2008 Woodie Awards
Honors Program names new director
Clayton Vertrees
Issue date: 4/11/08 Section: News
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Through his present position, Edminster said he feels confident in working with budgets, faculty, recruitment, advising and other issues tied with his past and future responsibilities. Communication between Edminster and Malinauskas through their respective work with the Commonwealth Honors Academy and Honors Program have also given the two clear ideas of the demands of both titles.
"I think the issues that came up with working for the Commonwealth Honors Academy have really prepared me to deal with the kinds of demands of running something like the Honors Program," Edminster said. "So, I am not worried about the day-to-day operations, but I am a little nervous about the current state of the honors program."
Many of the greatest issues facing the honors program come in response to what Edminster said have been record growth rates under Malinauskas' direction.
"The faculty who have worked in the Honors Program through the years have done a marvelous job of developing a wonderful curriculum, and a wonderful model for student and professor relationships," Edminster said. "I think we are experiencing growing pains, and with a program like ours that's a great problem to have."
For some students, Edminster said issues with scheduling create enough anxiety that they choose to leave the honors program altogether. In such cases, students who need to take science lab classes at a certain times during the week might have to choose between missing an honors requirement or a course in a sequence lab course.
While Malinauskas, present director of the honors program, said he does not necessarily know Edminster's plans for office, the creation of a separate honors college seems to him the next step forward for the program.
"This is a national trend that honors programs are becoming colleges," Malinauskas said. "In becoming a college, the honors program would not have to rely on various departments to borrow classrooms, and could identify its own space."
Malinauskas said he sees a need to institutionalize the Honors Program and bring it on par with existing University departments and colleges. Not only could a separate honors college enhance Murray State's academic reputation, it could also prove a significant recruiting device, he said.
"A separate honors college would allow the bright students emerging from high schools to see what Murray has done to provide a challenging education for them," Malinauskas said. "It would provide a challenging education for them and an enriching educational experience."
Clayton Vertrees can be reached at james.vertrees@
murraystate.edu.
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