This coming week, two Elizabethtown College students and one professor will attend the 49th Annual National Collegiate Honors Council meeting in Denver, Colo.
The National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC) is the professional, nonprofit association of undergraduate honors programs and colleges, honors directors and deans and honors faculty, staff members and students.
NCHC provides support for institutions and individuals developing, implementing and expanding honors education through curriculum development, mentored research and many other programs. The conference lasts from Nov. 5 through Nov. 9.
Sophomores Phillip Belder, president of Etown’s honors council, and Tyler Latshaw, parliamentarian for the council, are attending the conference with Dr. Kyle Kopko, assistant professor of political science.
Established in 1999, the Elizabethtown College Honors Program is a member of the National Collegiate Honors Council. The Honors Program was founded with an endowment gift from The Hershey Company.
Belder and Latshaw both applied to bring fresh student perspectives as not only honors students but also leaders on campus. They have been looking into other honors programs at comparable colleges, as well as considering the feedback given by Etown honors students. Both Belder and Latshaw hope to provide new opportunities to Etown’s honors students and to further involve Etown students in leadership, research and academic study.
“My main goal is to discover new ways to provide a better experience in the honors program through social involvement and academic motivation,” Latshaw said. Kopko said that his primary goal is “to gather information and develop ideas that will be incorporated into the new Honors Program Strategic Plan.”
The NCHC values an atmosphere that promotes academic opportunities and challenges for honors students and faculty. Within this intellectual environment, members of honors communities can demonstrate integrity, respect and excellence. Through the honors experience, participants enhanced personal, social and intellectual development. The NCHC recognizes the importance of life-long learning and social responsibility in preparing individuals for an increasingly complex world. These beliefs and values are reinforced among member institutions through the collegiality and shared purpose of the NCHC.
“At the end of each day of the conference, we will meet for a working dinner to discuss what we’ve learned from the panels,” Kopko said.
“As the incoming director of the honors program, I wanted to attend this conference to ensure that I have as much information as possible when crafting a new Honors Strategic Plan,” Kopko said.
