIGAN COLLEGE OF OPTOMETRYEnrollment in the Pre-Opt Program, and subse-quently MCO, has been very strong in the past few years. MCO admitted 10 Honors students in 2015, who make up a full 26% of their entering class. This is a record year for early-admission, as previous years high in 2011 entered after com-pleting undergraduate.

COLLEGE OF HEALTH PRO-FESSIONSThe Nursing program in the College of Health Professions changed their priority consideration for Honors students from a reserved seat model to a competitive model. Starting in Fall 2016, 25% of the 64 seats in the Nursing program will now be awarded competitively based on the students record, rather than on the basis of a waiting list.

The rates of admission to Nursing under the reserved seat model did not fluctuate from year to year, so no chart is included in this report.

As we move forward under the new model, we expect greater variation, and will track comple-tion of the Program and admission to Nursing for Honors students. We do expect the rate of admission to stay the same or increase slightly from the current rate of about 10-15 students annually.

There has been no change to the priority consid-eration offered by Molecular Diagnostics or Diagnostic Medical Sonography in the College of Health Professions.

Despite the myriad of changes happening in the Program, the core experience remains Honors cours-es. Honors students are required to complete 10-credits worth of Honors courses including COMH121: Public Speaking Honors and two 200-level or above general education courses designated with an H.

In anticipation of the new curriculum that will come into effect in Fall 2016, the Program has been offering Honors contracts to students interested in pursuing Honors work in their major. These have grown dramatically in the past academic year, with more than 50 completed in Spring 2015. It is clear that the students enjoy these contracts, and faculty report a high level of satisfaction with the process.

HONORS COURSESThe Program offered nine sections of 200-level general education courses in Fall 2014, and 10 in Spring 2015. As has been the case since 2012, these were dominated by Languages and Literature. As the new curriculum comes into force, we expect this to change.

Enrollment in the courses has been strong, as demonstrated in the chart below. COMH has consistently filled at close to, or over, 100% in all recent semesters except Spring 2015. This was, ironically, because COM decided to offer 7 sections instead of the requested 6.

The 200-level general education courses dipped somewhat with the rise in Honors Contracts. We do not know what impact Contracts will have on course enrollment in the future, but we will keep a close eye on this process as it develops.

This year has seen one curricular innovation to highlight: Reacting to the Past. Reacting to the Past is an in-depth academic role-playing game devel-

oped at Barnard College in the early 2000s. Dr. Bradley used it in his Critical Thinking classes at his previous institution from 2006-2013. These are highly engaging games that require students to adopt the persona and agendas of historical figures and reenact historical moments of the clash of ideas. For the most part, this is done through competing speeches. Reacting was introduced to Ferris by Neil Patten and Donna Smith in their Public Speaking Honors class in Fall 2014, and it was an immediate success. They have since gone on to present it at a Southern States Communication conference in Tampa, and have developed more classes that use the technique. We expect Reacting to significantly enhance our students experience in COMH.

Special Opportunities

HONORS CONTRACTSIn their first year of use, 8 students completed Honors contracts in 4 distinct disciplines. In Fall 2014 alone, 14 students completed contracts in 11 distinct disciplines; and in Spring 2015, 55 students complet-ed contracts in 20 distinct disciplines. 22 students complet-ed contracts in Stats for Life Sciences, signaling the need

for an Honors section of that course.

The results of one of these contracts, Bryce Morgan, Plastics Engineering student, is shown to the left.

SCHOLARSHIPSEdwin Harris Memorial Scholarship: Shaelyn Domansky, 2014; Mary Stoll, 2015

Maude Bigford: Aubrey Hire and Tony MacArthur, 2014; Felicia Doolin and Nicole Outman, 2015.

COMPLETION76 students earned their medallion in 2014-2015, down slightly from Spring 2014, but well within range of normal for the past five years. 71 of those completed in Spring semester. Of those, 57% report going to graduate school immediate-

ly, and 17% report having some immediate future plans for a job or intern-ship. We added a new category this year, gap year, for those who intend to go to Graduate school, but are wait listed or need a year to prepare their application. 7% of 2015 medallions fall into that category.

8

Through our partners on campus, the Honors program offers special opportunities for its students seeking placement in our graduate or professional programs.

COLLEGE OF PHARMACYEnrollment in the Pre-Phar-macy program continues to decrease, in real numbers as well as percentage of the Program.

As the College of Pharmacy transitioned from a 2-year undergraduate requirement to a 3-year undergraduate requirement, the number of Honors students enrolling dipped dramatically from 35 in 2013 to only 7 in 2014. Thankfully, we recovered in 2015, with 33 students (or 32% of the entering class) hailing from Honors.

MICHIGAN COLLEGE OF OPTOMETRYEnrollment in the Pre-Opt Program, and subse-quently MCO, has been very strong in the past few years. MCO admitted 10 Honors students in 2015, who make up a full 26% of their entering class. This is a record year for early-admission, as previous years high in 2011 entered after com-pleting undergraduate.

COLLEGE OF HEALTH PRO-FESSIONSThe Nursing program in the College of Health Professions changed their priority consideration for Honors students from a reserved seat model to a competitive model. Starting in Fall 2016, 25% of the 64 seats in the Nursing program will now be awarded competitively based on the students record, rather than on the basis of a waiting list.

The rates of admission to Nursing under the reserved seat model did not fluctuate from year to year, so no chart is included in this report.

As we move forward under the new model, we expect greater variation, and will track comple-tion of the Program and admission to Nursing for Honors students. We do expect the rate of admission to stay the same or increase slightly from the current rate of about 10-15 students annually.

There has been no change to the priority consid-eration offered by Molecular Diagnostics or Diagnostic Medical Sonography in the College of Health Professions.

* estimated

* estimated

RETENTIONIn last years report, we noted with some concern an apparent disparity in the rate of retention between men and women in the 2-3 year transition. The data, while limited, appeared to show that women stayed in the Honors Program into their 3rd and 4th years at a higher rate than men. This finding was consis-tent with anecodotal and qualitiative reports we had gathered from the students in exit inter-views.

We are happy to report that this trend is no longer apparent. The chart below shows the percentage of males in cohorts from 2009-2015. Each line represents one year retention: black is percentage of males when they started, grey after 1 year, yellow after 2 years and red at medallion. The trend we noted last year is apparent in cohorts 2009 and 2010, but is corrected by cohort 2011.

AWARDSThe Outstanding Scholar is recognized annually at the spring banquet. Outstanding Service and Outstanding Peer Mentor are typically recognized at the Fall Awards banquet.

The 2015 Outstanding Scholar was Michelle Dunn, a Pre-Vet student, who is now enrolled in Michigan States Veterinary program.

The Outstanding Service award was given to Logan

Bixman; while the Outstanding Peer Mentor was Nicole Outman.

HONORS STUDENT AS-SOCIATIONThe Honors Student Council approved the 77 honors contracts completed this year, along with another 10 or so that were not completed.

They distributed $15,870 in travel funds requests to 34 unique students going to 10 different countries and 6 academic conferences.

After some review, the Honors Student Council has decided to develop an Honor Code for academic honesty in curricular and co-curricular work during academic year 2015-2016.

They also chose the cultural bus trips this year, opting for Mary Poppins at the Civic Theatre in the fall as well as a day at Art Prize.

Student Engagement on CampusAwards

Recognition of Honors students continues, not just within the Program, but by the University and others.

Melanie Lobsinger, Architecture 16, was awarded the William Jefferson Clinton Scholar-ship to study at the the American University in Dubai. She followed Erin Martin, who was a Clinton Scholar in 2013. The William Jefferson Clinton Scholarship is an elite nationally-com-petitive scholarship for Architecture students, and having two Clinton scholars in two years, both from Honors, is a significant achievement.

Arts: Theatre

Honors students continued to participate in the Theatre productions, even though the plays this year had smaller casts than in previous years.

Athletes

The population of student athletes continues to grow, including about 60% of the Womens soccer and Womens Volleyball teams.

2015 Outstanding Scholar Michelle Dunn speaking at the Spring Awards Banquet

9

Outstanding Scholar

2015 Michelle Dunn2014 Danielle Lefevre2013 Abigail Dutkiewicz2012 Leah Kelly2011 Cody Becksvoort2010 Hope Kwapiszewski2009 Caitlin Hutchison2008 Anthony Cox2007 Marshall Gladding2006 Rita Ellison2005 Bret Muter2004 Erin Frankowicz2003 Alex Capaldi

Student LifeMEHAAfter changing our region-al affiliation from the Upper Midwest to the geo-graphically more accessible Mid East, we have been able to bring students to the regional confer-ence in both 2014 and 2015. While the previous Coordinator travelled to the Upper Midwest Regional Conference prior to 2013, we have no record of students attending.

In 2014, four students attended MEHA at Grand Valley State Univeristy, but none presented papers. One faculty member attended. This changed in 2015, with seven students attending the annual conference at Kent State University. Five students presented posters and one presented a paper.

Erika Segraves (Poster) - Doctors of Chiroprac-tic: Doctors of the FutureAllison Knikelbine (Poster)- Nutrition & Child BehaviorRachael Bouwma (Poster) - Approaching Social JusticeNicole Outman (Poster) - Sexism: Case Stud-ies from the Museum of Sexist ObjectsKyle Denny (Poster) - Computing In MinecraftMabel Accosta (Paper presentation) - Business Brand Competition

* estimated

RETENTIONIn last years report, we noted with some concern an apparent disparity in the rate of retention between men and women in the 2-3 year transition. The data, while limited, appeared to show that women stayed in the Honors Program into their 3rd and 4th years at a higher rate than men. This finding was consis-tent with anecodotal and qualitiative reports we had gathered from the students in exit inter-views.

We are happy to report that this trend is no longer apparent. The chart below shows the percentage of males in cohorts from 2009-2015. Each line represents one year retention: black is percentage of males when they started, grey after 1 year, yellow after 2 years and red at medallion. The trend we noted last year is apparent in cohorts 2009 and 2010, but is corrected by cohort 2011.

AWARDSThe Outstanding Scholar is recognized annually at the spring banquet. Outstanding Service and Outstanding Peer Mentor are typically recognized at the Fall Awards banquet.

The 2015 Outstanding Scholar was Michelle Dunn, a Pre-Vet student, who is now enrolled in Michigan States Veterinary program.

The Outstanding Service award was given to Logan

Bixman; while the Outstanding Peer Mentor was Nicole Outman.

HONORS STUDENT AS-SOCIATIONThe Honors Student Council approved the 77 honors contracts completed this year, along with another 10 or so that were not completed.

They distributed $15,870 in travel funds requests to 34 unique students going to 10 different countries and 6 academic conferences.

After some review, the Honors Student Council has decided to develop an Honor Code for academic honesty in curricular and co-curricular work during academic year 2015-2016.

They also chose the cultural bus trips this year, opting for Mary Poppins at the Civic Theatre in the fall as well as a day at Art Prize.

Student Engagement on CampusAwards

Recognition of Honors students continues, not just within the Program, but by the University and others.

Melanie Lobsinger, Architecture 16, was awarded the William Jefferson Clinton Scholar-ship to study at the the American University in Dubai. She followed Erin Martin, who was a Clinton Scholar in 2013. The William Jefferson Clinton Scholarship is an elite nationally-com-petitive scholarship for Architecture students, and having two Clinton scholars in two years, both from Honors, is a significant achievement.

Arts: Theatre

Honors students continued to participate in the Theatre productions, even though the plays this year had smaller casts than in previous years.

Athletes

The population of student athletes continues to grow, including about 60% of the Womens soccer and Womens Volleyball teams.

10

MEHAAfter changing our region-al affiliation from the Upper Midwest to the geo-graphically more accessible Mid East, we have been able to bring students to the regional confer-ence in both 2014 and 2015. While the previous Coordinator travelled to the Upper Midwest Regional Conference prior to 2013, we have no record of students attending.

In 2014, four students attended MEHA at Grand Valley State Univeristy, but none presented papers. One faculty member attended. This changed in 2015, with seven students attending the annual conference at Kent State University. Five students presented posters and one presented a paper.

Erika Segraves (Poster) - Doctors of Chiroprac-tic: Doctors of the FutureAllison Knikelbine (Poster)- Nutrition & Child BehaviorRachael Bouwma (Poster) - Approaching Social JusticeNicole Outman (Poster) - Sexism: Case Stud-ies from the Museum of Sexist ObjectsKyle Denny (Poster) - Computing In MinecraftMabel Accosta (Paper presentation) - Business Brand Competition

Each Honors student is required to hold a leadership position by the time he or she graduates. Each student completes a short reflection paper on their experience of leadership, and how his or her leadership style affected the group, or was changed as a result of the experience. These data represent only the RSO the student choose to report, although many students belong to and lead a number of different RSOs.

To the left, we chart the distribution of Leadership posi-tions reported during the 2014-2015 academic year by the primary purpose of the RSO. Academic RSOs include both major-specific clubs (i.e. Pre-PharmD Club) and Honors societies (i.e. Phi Sigma Tau). Social Greek orga-nizations (Fraternities and sororities) are classified as Social / Cultural.

The large proportion of leadership positions in Honors is due to the Honors Peer Mentor Program.

Leadership Positions

Service:Amber CumingsIva HaveRachel Garrity

Leadership: Aaron Biever, FSU Outdoor clubNicole Christy, HPB and othersTavis Hodder, Colleges against cancerSam Wohlfeil, MIMA

Stoles 2015

RETENTIONIn last years report, we noted with some concern an apparent disparity in the rate of retention between men and women in the 2-3 year transition. The data, while limited, appeared to show that women stayed in the Honors Program into their 3rd and 4th years at a higher rate than men. This finding was consis-tent with anecodotal and qualitiative reports we had gathered from the students in exit inter-views.

We are happy to report that this trend is no longer apparent. The chart below shows the percentage of males in cohorts from 2009-2015. Each line represents one year retention: black is percentage of males when they started, grey after 1 year, yellow after 2 years and red at medallion. The trend we noted last year is apparent in cohorts 2009 and 2010, but is corrected by cohort 2011.

AWARDSThe Outstanding Scholar is recognized annually at the spring banquet. Outstanding Service and Outstanding Peer Mentor are typically recognized at the Fall Awards banquet.

The 2015 Outstanding Scholar was Michelle Dunn, a Pre-Vet student, who is now enrolled in Michigan States Veterinary program.

The Outstanding Service award was given to Logan

Bixman; while the Outstanding Peer Mentor was Nicole Outman.

HONORS STUDENT AS-SOCIATIONThe Honors Student Council approved the 77 honors contracts completed this year, along with another 10 or so that were not completed.

They distributed $15,870 in travel funds requests to 34 unique students going to 10 different countries and 6 academic conferences.

After some review, the Honors Student Council has decided to develop an Honor Code for academic honesty in curricular and co-curricular work during academic year 2015-2016.

They also chose the cultural bus trips this year, opting for Mary Poppins at the Civic Theatre in the fall as well as a day at Art Prize.

Student Engagement on CampusAwards

Recognition of Honors students continues, not just within the Program, but by the University and others.

Melanie Lobsinger, Architecture 16, was awarded the William Jefferson Clinton Scholar-ship to study at the the American University in Dubai. She followed Erin Martin, who was a Clinton Scholar in 2013. The William Jefferson Clinton Scholarship is an elite nationally-com-petitive scholarship for Architecture students, and having two Clinton scholars in two years, both from Honors, is a significant achievement.

Arts: Theatre

Honors students continued to participate in the Theatre productions, even though the plays this year had smaller casts than in previous years.

Athletes

The population of student athletes continues to grow, including about 60% of the Womens soccer and Womens Volleyball teams.

In an effort to make an explict connection between the values of the program as enshrined in our purpose statement and the requirements students satisfy, the Program worked with the Honors Student Council to draft the Four Columns, a kind of vision and values document that connects the regular activities of the program explicitly with the purpose statement and outcomes measured.

It reads:

In Fall 2014, we launched the Days of Service and Learning with the help of the Honors Americorps Vista Volunteer, Jake Pollock. The program will be expanded significantly for 2015.

Students are provided with an opportunity to partici-pate in a project that is tied to their major and will allow them the chance to give back to their commu-nity. Community partners create a project for 550 students to accom-plish a task on the day of service. Facilitators, who are upper-class peer mentors, provide necessary leadership for volunteers and help in getting students to reflect on the importance of volunteering and service learning.

With our first Days of Service event we had 6 community partners, with 93 student volunteers (15 of which were facilitators), who served over 500 hours volunteering.

Assessment efforts relating to the Days

of Serice and Learning show that the students as well as the community partners appreciat-ed the opportunities provided to them. Students showed positive feedback throughout the process, including word of mouth and survey feedback. Community partners also showed positive feedback through word of mouth, thank you emails, and survey data. There were some concerns raised about the need for better advertising of the event to both students and community

partners, which will be addressed in the next instance, Fall 2015.

MICC AWARDSSeven of the fourteen Ferris students recieveing the Michigan Campus Compacts Heart and Soul award were in Honors this year, including our Outstanding Scholar, Michelle Dunn. Logan England, Business Admin 17, was recognized with the Commitment to Service award.

Melanie Lobsinger, 2014 Clinton Scholar at the Sheikh Zayad Mosque in Dubai

Success Spot-light: Vanessa Colletti

When I first started as a freshman at Ferris, I was not 100% on what I wanted to do after graduation. The Criminal Justice and addi-tional Honors curriculum helped me find my focus and make the decision to try to attend Law School after graduating undergrad in three years. Honors courses and faculty force students to think in a unique way that gets the mind working differently than it would in other classes. Though I had to do most of the testing and application process on my own, the backing I knew I had at Ferris was encouragement enough. I did well on my LSAT and was accepted to several Law Schools. Thanks to the founda-tion I received at Ferris and specifically in the Honors Program, I know I will continue to succeed when I attend Law School at the University of Minnesota this fall.

11

MEHAAfter changing our region-al affiliation from the Upper Midwest to the geo-graphically more accessible Mid East, we have been able to bring students to the regional confer-ence in both 2014 and 2015. While the previous Coordinator travelled to the Upper Midwest Regional Conference prior to 2013, we have no record of students attending.

In 2014, four students attended MEHA at Grand Valley State Univeristy, but none presented papers. One faculty member attended. This changed in 2015, with seven students attending the annual conference at Kent State University. Five students presented posters and one presented a paper.

Erika Segraves (Poster) - Doctors of Chiroprac-tic: Doctors of the FutureAllison Knikelbine (Poster)- Nutrition & Child BehaviorRachael Bouwma (Poster) - Approaching Social JusticeNicole Outman (Poster) - Sexism: Case Stud-ies from the Museum of Sexist ObjectsKyle Denny (Poster) - Computing In MinecraftMabel Accosta (Paper presentation) - Business Brand Competition

Four Columns

RETENTIONIn last years report, we noted with some concern an apparent disparity in the rate of retention between men and women in the 2-3 year transition. The data, while limited, appeared to show that women stayed in the Honors Program into their 3rd and 4th years at a higher rate than men. This finding was consis-tent with anecodotal and qualitiative reports we had gathered from the students in exit inter-views.

We are happy to report that this trend is no longer apparent. The chart below shows the percentage of males in cohorts from 2009-2015. Each line represents one year retention: black is percentage of males when they started, grey after 1 year, yellow after 2 years and red at medallion. The trend we noted last year is apparent in cohorts 2009 and 2010, but is corrected by cohort 2011.

AWARDSThe Outstanding Scholar is recognized annually at the spring banquet. Outstanding Service and Outstanding Peer Mentor are typically recognized at the Fall Awards banquet.

The 2015 Outstanding Scholar was Michelle Dunn, a Pre-Vet student, who is now enrolled in Michigan States Veterinary program.

The Outstanding Service award was given to Logan

Bixman; while the Outstanding Peer Mentor was Nicole Outman.

HONORS STUDENT AS-SOCIATIONThe Honors Student Council approved the 77 honors contracts completed this year, along with another 10 or so that were not completed.

They distributed $15,870 in travel funds requests to 34 unique students going to 10 different countries and 6 academic conferences.

After some review, the Honors Student Council has decided to develop an Honor Code for academic honesty in curricular and co-curricular work during academic year 2015-2016.

They also chose the cultural bus trips this year, opting for Mary Poppins at the Civic Theatre in the fall as well as a day at Art Prize.

Student Engagement on CampusAwards

Recognition of Honors students continues, not just within the Program, but by the University and others.

Melanie Lobsinger, Architecture 16, was awarded the William Jefferson Clinton Scholar-ship to study at the the American University in Dubai. She followed Erin Martin, who was a Clinton Scholar in 2013. The William Jefferson Clinton Scholarship is an elite nationally-com-petitive scholarship for Architecture students, and having two Clinton scholars in two years, both from Honors, is a significant achievement.

Arts: Theatre

Honors students continued to participate in the Theatre productions, even though the plays this year had smaller casts than in previous years.

Athletes

The population of student athletes continues to grow, including about 60% of the Womens soccer and Womens Volleyball teams.

In an effort to make an explict connection between the values of the program as enshrined in our purpose statement and the requirements students satisfy, the Program worked with the Honors Student Council to draft the Four Columns, a kind of vision and values document that connects the regular activities of the program explicitly with the purpose statement and outcomes measured.

It reads:

In Fall 2014, we launched the Days of Service and Learning with the help of the Honors Americorps Vista Volunteer, Jake Pollock. The program will be expanded significantly for 2015.

Students are provided with an opportunity to partici-pate in a project that is tied to their major and will allow them the chance to give back to their commu-nity. Community partners create a project for 550 students to accom-plish a task on the day of service. Facilitators, who are upper-class peer mentors, provide necessary leadership for volunteers and help in getting students to reflect on the importance of volunteering and service learning.

With our first Days of Service event we had 6 community partners, with 93 student volunteers (15 of which were facilitators), who served over 500 hours volunteering.

Assessment efforts relating to the Days

of Serice and Learning show that the students as well as the community partners appreciat-ed the opportunities provided to them. Students showed positive feedback throughout the process, including word of mouth and survey feedback. Community partners also showed positive feedback through word of mouth, thank you emails, and survey data. There were some concerns raised about the need for better advertising of the event to both students and community

partners, which will be addressed in the next instance, Fall 2015.

MICC AWARDSSeven of the fourteen Ferris students recieveing the Michigan Campus Compacts Heart and Soul award were in Honors this year, including our Outstanding Scholar, Michelle Dunn. Logan England, Business Admin 17, was recognized with the Commitment to Service award.

We, as Honors students at Ferris State University, aspire to achieve excellence through our commit-ments to:

Strive for intellectual autonomy and academic excellence so that we may be prepared to contribute to the advancement of our chosen professions by completing at least ten credit-hours of Honors courseworkContribute our time and energy to advance the public good so that we develop as citizens by completing 15 hours of community service per semester, joining a Registered Student Organization and ultimately leading our peersExplore cultural and ethical horizons to engage a global society through attending cultural events and seeking out challenging opportunities for service and leadershipParticipate in the honors community, abiding by the honor code, to foster curiosity, dialogue and intellectual rigor in ourselves and others.

(approved by the Honors Student Council 10/7/2014)

Honors Speech Contest 201512

MEHAAfter changing our region-al affiliation from the Upper Midwest to the geo-graphically more accessible Mid East, we have been able to bring students to the regional confer-ence in both 2014 and 2015. While the previous Coordinator travelled to the Upper Midwest Regional Conference prior to 2013, we have no record of students attending.

In 2014, four students attended MEHA at Grand Valley State Univeristy, but none presented papers. One faculty member attended. This changed in 2015, with seven students attending the annual conference at Kent State University. Five students presented posters and one presented a paper.

Erika Segraves (Poster) - Doctors of Chiroprac-tic: Doctors of the FutureAllison Knikelbine (Poster)- Nutrition & Child BehaviorRachael Bouwma (Poster) - Approaching Social JusticeNicole Outman (Poster) - Sexism: Case Stud-ies from the Museum of Sexist ObjectsKyle Denny (Poster) - Computing In MinecraftMabel Accosta (Paper presentation) - Business Brand Competition

Torchbearer, 2015Nicole ChristyKelsey BunceSam Wohlfeil

Amanda Thomas

Rising Star, 2015Wayne BersanoJustin Wolber

Nicole OutmanOMalley Bosanic

In an effort to make an explict connection between the values of the program as enshrined in our purpose statement and the requirements students satisfy, the Program worked with the Honors Student Council to draft the Four Columns, a kind of vision and values document that connects the regular activities of the program explicitly with the purpose statement and outcomes measured.

It reads:

In Fall 2014, we launched the Days of Service and Learning with the help of the Honors Americorps Vista Volunteer, Jake Pollock. The program will be expanded significantly for 2015.

Students are provided with an opportunity to partici-pate in a project that is tied to their major and will allow them the chance to give back to their commu-nity. Community partners create a project for 550 students to accom-plish a task on the day of service. Facilitators, who are upper-class peer mentors, provide necessary leadership for volunteers and help in getting students to reflect on the importance of volunteering and service learning.

With our first Days of Service event we had 6 community partners, with 93 student volunteers (15 of which were facilitators), who served over 500 hours volunteering.

Assessment efforts relating to the Days

of Serice and Learning show that the students as well as the community partners appreciat-ed the opportunities provided to them. Students showed positive feedback throughout the process, including word of mouth and survey feedback. Community partners also showed positive feedback through word of mouth, thank you emails, and survey data. There were some concerns raised about the need for better advertising of the event to both students and community

partners, which will be addressed in the next instance, Fall 2015.

MICC AWARDSSeven of the fourteen Ferris students recieveing the Michigan Campus Compacts Heart and Soul award were in Honors this year, including our Outstanding Scholar, Michelle Dunn. Logan England, Business Admin 17, was recognized with the Commitment to Service award.

Honors students with Charlie Malone, Honors Advisor and Jake Pollock, Americorps Vista Volunteer after clearning up the Muskegon River in Big Rapids

Honors students building a boardwalk during Days of Service and Learning 2014.

Service and Leadership

13

Assessment

In an effort to make an explict connection between the values of the program as enshrined in our purpose statement and the requirements students satisfy, the Program worked with the Honors Student Council to draft the Four Columns, a kind of vision and values document that connects the regular activities of the program explicitly with the purpose statement and outcomes measured.

It reads:

In Fall 2014, we launched the Days of Service and Learning with the help of the Honors Americorps Vista Volunteer, Jake Pollock. The program will be expanded significantly for 2015.

Students are provided with an opportunity to partici-pate in a project that is tied to their major and will allow them the chance to give back to their commu-nity. Community partners create a project for 550 students to accom-plish a task on the day of service. Facilitators, who are upper-class peer mentors, provide necessary leadership for volunteers and help in getting students to reflect on the importance of volunteering and service learning.

With our first Days of Service event we had 6 community partners, with 93 student volunteers (15 of which were facilitators), who served over 500 hours volunteering.

Assessment efforts relating to the Days

of Serice and Learning show that the students as well as the community partners appreciat-ed the opportunities provided to them. Students showed positive feedback throughout the process, including word of mouth and survey feedback. Community partners also showed positive feedback through word of mouth, thank you emails, and survey data. There were some concerns raised about the need for better advertising of the event to both students and community

partners, which will be addressed in the next instance, Fall 2015.

MICC AWARDSSeven of the fourteen Ferris students recieveing the Michigan Campus Compacts Heart and Soul award were in Honors this year, including our Outstanding Scholar, Michelle Dunn. Logan England, Business Admin 17, was recognized with the Commitment to Service award.

APR SURVEYData collected under the new assessment plan during this past year are preliminary. None of the measures we developed have a strong comparison group, and hence, it is problematic to use these datasets in making decisions about the program.

One item that is worth noting comes from the APR survey of current students, alumni and unaffiliated community members. In that survey, we asked participants to rank-order the Honors requirements in order of percieved value.

The results, shown to the right, are remarkably different. Current and former students rank course work fourth, and Honors housing third. Unaffiliated community members rank Honors course work firstby a significant marginand Honors housing lastagain, by a significant margin.

We believe that result represents a genuine differ-ence about the percieved purpose of the Honors program at Ferris. Those in the program percieve housing to be central to the mission of the Program, while those outside it believe Housing to be margin-al at best.

We also believe that the revised curriculum will bring these two different viewpoints into line. The ques-tion of the percieved value of Housing is more complicated, originating from either the lack of differential experiences in Honors housing or lack of communication of its value (or both). More work will be done to close this gap.

NSSEIt is notable that a study of the 2014 National Survey of Student Engagement shows that a two-factor analysis of the questions regarding how frequently students interact with others from different econom-ic backgrounds, religious traditions and political views than your own, shows statistically significant improvement of Honors students, 1st year to Senior in comparison to non-Honors students, 1st year to Senior. The charts are below. This is an excellent result, demonstrating the success of the Programs commitment to cultural enrichment and discourse.

2014 NSSE Survey: Conversations with Diverse Others group

14

15