GovState adds two colleges to promote academic excellence
Governors State University (GovState) is adding two colleges, the Honors College and the College of Graduate Studies, to promote academic excellence at the University.
Establishing the Honors College is the next stage in the growth and development of honors education at GovState where the Honors Program has experienced significant growth in the last ten years in its undergraduate population and in program development.
The proposed Honors College will allow GovState to build on the successes of the last decade while creating a unit to more effectively manage honors education, including its curriculum, physical space and college advising.
Dr. David Rhea, Interim Dean of the Honors College, looks forward to expanding on the honors program mission to provide experiential learning opportunities for high-achieving students. One of his goals includes offering more learning opportunities here at GovState that are intellectually engaging and immersive like the honors program study abroad sessions.
“Rome is wonderful, but not everyone is going to go to Rome, so we want to find more ways to bring immersive learning experiences to students here,” said Dr. Rhea.
As the proposed fifth honors college at a four-year Illinois public higher education institution and the first to be added in nearly 20 years, it will boost the profile of honors education at GovState.
“I think we’re primed as honors to bring our diverse high-achieving students and faculty together on topics and challenges of our world’s future that demands integrative skills and solutions,” he said.
Like the Honors College, the College of Graduate Studies will build on existing operations. The College of Graduate Studies will promote education, uphold excellence in graduate studies, and address specific challenges of graduate student recruitment, advising, and management of graduate assistantships and capstone projects.
Dr. Mary Carrington, Interim Dean of the College of Graduate Studies, talked about one of the ways that the consistency and quality of existing graduate studies services will be improved.
“We will ensure that graduate students have uninterrupted access to effective graduate advising by making sure that we have coverage for advising when a graduate advisor is not available for a period of time, and by having advisors complete periodic professional development to hone their skills and stay current on best practices in advising,” said Dr. Carrington.
Dr. Carrington emphasized that the college's goals include overseeing the development of new graduate programs, graduate program assessment, and accredidation of graduate programs, as well as fostering a rich intellectual atmosphere and discourse among graduate students and faculty.
As its own unit, the College of Graduate Studies will be able to offer new services to graduate students, including student socials and well-being services, graduate academic and intellectual enrichment events, like workshops and seminars, and capstone completion support services.
“We will support students completing their capstone degree projects, theses and dissertations by offering services to assist students with writing conventions and formatting of capstone products, and by clearly communicating any instructions or deadlines associated with final submission of capstone products,” said Dr. Carrington.
The addition of both colleges furthers GovState's commitment to providing quality, current and relevant, academic programs.