Best Practices in Honors Program Admissions and CRC Honors Website Revision

Professional Development Leave

Application Narrative

Spring 2015

Best Practices in Honors Program Admissions and CRC Honors Website Revision

Richard Schubert

I. Narrative

The project I am proposing has two parts. Each supports the CRC Honors Program in better providing clear and readily available information to our prospective Honors students and the faculty who support them.

The first part of the project concerns Honors admissions. The CRC Honors Program has never had clear admissions criterion. Student applications to the Program have been evaluated holistically on a case-by-case basis. While this has in some ways served our students, well, it has, rather unfortunately, hampered Program recruitment efforts. Students are less than clear on who is likely to be accepted into the Program and so less than clear on whether they should apply. Counselors are also less than clear on who is likely to be accepted into the Program and so less than clear on who they should encourage to apply. I propose to research best practices in honors program admissions and produce a report that will support the CRC Honors Committee in revising its admissions criterion.

The second part of the project concerns the Honors Program website. The CRC Honors Program recently approved a new curriculum model, added courses, and made other changes to the Program, but none of these are appropriately reflected on its website, which has not been properly updated in a number of years. (Some pages were recently removed on the grounds that they had become misleading. But these pages have yet to be replaced with pages providing up-to-date and accurate information regarding the program.) I propose to update the Honors website.

II. Evaluation

The first part of the project will be evaluated via a survey of Honors Committee faculty. The second part of the project will be evaluated via a survey of current and prospective Honors students.

III. Plan for Sharing Results

The results of the first part of the project will be shared via direct report to the Honors Committee and via the participatory governance process. The results of the second part of the project will be shared via the Honors website itself.

IV. Professional Growth Attachment

Please find my curriculum vitae attached to this document.

V. Calculation of Requested Time

A review and report of best practices in honors admissions could take any amount of time. I estimate that an appropriately thorough report would occupy approximately 4 hours a week for the duration of the semester. Similarly, revision of the Honors website could take any amount of time. I estimate that an appropriately thorough update would occupy approximately 4 hours a week for the duration of the semester.

VI. Relationship of Project to Normal Duties

The work involved in this project would have been performed by the Honors Director during the period that CRC had an Honors Director (prior to the reduction of PFE funds during the recession of the early 1990’s). CRC no longer has an Honors Director and no faculty member does the work of the Honors Director as part of his or her normal duties. I currently discharge my college service obligation as Chair of the UC Davis Experimental College Advisory Board and as a Philosophy Program faculty (e.g. engaging in program planning, SLO development and assessment, etc.) My work as Chair of the Honors Committee, as well as a variety of other work I perform for the college (please see my vitae, attached), is already supererogatory.