Assessment 2. How Faculty Fellowships Promoted Engagement and Participation

Ian Ringgenberg, Associate Director of Curriculum & Outreach, University of Minnesota
Professor Roy T Cook, Department of Philosophy faculty, University of Minnesota

Faculty engagement and participation is a key component of nearly all models of Honors educational programming. Yet for Honors programs that lack dedicated faculty lines, finding faculty with a willingness, and more importantly the capacity and time, to engage in Honors programming is a crucial challenge. In an effort to increase faculty investment in Honors education at the University of Minnesota, the University Honors Program underwent restructuring to create semester-long and year-long Faculty Fellowships. 

After a competitive application process, three UMN faculty joined the University Honors Program for the Fall 2023 semester. Each fellow taught an Honors seminar course, participated in co-curricular student events, and took on substantial roles in the administrative oversight of the University Honors Program (e.g., served on administrative committees, attended the annual Honors Program Staff Retreat, etc.). 

This presentation will provide an overview of the goals of the fellowship program, share the financial, curricular, and administrative structure of the fellowships, report back on the successes and challenges of the pilot year, and explore lessons learned for the road ahead. Ian Ringgenberg (Associate Director of Curriculum & Outreach) and Professor Roy T Cook (faculty, Department of Philosophy) will provide insights and observations on this pilot program from the perspectives of both the administration of the program (including recruiting applicants, selecting Fellows, and supporting the Fellows throughout the semester), as from the perspective of the Faculty Fellows themselves (teaching Honors Seminars and Honors Experiences, administering Freshman-only orientation events, and coping with difficult and novel administrative challenges).

Among other topics we will address:

• The challenges of recruiting faculty, especially STEM faculty.
• Particular difficulties when structuring fellowships for adjunct faculty.
• Issues that arise when navigating collegiate and departmental financing.
• The advantages and disadvantages of short-term fellowships.
• Balancing administrative and teaching duties between faculty home departments and the Honors Program.
• Designing uniform freshman Experiences that will be taught by faculty across the curriculum.
• Ways the Faculty Fellow program can contribute to DEI initiatives.
• Leveraging faculty specializations to support broader Honors Program goals and initiatives.