The University Senate of Michigan Technological University

Proposal 14-14

(Voting Units: Academic)

“Honors College at Michigan Tech”

Statement of Purpose

The purpose of the Michigan Tech Honors College is to support highly motivated Michigan Tech students as they achieve the highest standards of academic excellence. The current Honors Institute for high‐ achieving undergraduates will represent the core of the Honors College. In addition to this core, the Honors College at Michigan Tech will also serve undergraduate students university‐wide by providing an academic home for the systematic utilization of "plus factor" programs in leadership, research, and service. These active learning practices include the Enterprise Program; the Pavlis Leadership Program; the Research Scholars Program; the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship Program; and the National and International Scholarships and Fellowships office. An Honors College that is highly visible and broad in scope will expand the appeal of Michigan Tech as a whole.

Mission Statement

The Honors College will provide an all‐university home for challenging, interdisciplinary, undergraduate scholarly activities and enriched academic opportunities available in and through Michigan Tech.

Description of Proposed Activities

Under the leadership of a Director (or Dean) reporting to the Provost, the Honors College will provide a new structure for the current activities listed below –including the role and programs of the Institute for Leadership and Innovation ‐, will create synergies and explore in collaboration with all departments on campus expansion of existing programs, new enriched academic opportunities including service learning, and new ties to outreach activities to engage high‐achieving pre‐college students. The Director (Dean) will look at new ways to engage students, faculty, alumni, and friends to provide the best possible educational experience for Michigan Tech’s students.

Honors Institute

The Honors Institute is a community of scholars, researchers, and creative thinkers looking to improve the university through student initiative and involvement. The Honors Institute provides the support students need to grow in their leadership skills and a community where students can work together. Becoming a member of the Honors Institute provides lifelong benefits and friendship. The Honors Institute currently includes about 350 talented students.

Eligibility Requirements: minimum 30 ACT Composite; maintain a minimum 3.5 cumulative GPA.

Enterprise Program

The Enterprise Program integrates active, discovery (or practice) based learning into the undergraduate curriculum. The Enterprise Program has become one of Michigan Tech’s signature programs and

typically has between 700 and 800 students participating in a given year. It is a self‐sustaining program – a true partnership of industry, the university, and the community – that attracts STEM discipline, business, and other students to Michigan Tech, keeps them through increased retention and graduation rates, and makes them more marketable on graduation.

The continuation and expansion of these activities, including the High School Enterprise Program, and the development of a Graduate Enterprise program, will increase the national and international recognition of the program and Michigan Tech. The Enterprise program has a faculty governing board which oversees the day to day activities.

Pavlis Institute for Global Leadership

The Pavlis Institute is focused on providing students with a comprehensive leadership experience. From the first day of class to the day students arrive in a country, students will learn leadership through hands on experiences. Pavlis is all about cultivating leaders who are prepared to thrive in a global economy.

^{The program culminates in a five‐week global experience where students pick and implement their own}

projects abroad.

The Pavlis Leadership program was piloted in 2006‐07 with 7 students and managed program growth resulted in 100 student participants in 2013‐14.

Research Scholars Program

The Research Scholars Program is designed for engineering students who desire to be an integral part of research at the University level. Through discussions with professors, presentations from researchers, and tours of the many research facilities at Michigan Tech, students will gain an awareness of the extensive opportunities available to them. The goal of this program is to nurture those students who are interested in becoming involved in research and who may develop an interest for advanced education. Students will be introduced to faculty who are doing research in a variety of fields across the College of Engineering and the University.

Students in the College of Engineering Research Scholars Program (RSP) are guaranteed admission into the College of Engineering graduate degree program providing they pursue undergraduate studies in the College of Engineering, receive a B.S. degree from the College, and maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.0 in their undergraduate study.

Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship Program

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program provides funding for undergraduate students interested in spending 7 to 14 weeks to conduct a research project under the guidance of a Michigan Tech faculty mentor, during the summer semester. Research experience as a proven high‐impact practice results in higher rates of persistence in STEM fields. Our undergraduate research program is effective – our Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship program has a STEM persistence rate of 94% since 2002.

Competitive National and International Scholarships and Fellowships Advisor

The competitive scholarship advisor will identify, mentor, and effectively support students for major scholarship and fellowship opportunities.

Other high‐impact practices to be explored

Diversity/Global Learning

Service Learning, Community‐Based Learning

Other Activities

The National Collegiate Honors Council has identified best practices that are common to successful and fully developed honors colleges:

http://nchchonors.org/faculty‐directors/basic‐characteristics‐of‐a‐fully‐developed‐honors‐college/

From among these best practices:

The honors college exercises considerable control over honors recruitment and admissions, including the appropriate size of the incoming class. Admission to the honors college may be by separate application.

Like other colleges within the university, the honors college may be involved in alumni affairs and development and may have an external advisory board.

Justification

In addition to the core Honors Institute, Michigan Tech currently offers many of the teaching and learning practices that have been shown to be beneficial to college students, increase retention and graduation rates, and provide highly desirable learning outcomes. Programs like Enterprise or the Pavlis Institute have achieved recognition in their own right. However, many of the activities could or should

be offered to more students because their efficacy has been proven. These honors, active learning and enriched academic experiences can be utilized more systematically and efficiently by providing

leadership and a structure conducive for synergies. An Honors College provides this framework, provides an academic home, and will expand the visibility and appeal of Michigan Tech as a whole.

Governance Structure

According to the basic characteristics of a fully developed Honors College (see above), the head of the honors college is a dean reporting directly to the chief academic officer of the institution and serving as a full member of the Council of Deans if one exists. The dean has a fulltime, 12‐month appointment.

The directors and coordinators of the current activities listed above will report to the head of the

Honors College, the Institute for Leadership and Innovation will be dissolved. After a transition time, it is expected that the head of the Honors College will assume the duties of the director of the Honors Institute. The advantages and disadvantages of possibly merging other duties (e.g. coordinator of the SURF program; the role of advisor for competitive scholarships) should be discussed.

Space and Facilities Requirement

The Space currently assigned to the Institute for Leadership and Innovation will be relabeled “Honors College”. Within this space, an office for the new head of the Honors College can be created with minimum renovation.

Funding

To start the Honors College, the director’s (or dean’s) salary will be required as new resource. This can be funded on a one‐time basis until base‐funded when retirements occur. The salary of the Senior Staff Assistant which is currently funded through indirect cost recovery should also be funded through the general fund.

Current staff and funding sources:

Current Institute for Leadership and Innovation (ILI):

Director of ILI and Director of Pavlis Institute: General Fund

Pavlis scholarships: Gift

Associate Director of ILI and Director of Enterprise Program: General Fund Enterprise Program Support Staff and Senior Staff Assistant: non‐General Fund Industry Projects Manager: non‐General Fund

Enterprise team funding secured for 2012‐13 AY from gifts, grants, and sponsored projects was

$979,400 including in‐kind donations.

In addition, ILI secured $267,100 for 12 industry sponsored projects for departmental senior design projects.

Honors Institute:

Stipend for Director and SSE: General Fund

SURF:

Stipends for Students: VPR IRAD Stipend for Coordinator: General Fund

Research Scholars Program: COE

Stipend for Advisor for National and International Scholarships: General Fund

Since salaries and funding in the current Institute for Leadership and Innovation (ILI) depend on indirect cost recovery, the IRAD status of ILI and the return of indirect cost recovery need to be extended to the new Honors College.

A highly visible Honors College with the scope outlined above – being a home not only for high‐achieving undergraduates but serving undergraduate students university‐wide through "plus factor" programs in leadership, research, and service should represent a significant naming opportunity and should have appeal for continuous donor support for all these high impact practices.

Introduced to Senate: 11 December 2013

Approved by Senate: 22 January 2014
Approved by Administration: 02 February 2014

Approved by BOC: 21 February 2014