The Honors Program at Ferris State University

Annual Report, 2013-2014

A Year of Transitions
Significant changes have occurred since the last annual report. The program’s
founding coordinator, Maude Bigford, retired in Spring 2012. At that time, the
decision was made to change the leadership of the program from a faculty-release
position to a full-time administrative position with the title
of ‘Director.’
The search for a new director started in June of 2012 and
culminated with the appointment of Dr. Peter Bradley as
Director of the Honors Program in January 2013. Dr. Brad-
ley comes to Ferris State from McDaniel College in West-
minster, Maryland, where he was Associate Professor of
Philosophy, Director of the First Year Seminar, and Chair of
the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies. He
had previously served as Interim Director of the Honors
Program and had taught the core Honors course ‘Great
Works of the Western World’ for a number of years. In
2010, he was the recipient of a grant from the National
Endowment for the Humanities to develop a new version
of that core course titled “Why Be Educated?”
When the decision was made to search for a new director, an existing search for an Assistant Coordinator of
Honors was cancelled, and the position held until the director was in place. In spring of 2013, after a survey
of programmatic needs and recommendations of the NCHC, Dr. Bradley recast the position as an ‘Honors
Advisor.’ A national search was conducted in summer of 2013, culminating in the appointment of Charlie
Malone as Honors Advisor in September 2013.
After a review of the admissions requirements in our peer institutions in the state and nationwide, it became
apparent that the practice of admitting students according to a minimum threshold of High school GPA,
ACT score and Essay was in need of updating. Dr. Bradley led the effort to construct a new, more flexible
admissions criteria, which would allow the program to admit students who demonstrate exemplary commit-
ment to service and leadership as well as strong input factors like ACT and High school GPA. The full report
is available for review.
In late summer of 2013, we moved out of our offices in Helen Ferris to a refurbished space in the Pickell
lobby area. Our new offices include a dedicated conference room with modern audio/visual equipment, a
greatly expanded work area for the Tammy and Sharon, and a popcorn maker for popcorn Wednesdays!
In accordance with a change in University policy and changes limiting the Honors Residential Life Scholar-
ship to a single year, we changed the Honors Housing Policy so that students are no longer required to live
on campus and in Honors halls beyond the University’s residential requirement—for most students, only the
first year. This introduces a small popluation of first-year commuters, as well as a significant increase in the
commuting population in the second year.
Dr. Bradley convened an Honors Curriculum Revision Task
Force in Fall 2013 to consider the state of the current
Honors curriculum and explore options to update it.

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 The purpose of the Honors Program at Ferris State University is to provide
intellectual challenges, resources and support to highly able and motivated
students, while encouraging service and leadership for the public good.

Welcome from the Director

The past few years have witnessed significant transitions for the Honors Program at Ferris State
University. Not only have we witnessed the first leadership transition with the retirement of Maude
Bigford, but also a record-setting first-year class, our the largest total enrollment and the movement
of our offices to a new location in Pickell Hall.
At the same time, the national dialogue about Honors programs and the values of Honors in the
university has become much more pronounced. Honors at Ferris has grown from about 500 students
in 2005 to 750 currently. The same kind of expansion of Honors can be seen at the national level: in
2005, there were about 570 members of The National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC), but it
currently boasts 890 member institutions, of which 573 are four-year Honors programs like ours.
This remarkable growth comes with challenges. Our program was originally conceived of as a primar-
ily residential community of engaged learners. The curriculum and co-curricular requirements were
structured assuming the kind of regular, personal contact between individuals that happens in
residence halls. With 750 students, and university-wide changes to housing policy, those aspects of
the program need to be rethought.
At the same time, the NCHC has recently—some may say ‘reluctantly’—recognized that this rapid
growth may threaten to dilute the concept of an Honors education. Since 1995, the NCHC has
published a list of “Basic Characteristics of Fully Developed Honors Program.” This spring, it pub-
lished a ‘Definition of Honors Education” for the first time in its history.
This is a terribly exciting time to be involved with
Honors education. It is a time of promise and
development.
I trust you share my enthusiasm in meeting these
challenges and growing the program into a fully
mature Honors program of regional and national
note.
Thank You,

Honors Class of 2014

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Intellectual Challenges
Honors coursework aims to give students small class
sizes, surround them with other dedicated individuals
and proven faculty, and create courses that delve
deep into their subjects.
Independent, project-based learning and problem
solving rooted in real-world issues prepares our
students for successful careers and to contribute to
the public good. Honors students create works of
great significance, exceptional quality and depth.
Honors Course contracts support autonomous 2014 Outstanding Scholar Danielle Lefevre speaking at
learning; our Lunch & Learn speaker series allows Senior Send-off Banquet
Finally, in the spring
students to explore diverse topics, and Senior Sym-
2012, at the request Outstanding Scholar
posium showcases independent research and
of department heads,
creativity.
a document titled 2014 Danielle Lefevre
“Ferris State Universi- 2013 Abigail Dutkiewicz
ty Honors Program - 2012 Leah Kelly
Curricular Rubric and 2011 Cody Becksvoort
Outcomes 3/21/12” 2010 Hope Kwapiszewski
was created, but 2009 Caitlin Hutchison
2008 Anthony Cox
never finalized with
2007 Marshall Gladding
committee approval.
2006 Rita Ellison
With the appoint- 2005 Bret Muter
ment of Dr. Bradley 2004 Erin Frankowicz
as the Director of the 2003 Alex Capaldi
Honors Program in
January 2013, an opportunity arose to clarify the
curricular needs and expectations of the Honors
Program, an opportunity which was reinforced by the
introduction of the chair model of department
HONORS CURRICULUM REVI- governance in 2014.
SION TASKFORCE Thus, the task force determined to answer four
interrelated questions and make recommendations
Dr. Bradley convened an Honors Curriculum Revision to the Honors Program Director:
Task Force in Fall 2013 to consider the state of the
current Honors curriculum and explore options to How many honors courses should a student take?
update it. This task force was created as a result of What types of honors experiences should we offer
the confluence of three different, yet interrelated, for credit?
problems facing the Honors program. What distinguishes honors experiences from
non-honors experiences?
First, as a previous Academic Program Review made How are honors courses developed and honors
clear, there is some confusion regarding the nature faculty selected?
of an Honors curriculum, the selection of faculty and In answering these questions and making recom-
the courses and criteria for ‘Honors’ designation. mendations for the future of the Honors Program, we
Second, the continued growth of Honors has put believe we will make great strides in providing a
enormous pressure on demands for courses to clear and more complete array of courses.
support the program, which, in turn, has put pressure The full report will be made available to members of
on the heads of the departments that offer these the Honors Advisory Board.
courses.
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 Outstanding Professor
2014 Spring Paul Klatt Biology
2013 Fall Charles Vannette Foreign Languages (German)
2013 Spring Bradley Isler Biology
2012 Fall Stephen Lee Pharmaceutical Sciences
2012 Spring Diane Maguire Business / Professional Golf Management
Annette Keyt Management

HONORS COURSES
HONORS
The revised curriculum will build upon the core curricu-
lum already established: a unified introductory Honors CON-
experience in COMH121 and at least two general-edu-
cation courses at the 200-level or above. As the
TRACTS
academic majors of students in Honors diversifies, we In preparation for
have worked with department chairs to both increase the Honors Curric-
and diversify course offerings. ulum Revision
process, Dr. Brad-
ley began talking
with faculty and
department heads
about the concept
of an ‘Honors
Contract,’ which is
a way for individual
students to take a
regular non-Honors
course for Honors
credit by contract-
ing with his or her
professor to com-
plete some addi-
Study of human figure for Honors contract in
tional project. ART101 by Product Design Student Melissa
Davis, Spring 2014
Enrollment in these courses has remained relatively In Fall 2013, because of a scheduling
constant just below the course cap of 23. We raised error, six students who had been registered for
the cap on COMH and HNRS100 in 2013-2014 due to HISH371 East Asia in the 20th Century were offered
staffing pressure. the option of taking HIST371 and piloting the honors
contract.
They successfully completed their projects and
presented to the Honors community on Dec. 5th at a
special ‘Lunch&Learn.’
Because of the success of the pilot, we extended the
project into Spring 2014, when three students com-
pleted contracts in ART101, ENGH250 and ANTH121.

SCHOLARSHIPS
Virginia Miles Shepler (last award): Nathaniel Deak
(2013), Sarah Kolc (2012)
Edwin Harris Memorial Scholarship: Meghan Brockett
(2013), Amber Cummings (2012)
Stanley Dean: William Meengs (2013)
Maude Bigford: Initial award, Summer 2014

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 Resources
SPECIAL OPPORTUNITIES
Through our partners, The Michigan College of
Optometry, the College of Pharmacy and the
College of Health Professions, the Honors Program
provides opportunties for early admission, interview
assurance or priority consideration for admission.
Michigan College of Optometry
The Michigan College of Optometry offers early
admission and, starting in 2013-2014, interview
assurance for students who are in good standing in
the Honors Program. In Fall 2013, three of our
fourth year students started at MCO under their
‘early admission’ program, and there are at least
two starting in Fall of 2014.
Alumni/ae of our program are well represented in
the student body of MCO, making up 1/3 of the
entire population.
College of Pharmacy
The College of Pharmacy
continues to be one of our
biggest draws, with
Pre-Pharm the largest single
major in the program. The
percentage of entering
students in Pre-Pharmacy,
however, has not kept pace
with the recent growth in
Honors. While there has
been a small drop in the real number of Pre-Pharm
After graduation plans (2013 Medallions)
1% military service
5% internship
28% have a job
65% some form of graduate or professional school
5
Opportunity Spotlight:
Eryn Cornell’s 3-year
Completion Story in her
own words
During my honors
orientation as a first year
in 2010, there was a
Business Administration
Program that encour-
aged students to complete their degree in just three
years. At first the idea was a little intimidating, but having
had 12 credits transfer in as college credit from AP classes
in high school, made the idea just a little less daunting. To
complete my degree, there were several ways I went
about getting my credits. I started taking credit loads
between 16 and 18 credits which was surprisingly man-
ageable. The summer after my Freshmen year, I went on a
study abroad trip to Italy with other students from Ferris,
led by our own faculty. After my return home, I also
utilized Oakland Community College during that summer.
As well as benefiting from the S-cape test offered at Ferris
for my Spanish credits and taking Ferris online courses
during the summers. I was successful in my quest to
graduate in three years.
FTIACS in the last two years, the growth of the
program overall since 2011 has reduced the propor-
tion of first year students in Pre-Pharm from more
than one-half to roughly one-third.
College of Health Professions
The College of Health Professions offers priority
consideration for Honors students entering Nursing,
Diagnositic Medical Sonography and Molecular
Diagnostics. 49 students have been admitted to
Nursing since 2010 under this program, and two to
Diagnostic Medical Sonography.
Course Registration
Each student is required to complete 10 credits in
Honors. Current policy states that we expect these
hours to be completed during the sophomore year.
Students may request exceptions based on conflicts
with their program, plans to earn H credit through
study away, course availability, and other concerns.
In previous years, without a clear exception, students
who failed to register for an Honors course were
dismissed from the program.
Starting in Spring 2014, with the addition of the
Honors advisor, the program had the staff required
to make contact with each student who failed to
register and clarify that students’ plan to complete
the Honors rquirements. 145 students were identi-
fied as not being registered and therfore, not com-
plete. After contact, we determined that:
14 students were leaving Honors, or were unlikely
to continue in Honors due to probation,
23 had not yet settled on a curricular plan (e.g.
changing majors),
34 had a clear plan to finish the Honors require-
ments (e.g. CET students),
10 were planning on leaving Ferris,
25 were ahead of schedule,
39 had a confirmed scheduling problem, and hence
were allowed to defer a
class,
1 was behind schedule due
to verified reason (i.e.
Medical Withdraw)
periods last for 16 credit hours, or until students
complete missing requirements. As a condition of
probation, students are required to meet with the
Honors Advisor.
The Honors Advisor developed a “Good Standing
Plan,” or GSP, for students on probation. GSPs are
informal contracts providing resources specific to the
cause of probation. Students complete these
contracts in a meeting with the Honors Advisor by
choosing a strategy that fits their educational goals
and other commitments. The objective is for
students to articulate a realistic plan and be aware of
the support available to them across campus.
A student who meets with the Honors Advisor and
resolves his or her case quickly—such as a failure to
report activity—does not need to develop a Good
Standing Plan. Data is still ambiguous regarding the
success of the Honors probation process, but we share
what we have here:
This data collection represents a baseline collection.
As we improve the probation process, we will use
compare results in future years to this, in order to
better inform our policies and decisions.

Thus, intervention at this

point plausibly retained 100
students who might other-
wise had been dismissed for
failure to register for an
Honors course in their
second year.

HONORS PRO-
BATION
Honors probation exists as a
tool to identify and support
students struggling to fulfill
their commitments to the
Honors program in the areas
of service, cultural event
attendance, campus engage-
ment or maintaining the
minimum GPA. Probationary

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Support
Support is offered to Honors students in a variety of Three faculty referred 83 students to us. All of these
ways, but the primary contact is the Honors Advisor, students were contacted. By the end of Fall Semes-
supplemented and extended by the Peer Mentor ter, 20 Students had further conversations with us. 13
Program. Students were known to take advantage of resourc-
es. 40 Students finished the semester on Honors
One way to measure the success of support is
GPA probation, while 42 finished in good standing
through retention and completion rates. These are
and 1 withdrew. We will continue to track this inter-
not ideal measures, however, as some students leave
vention to test its effectiveness in the future.
the program because it is not a good fit for their
career goals, or when they are not in need of
support, and others leave despite the huge amount
of support they recieved.

INTERVENTIONS
We intervene, or attempt to intervene, in a student’s
Honors career when that student’s record indicates a
likelihood that the student will not successfully
complete the program. While we have not identified
all possible indicators, we have identified a low
grade in CHEM 121, a low grade in the first Math
course and failure to register for Honors courses as
indicators of likely future withdrawls.
CHEM121
Starting in Fall 2013, CHEM 121 faculty were asked
to identify at-risk students at midterm and connect
them to resources (Academic Support Center, tutor-
ing in Pickell Hall, Strategies for Success, ECDS, etc).
Faculty could either connect students directly with
resources or refer them to the Honors Program
office.

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Highly able and motivated students
Honors students at Ferris State continue to excel in
academics, curricular and co-curricular achievements.

ADMISSIONS
Starting for the class entering in Fall 2014, we will
admit students based on a new admissions process.
A student will be invited to apply to the Honors
Program if he or she has two of the following three
criteria in his or her application to Ferris:
3.5 High school GPA or above on a 4.0 scale
25 ACT Composite or above Stole recipients, 2014
Class rank in the top 10% of graduating class by
GPA admission is granted.
The incoming class for 2014, which was admitted
Students who are close to meeting the criteria for
under this process, increased in size significantly, but
invitation and have records of significant and mean-
did not witness significant change in the admitted
ingful extracurricular academic achievement (Odys-
students’ average High school GPA. There was a
sey of the Mind, Editor of Student Newspaper /
decrease in the mean composite ACT score from
Yearbook, Debate/Forensics, etc.), outstanding
approximately 27 from 2009-2013 to 25.7 for 2014,
community service or exemplary leadership positions
but that was expected.
will be considered for invitation following individual
review of those credentials by the Honors Program
staff.
To complete an application to the Honors Program,
each student must submit:
A completed application.
A complete and scored essay written at the
Honors Invitational.

Being invited to apply to the Honors program is no

guarantee of admission to the Honors program.
Students are evaluated on all measures before

* data for 2014 is estimated.

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 STUDENT ENGAGEMENT
Awards
Honors students continue to be recognized, not just
by our program, but by the larger community, for
their dedication to learning, service and leadership.
117 students earned a 4.0 in Spring 2012, 77 of
whom were recognized at the Fall banquet, while
131 earned a 4.0 in Fall 2013, 84 of whom were
recognized in Spring.
Sixteen of the total Torchbearer, 2014
twenty-one Katherine Rachone
GPA MAINTAINENCE MINI- students who
earned ‘Wood-
Rising Star, 2014
K. Lee Barnes
MUM bridge N. Ferris’ Logan Bixman
level of community Megan Brockett
For 18 years, Honors students were required to Tiffany Newman
service (for more
maintain a 3.25 minimum GPA to remain in good
than 125 hours
standing. The class entering in Fall 2014 will have to
annually) were in Honors in 2013-2014.
maintain a 3.3.
Out of the ten winners of the ‘Torchbearer’ award for
Students who fall below the minimum GPA are
leadership in an RSO in 2013-2014, one was a
placed on Honors Probation and given 16 credits
current Honors student and three more had started
attempted to return to good standing. Failure to
in Honors. Four of the five ‘Rising Star’ award
raise the cumulative GPA above the minimum after
winners were in Honors. Over the past two academic
the probationary period are dismissed from the
years, nine of the ten winners of the ‘Rising Star’
program.
award were Honors students.
RETENTION BY GENDER Arts: Theatre

We have discovered, in all our analyses, that there is The practice of

small, but siginificant correlation between gender providing free tickets
and retention to the Honors program. While 2012 to cultural events has
and 2013 were clearly outliers, there is a clear remained part of our
gender gap in retention to the Honors program core mission since the
between male and female students from 2009-2014. beginning of honors,
We will continue to study this problem, and develop but we also have
strategies to redress the gender gap in the coming noticed a number of
academic year. students engage in
the arts by perform-
ing in the plays and musical ensembles. Working
with the arts faculty, we have started tracking these
students, and will continue to do so.
Athletes
Although athletes are a campus population that is
frequently not
associated with
Honors Programs,
using the cam-
pus-wide database,
we are able to track
the increasing
number of
NCAA-registered
athletes in Honors.

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DEMOGRAPHICS
The community of Honors students continues to
diversify with respect to both academic interest as
well as gender and ethnicity. Many of our efforts in
the past year have been towards ensuring that our
office makes a personal contact with every qualified
applicant to the university.
By College
The College of Arts and Sciences continues to be the
largest population within Honors, but recent years
show interesting growth in the College of Business
and the College of Engineering Technology. MCO enrolling in the program in the fall. There will be
and RSS were omitted from the chart presented some drop off as ‘summer melt’ takes place, but
because their population is less than 1% of the total. generally speaking, demographic information is not
Over the past decade, the proportion of students in changed during the process of melt, as it does not
the CAS has decreased, with the difference spread occur in any one population at a greater rate than
across the other four undergraduate colleges. The any other.
full data is available online.
With respect to diversity, the goal of our program—
Gender
and any program, frankly— should be to admit a
The proportion of women in the Honors population population that mirrors the qualified applicant pool.
at Ferris has been relatively stable for some time at We have not yet achieved that standard—although,
just over 60% women. This is consistent with national as shown in the ‘recruiting’ section below, it is not for
trends, as the lack of effort on our part.
‘reverse gender The categories used here are the standard ones used
gap’ in college at Ferris: ‘AI’ is ‘American Indian or Alaskan Native’,
admission and ‘A’ is ‘Asian’, ‘B/AA’ is ‘Black or African American’,
participation has ‘H/L’ is ‘Hispanic / Latino’ and ‘M’ is ‘Multiracial’.
been apparent since These are self-reported categories that appear in the
at least 1993. The University’s database. As we all know, ethnic identity
most frequently is complicated, and self-categorization tends to shift
cited statistic is 57% over time. We make no special effort to track these
female enrollment changes in our student body, but merely accept the
in 2012/2013, with self-categorization that occurs when a student
60% as the most commonly cited measure in Honors initially registers as a Ferris Student.
programs.
A great deal of attention has been paid to the
As the chart shows, the trend in our program is flat: problem of diversifying the Honors population
we admit women at between 60% and 65% of the through more careful recruiting practices this
entering class, but lose more men over the course of academic year, and will continue to be a major focus
the program than women. for the foreseeable future.
Ethnicity
The program continues to be
less diverse with respect to
ethnicity than we would prefer.
We continue to lag behind the
university, which is about 20%
non-white.
Data for 2014 represents
students who have been accept-
ed and confirmed that they are

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Service and Leadership
Each Honors student commits to engaging with
the community by agreeing to perform at least
15 service hours each semester and joining—and
ultimately leading—a Registered Student Organi-
zation (RSO).

HONORS STUDENT
ASSOCIATION
In 2014, students on the Honors Programming Stoles, 2014
Board and Honors Peer Mentor Program E-Board Service:
met to create a new ‘umbrella’ organization called RSO’S Brooke Crandall
Maddie Herbart
‘Honors Student Council.’ The E-Board for this
group is called ‘Honors Student Council,’ and repre- Each Ashley Wachowicz
sentatives from it serve first-year
student Leadership:
as student members of Alexandra Bowker, AIESEC
Honors Council. must join a
registered Emily Pietrowicz, FSUbuntu
Amanda Trigger, MIMA
AWARDS student
organization
Katie Coon, Ferris Nurses Association
Outstanding Service (RSO) and
and Leadership is achieve a leadership position by the time he or she
recognized biannually graduates.
at the 4.0 Awards
The top ten RSOs for membership are:
Fall 2013 Leadership Award Banquet. Students are
nominated by the PrePharmD Club 61
peers for this award. Circle K International 39
Colleges Against Cancer 29
Outstanding
Pre-Optometry Club 28
Service Award
Crafter's Anonymous 16
given to Allegra
Real Life Campus Ministries 14
Babiarz in Fall
Ferris Idols 13
2013 and Rachel
Music Industry Mgmt Association 12
Bouwma in Spring
Habitat for Humanity 10
2014.
Honors Peer Mentor Program 10
Outstanding
Leadership award RSO Membership
Spring 2014 Service Award
given to Nicole
40% Academic
Christy and Logan
Bixman in Fall 2013 and LeAnne Barstow and
Maddie Hebart in Spring 2014.

3% Honors
In Fall 2013, students reported an astounding
11,942 approved service hours, and 9,676 for 8% Social / Cultural
Spring 2014.
7% Faith Based
28% Service
7.5% Student Government
8% Athletic / Student Life

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