SACS Goals
Evaluation for February 2006 [Word Doc]
Honors Program Program and Learning Outcomes
A. Overview of the Program
The Honors Program offers Honors courses at three levels and coordinates Honors courses in other departments. In order to graduate in cursu honorum, students must maintain a 3.5 average while completing:
1.Honors 1010, an introductory course for incoming students;
2.At least 15 hours, spread through three departments, of Honors classes in the disciplines; and
3.Junior-senior capstone experiences by taking:
- Two interdisciplinary Honors colloquia, or
- One colloquium and one directed study, or
- One colloquium and six hours of Honors thesis.
In addition students may elect 2000-level Honors personal development courses. All Honors students are strongly encouraged to attend cultural events and Honors interest group committees as well as to participate in service learning activities in the community.
In order to train students to be autonomous thinkers and skilled leaders, the Associated Scholar Guild (ASG), the student club of the Honors Program, oversees everything that the Honors Program sponsors that is not directly academic: more than twenty committees, publications (including the Honors Handbook, a 200-300 page textbook almost entirely written, edited, and published by students), numerous retreats and workshops, cultural events, and so on. Students are taught how to evaluate and improve dynamic systems and to be mindful of the learning processes and communication skills they are gaining through their participation in this vast co-curricular network that models lifelong learning.
B. Program Outcomes
1. Institute a year-long peer mentor/big sib structure to help freshmen adjustment and retention, while training upperclassmen to serve as team leaders and coordinators.
Assessment methods and indicators: Analysis of retention data at end of each semester; interviews (by phone, in person, or in writing) with students who drop out to ascertain why; analysis of end-of-semester freshman evaluations and peer mentor/big sibs evaluations after spring and fall training retreats. Results of evaluations will be read and discussed by the Peer Mentor Coordinator, the Big Sib Committee Chairs, and the Honors Program Directors (as ex officio members of all Honors/ASG committees). Modifications will be made on a continuous improvement basis, implementing new training methods, freshman activities, and evaluation questions.
2. Expand and deepen alumni networking with current Honors activities and students.
Assessment methods and indicators: Student evaluation form results, alumni questionnaires, alumni database and webpage suggestion form used for continuous improvement; indicators include alumni participation in workshops for undergraduates, reunions, and Honors endowment.
3. Development of a coordinated leadership training network for Honors student committee chairs, officers, and other Honors students who wish to improve their leadership, critical thinking, teamwork, and communication skills.
Assessment methods and indicators: Student evaluation forms from leadership workshop held at the beginning of each semester (Leadership Extravaganza) are used to improve training and ongoing support system for chairs. Increased committee effectiveness and student committee activity forms, reports from Steering Committee Liaisons also serve as indicators.
Learning Outcomes
1. 99% of the Honors freshmen in Honors 1010 will attend and/or participate in at least two extracurricular cultural events and write a reflective evaluation of their experiences, using focused critical thinking questions.
Assessment method: Evaluations will be read by teachers, peer mentors, and the Honors 1010 committee in order to fine-tune critical thinking questions. Recommended events will be noted on the Honors web calendar. Evaluations will be filed in the students' Honors Portfolio for future evaluation and for the students' perusal when they write their senior Honors exit essays.
2. Students will learn and practice leadership skills through attending the newly created Honors Leadership Extravaganza retreat twice a year, big sib training retreats, and other leadership training workshops utilizing faculty leaders from business, engineering, etc. Students will take leadership roles in the 20 or so Honors committees and publications groups as well as in the larger university community.
Assessment methods: Evaluation forms are filled out at the end of each workshop and read by appropriate committees. Results: increased participation in campus activities and Honors committees.
3. Students graduating through the Honors Program will have a broad understanding of various cultures and ideas.
Assessment methods: Students will discuss and evaluate the units in the Honors 1010 class at the last class meeting. Students will document their attendance and participation in cultural events during their time in the Program through the activity evaluation forms, which are kept in their Honors portfolio. In the senior exit essays and interview, students will discuss their intellectual and cultural growth during their time in the Program.
4. Students will demonstrate that they have developed the ability to do autonomous critical thinking, to develop and sustain an independent, critical argument, taking into account diverse views.
Assessment methods: Honors 1010 students will write an argument essay at the end of the term. In many of their classes argument or research essays are required; these are placed in the student's Honors portfolio. Their exit essays and interview process demonstrate further critical thinking skills and give their faculty committee a chance to challenge and analyze their thinking skills.
5. Students will demonstrate that they have developed academic and experiential tools for life long learning, as well as the tools for leadership and service in their communities and the world.
Assessment methods: Senior portfolios, essays, and interviews will supply data. Alumni surveys and the forthcoming alumni listserv will offer graduates a chance to continue to reflect on these issues. The Honors Program will continue to invite its alumni to return to give talks and workshops about their life and reflections as well as about their work.
Process for Analyzing and Using Assessment Results
The Honors Program directors ensure that surveys and evaluations are administered. Every class and almost every Honors activity is evaluated; evaluations are read by appropriate oversight committees (such as the Honors Council, ASG steering committee, big sib steering committee, etc.) and their summaries and suggestions invariably lead to change and improvements. In addition to these evaluations and the senior exit exams and interviews, periodic alumni surveys and discussions with individual alumni lead to improvements. Recently the Honors Program initiated its own total internal review with numerous subcommittees; every part of the Program was evaluated and discussed. Subsequently an external reviewer from ETSU evaluated the Program and gave his results to the vice presidents and provost as well.
Examples of Recent Improvements
In the last three years student committees reviewed all Honors 1010 evaluations and completely recast the course; evaluations and feedback last year prompted another revision of the grading system. Evaluations of the Honors Handbook by all the freshmen and many upperclassmen led to changes in the Handbook. Responses on evaluations three years ago led to the creation of the senior thesis option and to a complete reworking of the Honors Charter and the ASG Constitution. Actually, all the parts of the Honors/ASG structure are under constant scrutiny for improvement, and experiments and stable changes are frequently and systematically undertaken. Feedback and improvement are a constant process here.
