Regent's Academic Teaching Award Recipient

In the spring of 1999, the Kennesaw State University Undergraduate Honors Program was awarded a Regents’ Teaching Excellence Award. On April 13, three KSU administrators—Dr. Liza Davis, the Director of the Honors Program; Dr. Joanne Fowler, the Dean of Undergraduate Studies and General Education; and Dr. Ed Rugg, the Vice-President for Academic Affairs—joined the members of the Board of Regents at Georgia Tech’s Wardlaw Center for a luncheon and series of presentations recognizing the three individuals, two academic departments, and single program receiving Regents’ awards. The awards were presented by Dr. James Muyskens, the Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs of the University System of Georgia. Dr. Davis accepted the award on behalf of the KSU Honors Program.

(L to R): Dr. James Muyskens,
Dr. Liza Davis,
Dr. Joanne Fowler

In giving the award, the Board of Regents took special note of the Honors Program’s innovative design and flexibility. According to Dr. Muyskens, the reviewers, a panel of faculty and department chairs from across the Georgia system, “cited [the] program’s commitment to offering students engaging and innovative opportunities to be part of challenging learning environments,” as well as its “fine model for addressing the needs of non-traditional students while meeting and, indeed, surpassing traditional standards of academic excellence characteristic of honors programs.” These were the features Dr. Fowler emphasized in the formal proposal she wrote and submitted to the Board of Regents. Entitled “Kennesaw State University’s Honors Program: A Non-Traditional Honors Program for Non-Traditional Students,” the proposal made a cogent argument for the effectiveness of a program designed for both “the 35-year-old housewife who was a high-school dropout but now has a 4.0 average” and “the 18-year-old . . . who has already proven himself capable of outstanding college work.”

A $5000 gift, to be spent for the enrichment of the KSU Honors Program, accompanied the award. With this money, the Honors Program recently purchased two laptop computers.

Establishing a successful Honors Program at KSU has been one of the university’s main objectives for more than a decade. Initiated in 1996, the program now boasts 125 students and more than seventy Honors faculty—a testimony, according to Dr. Rugg, to the “creative energy” of both constituencies.

For more information:
Dr. Liza Davis, Director of the Honors Program
Kennesaw State University
1000 Chastain Road #1802
Kennesaw, GA 30144-5591
Office: LB 423
Phone: 678-797-2364
Fax: 770-423-6748
E-mail: honors@kennesaw.edu

Send emails regarding this web site to: fbrantle@kennesaw.edu
This page last modified June 18, 2007
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