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Nursing and honors students present at the National Collegiate Honors Council

November 27, 2017

Rachel Shapland and Lauren Greene, nursing students in the University Honors Program, recently presented their session entitled, “Student-run leadership and student engagement: Serving on an honors council” at the 52nd annual National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC), held in Atlanta, GA, from November 8-12. Specifically, in collaboration with Jordan Reich and Logan Turner (honors students from Northwestern State University in Louisiana), this session explored ways to better engage honors students through co-curricular endeavors and served as a crossroads for ideas as each honors program discussed key initiatives with conference attendees that have been implemented and/or are in development.

(L-R) Jordan Reich, Logan Turner, Rachel Shapland, & Lauren Greene

The conference highlighted student and faculty research presentations from across the nation and provided training and development for honors program administrators. Moreover, the conference theme, “Just Honors,” explored how the honors faculty and students can address issues of access, equity and technology as key partners in the community. Bryan Stevenson, executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, and author of Just Mercy, provided the plenary address.

The national submission process for the NCHC annual conference is highly selective, with hundreds of students and faculty submitting proposals each year. While in Atlanta, Greene and Shapland had the opportunity explore the city 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.

“Being able to connect students to a broad network of professionals is central to my belief that success comes through a diverse range of professional experiences – regardless of discipline,” stated Director for University Honors Todd Gilson. “Thus, I hope to replicate experiences such as student travel to NCHC as often as possible.”

This year, NCHC attendance had over 2,000 students and faculty hailing from all 50 states, as well as visitors from the Netherlands, Great Britain, China, Qatar and Australia.

The NCHC 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 globally and is comprised of nearly 900 member institutions from the United States and around the world.