Building an Honors Community that Values and Celebrates Faculty
- Authors
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2023
- Source
- University of Nebraska - Lincoln
- Keywords
- License
- Unknown
- External links
Abstract
The National Collegiate Honors Council’s “Shared Principles and Practices of Honors Education” (2022) outlines the level of commitment, pedagogical innovation and inclusivity, mentoring, and intellectual leadership that honors programs and colleges expect from their faculty. These high expectations require institutional support structures that compensate faculty fairly, foster ongoing professional development, and build a sense of belonging and community in honors. Emphasizing the importance of faculty who teach, mentor, and guide honors students on their educational journeys, the author draws on firsthand experience to offer specific ideas about how to engage and reward honors faculty. The essay suggests that building a strong honors faculty goes well beyond the initial steps of hiring outstanding teachers and recruiting exceptional mentors. Ultimately, honors programs and colleges that visibly value and celebrate the work of all engaged faculty are most successful in forming lasting honors communities where faculty members feel that they truly belong.
