Three Honors Students to Present at Conference in Seattle

Three Honors students have been selected as presenters during the 51st annual conference to be held by the National Collegiate Honors Council in Seattle, Wash., on Oct. 12-16.

The conference highlights student and faculty research presentations from across the nation and provides training and development for honors program administrators. Sherman Alexie, poet, filmmaker and best-selling author, will provide the plenary session on Friday.

FSU students Janalee N. Poe, Carl J. Wahler and James N. Jesmer have been selected to present their session titled, “Mentoring - A Relationship.” Their presentation will focus on the Honors mentoring program at Fairmont State, which they have helped to develop in the last two years. Poe is a senior majoring in Math and Math Education. Wahler is a junior majoring in Computer Science and Math.  Jesmer is a senior Architecture major.

Since 2002, the Honors Mentoring Program at FSU has aimed to aid first-year Honors students in their transition from high school to university life, to provide them with useful information and resources concerning the Honors Program and to foster relationships that promote mutual growth as well as the esprit de corps. The students will discuss their strategies and programming to evolve Honors mentoring and their evaluations to document the effectiveness of the mentoring relationships.            

The national submission process for the NCHC annual conference is highly selective, with hundreds of students and faculty submitting proposals each year.

“We are so pleased to provide an opportunity for honors students and NCHC members to experience the city of Seattle, all while celebrating the successes and presentations that are unique to honors education,” said Dr. Hallie Savage, NCHC Executive Director.

Also attending are two of the FSU Honors officers. Lindsey A. Shingleton, who serves as president, is a senior Architecture major. Amber Bassnet is a junior majoring in Political Science.

While in Seattle, Fairmont State students will have the opportunity to explore the city of Seattle through NCHC’s City as TextTM Program, network with other honors students and faculty from across the country and around the world and celebrate the unique community created by honors education. NCHC anticipates nearly 2,000 students and faculty hailing from all 50 states to be in attendance at the Seattle event, as well as visitors from Mexico, Greece, the Netherlands, Japan, Qatar, Great Britain and China.

The National Collegiate Honors Council is a non-profit organization whose mission is to support and enhance the community of educational institutions, professionals and students who participate in collegiate honors education around the world. NCHC members total nearly 900 institutions from the United States and around the world. Professional and student memberships are available. More information is available at nchchonors.org.

HonorsJames JesmerCarl WahlerJanalee PoeArchitecturepolitical scienceCollege of Science and TechnologyCollege of Liberal ArtsMath