February 03, 2025
Newsletter link: https://mailchi.mp/c9352a6bde8d/this-week-in-honors
- From the Director
- This Week in Honors
- Advising Updates
- Service Updates
- Honors Student Association (HSA)
- Outside of Honors
From the Director
Friends,
It has been a privilege to work with honors students for over a decade and I am excited to work with you. What I am going to be using the ‘director’s updates’ to do is to remind you of what the JMHP is aiming to do and give up updates about our work.
I hope your spring terms have begun well. And I hope that you are being challenged in your classes—challenged to develop your skills and competencies so that you can succeed and advance in a career as well as challenged to reflect on what working and living are for. Because that is the thing about the John Martinson Honors Program: we are tasked with challenging you to thinking about the meaning and value of human existence. Beyond preparing you to survive, we will always be asking you to think about what you want to do with your freedom and to what ends you want to direct your action.
This Newsletter is itself a way to support and encourage you. By more clearly providing you with information about the JMHP, we are encouraging and supporting your autonomy; we hope you will better direct your attention and deepen your engagement with the JMHP and the campus.
This week we have rolled out Suitable in a pilot with the first-year (Fall 2024) cohort. Suitable is a co-curricular badging platform that will eventually come to be one-stop platform for you to explore and track honors events, making it simple to stay informed about what is going on in the JMHP. It will allow you to find and keep track of co-curricular activities, honors events, and leadership opportunities. Additionally, it will allow you to connect your involvement inside and outside the classroom and see how it contributes to your personal growth, skill development, and future goals. Finally, it will support our goal to provide you opportunities to develop your capacity for self-reflection, which is critical for learning in all domains.
We are piloting Suitable this spring with the first-year class so that we can learn how to use it effectively and build up some backside administrative skills; we will roll it to all students for Fall 2025. Keep an eye out! And I’ll keep you updated about how the pilot is going.
Finally, a hearty congratulations to Aman Pai, civil engineering major and theater minor! Aman was elected to the board of the National Collegiate Honors Council! He is one of four students on its 17-member board. He is the first student from SIUE to serve on the national NCHC board and I am excited to work with him to raise awareness of the work we are doing here and to learn more from him about best practices in honors around the country so that we can integrate some of those practices into our work here at SIUE. Aman gave, along with Maisy Garrison, a well-received presentation at last year’s NCHC Conference in Kansas City titled, “Seeing Yourself: Using Identity to Increase Engagement.” When you see him, give him a shoutout and ask him about his and Maisy’s presentation.
One final aside: he has the privilege of working with Natalie Eves on the NCHC national board. Natalie is an honors student at SIUC! With our sister campus, the SIU student reps on the NCHC have an opportunity to promote the collaborative work that we are doing in honors across the SIU system. Good news for all geese, cougars, and salukis!
Enough for now. I hope you have good weeks and I’ll be back again next Monday!
This Week in Honors
SUPER IMPORTANT! We need volunteers for Friday, February 21st. Sign up for a partial shift or all day. This counts as on-campus service hours, and you'll get a free t-shirt. We can't make this event happen without you!
- VERY IMPORTANT! We're gathering information on students interested in pursuing health-related professional programs after graduation. If this applies to you, please take a moment to complete the survey here: https://siue.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5hwUWXkRR8nnSBM
- The JMHP and HSA are bringing back our Shark Tank event, in which students pitch their ideas for honors courses to honors faculty. If you have an idea for an honors course, write to Dr. Riebeling at zriebel@siue.edu. Info and directions here.
- Have you ever been frustrated with CougarNet on registration day? Us too! GOOD NEWS EVERYONE! The university has made some changes to how registration happens this year. Your registration date and pin might have changed. Check out more information from the registrar here.
- What is a learning lounge? A collaborative learning space, where you come to study with others. Have a question? Other folks in the same general field (STEM or Creative) can help you answer it. No questions and just want to study in the company of others? We got you covered. At the 3rd floor library tables outside of LL3013. Check out the flyer for days and times.
- Gaggle Hours for Spring 2025 are Wednesdays from Noon to 2 in the comfy chairs on the third floor by the Honors Office suite.
Advising Updates
- Advising appointments are available on Starfish for Summer/Fall 2025. Sign up now!
- Pre-work before advising is now available: https://www.siue.edu/provost/honors/advising/forms.shtml
- Drop-In Advising for quick questions and support with your advisor can be done in-person or virtually.
- Ian In-Person Wednesdays 9:30-11:30
- Carol & Meagan Digital Drop-In Wednesdays 1:30-4:30
- Tisha In-Person Wednesdays 2:00-4:00
- Everyone In-Person Fridays 2:30-4:30
Service Updates
SUPER IMPORTANT! We need volunteers for Friday, February 21st. Sign up for a partial shift or all day. This counts as on-campus service hours, and you'll get a free t-shirt. No, really, THIS IS YOUR TIME TO CONTRIBUTE
Honors Student Association
- Have questions about upcoming events, HSA, or college life in general? Come talk with an HSA Representative at our Kimmel desk! This week's schedule includes Monday 3 - 4 (rep Annie), Tuesday 2 - 3 (rep Taylor), and Wednesday 1 - 5 (rep Olivia). Find the regularly updated schedule here - https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/2/r/day/2025/2/5?pli=1
- HSA is having a dine and donate event later this month with Peel Pizza! When you choose to eat locally, you will also support HSA. See the flyer.
Outside of Honors
- You could stay home this summer, or you could go to LONDON! May 13 - June 23. Earn 6.0 credit hours for IS 399 and THEA 490. Contact Johanna Schmitz at johasch@siue.edu. More info here.
- Control what you share with whom using Proxy Access to CougarNet. Sounds complicated, but it's simple to set up and customize.
- Big opportunity for Sophomore Pre-Med Students! Mentorship in Medicine pairs you with a second-year medical student from SIU School of Medicine. Apply by Thursday, February 6! Click here for more details.
- A letter regarding the survey:
Hello everyone, my name is Liezel Lindo.
I am a senior psychology major hoping to recruit Honors students for my senior thesis study. In this study, you will complete a few surveys and recall a past experience. This survey will take about 15 minutes of your time. If you wish to participate, I have the link to my study pasted below. I would greatly appreciate your participation. This research will not directly benefit you but may benefit others by furthering research on adverse mental health outcomes.
Survey Link: https://siue.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5d40h5XeQlDCezA
The Initial submission of protocol 2803 The Effects of Recalling Academic Failure on State Perfectionistic Concerns (PI: Lindo, Liezel R.) was approved Exempt on Thursday, January 23rd 2025 by IRB.
Thank you for your time!
Liezel Lindo
