WKU Planning to Strengthen Its Honors College

By Natalie Jordan, The Daily News, Bowling Green, Ky.

Jul. 3–Efforts are under way to strengthen Western Kentucky University’s commitment to high achieving students at its Honors College.

Amy Eckhardt has joined the Honors College as director of the Office of Scholar Development and Clay Motley took the position as the Honors College’s assistant director for academics. The two positions were added to help expand the Honors curriculum and assist all WKU students in seeking nationally competitive scholarships.

“Students and parents are more and more savvy on what it is they are looking for in a college,” said Craig Cobane, director of the Honors College. “What these positions allow us to do is provide a better experience for students looking for a more enhanced collegiate experience.”

Cobane said when he arrived at WKU in 2005, the Honors program had 350 students. Since then, the program has become the first Honors College in the state and has tripled in student enrollment — “which means more work, and I need help in doing that,” Cobane said.

By the fall semester, Cobane said close to 1,000 students will be enrolled. The goal is to admit about 300 freshmen a year, he said.

Motley will provide leadership in the development of the Honors curriculum and programming, in the recruitment of faculty to offer Honors courses and in the development of assessment tools. A Kentucky native, Motley returns to the state after being director of the Honors Program at Charleston Southern University in South Carolina since 2004.

“I’m excited to be here, and excited to be helping in designing the Honors College from the ground floor,” Motley said. “And with the university itself growing … it’s exciting to be a part of this.”

Motley said the Honors College has mainly been led by Cobane as director. He said his responsibilities will include assisting in administrative duties. But his major responsibility will be developing classes students will have to take that mesh with the general education courses required — “courses that complement the general education requirements,” Motley said.

Motley will also teach an Honors English 200 class.

Eckhardt comes to WKU from the University of Pittsburgh, where she served as director of National Scholarship and International Programs since 2000. She will mentor, advise and assist WKU students as they apply for national and international scholarships — including those for study abroad opportunities and graduate school opportunities, Cobane said.

WKU launched the state’s first honors college in 2007. Essentially, an honors college is a private college in the middle of a public university, Cobane said.

“When recruiting students for this college, they’re looking at schools like Harvard, William and Mary, Vassar,” Cobane said. “So a lot of students that are coming are coming specifically for the honors college experience, and students who go to school inside the state are likely to stay in the state.”

Cobane said the ACT/SAT composite scores of incoming freshmen rank in the top 5 percent in the nation. “These are the kind of students we want to keep in Kentucky. These are the kind of students we want at WKU,” he said.

Motley said honors colleges give resources and attention to students that will challenge them academically. It gives them a qualitative experience that will add value to their education, he said.

Honor colleges also do a “great job” at enhancing or increasing a university’s academic reputation, Cobane said, which helps both the students and alumni.

“I often say students spend a lot of time, energy and money on college and they have the assumption they’ll be different when they graduate than they were when they started,” Motley said. “Having an honors college gives students the opportunity to make the most out of their time, effort and money.”

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