Faculty
Mentoring an Honors-Option Contract
The job of the faculty member is primarily to provide mentorship (similar to that offered by a thesis advisor) by helping the student develop a project, establishing regular contact to check on the status of the project, and reviewing the final product before it goes the Honors Advisory Council for review. Mentoring an Honors Student on a project gives instructors a chance to reengage with some of the higher-order content they enjoyed from their own education but that is often not covered in 1000 or 2000 level courses, and provides a chance for instructors to work one-on-one with some of GHC’s most passionate, creative, and curious students.
Volunteering Your Time
Participation in the Honors Program (mentoring an Honors Student and otherwise) is considered optional “Service” as part of P&T at GHC. Instructors are free to determine whether they have the time to agree to work with an Honors Student in a given semester. Please note that participation is strongly encouraged as a way to help students and as a way to demonstrate service for your Dean and School.
Service that Matters
Mentoring honors students at GHC is a meaningful way to provide a positive impact on students and coach the best and brightest towards higher-order academic work. Mentorship is a great way to provide institutional and student-facing service, and we recognize the most outstanding Honors Mentors with an annual award that could be the highlight of your CV! The Outstanding Service to the Honors Program Award, named at the April meeting of the Full Faculty, goes to a faculty member selected by the Honors Director for meeting the following criteria: successful mentoring of student honors projects through completion, diversity in the kinds of projects mentored, consistent mentorship of honors students over time, and supporting honors students in sharing work with broader audiences. Some of our recent winners include:
2023 Outstanding Service to the Honors Program
Zac Johnston (Assistant Professor of Mathematics)
Participating in the Honors Program allows you the opportunity to let students explore their passions using the concepts and material from your course. You provide them the chance to answer the question “Where can I use this?” Many times, the student will surprise you with how much they manage to achieve in such a short time and, if you are like me, you will get the chance to explore areas of your own field you have never ventured into before.
2023 Outstanding Service to the Honors Program
Banhi Nandi (Assistant Professor of Biology)
One of my fundamental teaching aspirations at GHC has been to create a dynamic academic environment that empowers students to actively engage in research. As a founding member of the Lake Allatoona Research Group (LARG) from 2020 to 2022, I successfully extended enriching research prospects to numerous GHC students, culminating in GHC’s first-ever Honors project completion under LARG. Since Fall 2019, I have mentored over a dozen students in their Honors projects in Microbiology, with several earning invitations to prestigious conferences, including the Georgia Collegiate Honors Council Conference and the NCUR conference.
2022 Winner
Kathryn Garcia (Professor of Spanish)
“It is rewarding to work with students in their pursuits to acquire a deeper understanding and knowledge of a topic that interests them. Honor Students gain valuable additional experience in research and language and an appreciation for developing a particular topic. Skills gained from Honors Projects carry over to other classes and careers.”
Advising Guidelines
- Direct students to this website to read more about the requirements.
- Send them to the Honors Director for more information.
- If you are willing to work with Honors Students, make sure to tell them so!
