Director's Welcome
May I first extend my last round of welcomes to this year's entering class - 333 students strong! They have brought tons of energy and ideas. They have also proven to be willing 'guinea pigs' to new initiatives undertaken this fall. This year marks our foray into the First Year Inquiry Series - custom courses for first year honors students. Included in the series is Enhancing Honors (co-taught by myself and 32 upper class mentors), a one-credit course required for all new students. This course is our chance to help students learn more about opportunities in the program and have a small group experience with honors mentors.Professor Susan Setta, Chair of Philosophy and Religion, taught a course in Theology, Ethics and Practice in the World's Religions that attracted 68 first year students and 7 of our 'first-ever' honors teaching assistants. Other classes ranged from global warming to the microbial world - thanks to the efforts of Professors Douglass(geology), Begley (biology), Faber sociology), and Burds (history).
Our visiting author Michael Patrick MacDonald was wonderfully received during Welcome Week. His discussion of our First Year Reading book, Easter Rising, was the highlight of efforts of at least 50 faculty, upper class students, residential life staff and others during our 'getting to know you period' before classes began. I would be remiss not to mention the wildly successful Community Service Day organized by Lauren Pouchak, Associate Director of Honors and Sara DeRitter from the NU Center of Community Service, over 1800 hours were committed to over 22 programs city-wide by our honors newbies and upper class group leaders.
Four Pizza and Profs events kept us in good company one Tuesday night each month during the fall and they will continue into the spring. Tickets to the symphony and ballet allowed us the opportunity to establish small pre-event dinner parties with faculty who attended these events with students - Chinese noodles for the symphony and then on to Thai cuisine prior to the ballet. Tons of advising continues to keep us busy. Over 500 of you managed to make your way to our office by early November for advice ranging from next semester's courses to junior-senior projects or fellowship opportunities.
I worked with a number of you on the fall fellowship season for Fulbrights, Rhodes, the Goldwater and the Truman. We are currently working on the Steamboat Scholarship which I hope a number of you will consider. Each fellowship season, a few more adventurous souls participate in this process and we continue to have success in these competitions.
I would also like to extend a warm welcome to our new Associate Director Sheryl Mayuski who joined us in early October - it's hard to imagine how we managed without her the past few years because her efforts are already contributing to the expanding of advising opportunities and further commitments to the Living Learning Communities in West Village F, Kennedy and West Village C. And also to our new Graduate Assistant Kate Munroe who has helped in endless ways all fall and joins the rest of the honors team: Lauren Pouchak - Associate Director, Carol DiCecca - Administrative Assistant, and Melissa Lulay, Graduate Assistant. Honors Readers are busy gearing up for the selection process for the First Year Reading Project for next fall - possible themes include war and conflict, comparative cultures and the environment.
Recruitment and training for both mentors and teaching assistants will occur this spring for next fall. If you have some programming suggestions, please let us know because we are always on the look-out for good ideas. Hope to see you when you drop by the office...
Professor Maureen Kelleher, Director
