Honors Program embarks on first annual retreat

The Honors Program, which was once little to be heard of outside of a select group of students residing in the Howell dormitory, is now breaking its barriers and coming out into the public. More and more popularity is growing from this program because, unlike most universities, it is run completely by the students.

One Honors committee recently hosted the first annual weekend retreat as a way to welcome incoming freshmen. These students represent a new class that will be led by mainly sophomore students. Everyone new to the Honors Program was encouraged to attend.

"About three-quarters of Honors students attended the retreat," said Will Boyd, second year Physics major.

"We ended up taking a total of 90 students, and we spent an entire day at the retreat center in 32 cabins next to a lake," Boyd said.

Freshmen were taken to Roosevelt Park outside Pine Mountain in Warm Springs, Georgia for a weekend full of bonding activities. The events took place from Saturday morning to Sunday afternoon. It was a chance to get off campus away from all distractions.

"It has shown that if you get to know the student very well outside campus, students are more likely to study together and bond better," said Dr. Monica Halka, assistant director of the Honors Program.

Afternoon activities involved all students and faculty members. Each individual had a choice to participate in one of four adventure tracks. There was a four mile hike around the Franklin Delano Roosevelt state park, tree climbing with the Southeast Tree Climbers association, an outdoor service project with the Pine Mountain Trail association and a leadership-related team building activity.

"All of the sophomores organized a welcome skit," said Sydney Shaffer, said Sydney Shaffer, a second-year Chemical Engineering major. The retreat did not go shy of excitement and screaming. Students were re-energized with many activities to build self-esteem and leadership skills.

"It ran a lot smoother than I was expecting...we had great help from the fourteen other sophomores that pumped the students," Shaffer said.

Boyd also stressed that the Honors Program is still in its early stages, and that faculty members want it to be run by and for the students.

"We wanted to provide a common experience for all of the students...a foundation of experience that would enhance the learning community," Boyd said.

"The costs were renting the camp, dining hall, transportation, food and any costs accountable for the adventure track, but every student was able to attend with free admission," Boyd said. All other expenses were taken out of the Student Challenge fund and everything was successfully spent under budget.

Sophomore leaders Will Boyd, Sydney Shaffer, Matha Lesniewski and Ben Johnson came up with idea last Spring. Initially, the idea started last April. These students had to submit a proposal to the Honors office and then implement the plan during the summer.

"We had some speakers, faculty, and staff members involved," Boyd said.

Guest speakers included Dr. Ingrid Hayes, director of Admissions, Dr. Joseph Hughes, professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering department and Dr. Phil Thompson, director of the LEAD program.

After carefully laying out the schedule and determining logistics for the retreat weekend, the committee began to seek other sophomores who might be interested in acting as retreat leaders. Fourteen other sophomore Honors Program students volunteered to attend the retreat as well to facilitate activities during the weekend.

Perhaps the most difficult challenge facing the retreat committee was setting a date for the retreat. Many students did express a slight sense of apprehension with the date selected: the weekend of Sept. 8-9.

"It was difficult to find a weekend to reserve the park so that it would not interfere with other activities or football games...we also had to plan a time to accommodate several Honors Program faculty and executive faculty members," Shaffer said.

Indeed, the weekend selected was a busy weekend on and off campus; those who attended the retreat were not able to make it to the first home game against Samford.

"We knew that the students would have to miss the Samford game in order to attend...the best day in September was the 22nd, on which there is no home football game. However, this such weekend in September is historically when many student organizations hold retreats, so we wanted to minimize the overlap," Boyd said.

"The intent of the program was to get students acquainted with other Honors students and to feel more comfortable under the college setting," Halka said.

Boyd expressed similar thoughts. "It was a collective effort to improve student leadership and involvement," Boyd said.

More students should know about the Honors program as well as the members in it. Sophomore Honors students plan to host more activities in the future.

"The faculty seems to like it...I got multiple e-mails from faculty that were complimentary of our efforts and the ideas behind it," Shaffer said.

The effectiveness and format of the retreat is currently in the process of being evaluated. The hope is for Honors Program students to continue coming up with ideas to encourage a sense of camaraderie as well as to improve the overall academic experience.