Program Governance

The Honors Program Director maintains the primary responsibility for the immediate governance of the FVSU Honors Program. She or he is the head administrator and public face of the program, and she or he operates under the immediate supervision of the University’s Office of Academic Affairs. It is her or his responsibility to develop, revise, and maintain all program requirements with the advice and support of the Faculty Honors Council.

The Director also retains ultimate authority maintaining all administrative records and planning all Honors Program-specific extracurricular activities, such as the Honors Book Discussions held each semester.

The Director also serves as the secondary advisor for all honors students, and they should consult her or him during advisement each semester before registering for classes. It is the Director’s responsibility to ensure that honors students are maintaining program requirements while they also continue to advance their degree progression.

The current Honors Program Director is Dr. Mark A. Smith, who is also the Fuller E. Callaway Professor of History at Fort Valley State University.

The Honors Faculty Council consist of six faculty members approved to teach honors courses, with each faculty member on the Council serving a term of three years. The Council assists the Honors Program Director with program maintenance, the planning of extracurricular activities, the development and approval of all program requirements.

The Council also assists the Director in reviewing student applications to join the Honors Program, faculty applications to teach in the program, and assisting honors students who choose to apply for post baccalaureate scholarships such as those offered by the Rhodes, Truman or Fulbright foundations.

To provide a student perspective on the actions and decisions of the Honors Faculty Council as well as the direction of the Honors Program, two honors students will be invited to serve as non-voting council members. These student councilors shall serve a term of one year, and they may freely join all of the council’s deliberations except those pertaining to the admission of new honors students, which in the interests of student privacy will be conducted in executive session and shall be attended only by voting (i.e., faculty) council members.

A list of current council members can be found on the Contact Information page.

The Honors Faculty of Fort Valley State University consists of those members of the University faculty who have applied and been approved to teach honors courses in support of the pro-gram. Current faculty members interested in teaching these courses should submit a current curriculum vitae, a one-page philosophy of teaching statement, and sample syllabi of both standard and honors versions of the specific course the individual wishes to teach. These application materials may be emailed to the Honors Program Director. The Director will review these application in conjunction with the current Honors Faculty Council.

Once approved, Honors Faculty are requested to supply the Honors Program Director with an electronic copy of the actual course syllabi used in honors classes for the program’s records. Appointments to the Honors Faculty will last for three years at the expiration of which time faculty may reapply to retain the Honors Faculty designation.

Proposals to create new or modify existing Honors Courses must be routed through the Honors Faculty Council for its approval before they are submitted to the University’s regular curricular approvals process. While the Honors Program does not maintain specific requirements for new or modified Honors Courses, it is expected that such courses will include some extraordinary intellectual or academic experience beyond what is found in non-honors courses. As such, proposals for new honors versions of existing courses should include sample syllabi for both the regular and honors versions for comparison. If the faculty member proposing the course is not currently a member of the Honors Faculty, she or he should also submit the materials required to join the Honors Faculty..