The Honors Program reached a milestone last month when Dr. Teresa King, director of the center, and a team of students were for the first time invited to participate in the National Collegiate Honors Council conference. This year’s event was held in Denver, and focused on ways to implement new ideas into honors programs.
“It was an extraordinary opportunity for us to represent Bridgewater and to participate in the program,” said Dawn Sarno, a senior psychology major from Norfolk, who had also attended the 2013 conference. There, she learned about ways to improve honors mentoring programs, and at this year’s, she presented the results of her work on that very subject alongside Dr. King.
In addition to Ms. Sarno, the student presenters were seniors Kevin Costa, Jessica Polaski, and Heather Dupont, as well as sophomore Adam Costa.
Adam Costa, it should be noted, was honored by being selected to the NCHC Board of Directors.
“I am happy that I will be representing the Honors Program on the national level, and I think this will lead to many good things for our program down the road,” he said.
Dr. King said the students presented two different topics at the conference, both of which focused on improvements made within the past year to BSU’s Honors Student Congress.
“In an information session at the conference our students described the process of creating the Bridgewater State University Honors Student Congress, and how the congress has grown and changed since it originated last year,” Dr. King said. “They were outstanding in every respect.”
The concept of creating an “honors congress” for Bridgewater began a year ago, says Ms. Sarno.
“At the time, we were called an ‘Honors Student Council’ but we wanted a title that better reflected our desire to not only recognize those who strive for academic distinction but also to encourage service on the part of honors students,” she said. “In addition, we wanted to incorporate mentoring as part of our profile. The name ‘congress’ to us implied a broader definition.”
By the fall of 2014, the Honors Congress of BSU had a constitution and was formally recognized by the university. Kevin Costa, a senior from Taunton is president of the Honors Congress and he had a key role in its establishment.
“We have approximately 400 students at Bridgewater enrolled in the honors program and we decided that we wanted to be more involved in sponsoring service programs such as volunteer activities to bring another dimension to the organization,” he said. "Attending the two national conferences in the last two years was an enormous source of guidance and inspiration to all of us who participate in the program."
He said that members of the congress have responded “with the greatest enthusiasm to the expansion of the effort from an 'honors council' to an 'honors congress.' We're achieving the greater impact on the campus and beyond that we had hoped we would have.”
Being a member of the honors program at Bridgewater has provided Ms. Sarno with a great many important advantages, she said.
“Expectations are higher for honors students and that’s been a real motivator for me,” she says. “Once I became involved, I was amazed by the level of involvement of the faculty at BSU in providing and supporting research opportunities.”
In order to graduate with honors, it’s necessary for students to complete an honors thesis in their chosen discipline. This includes a research study of some kind, mentored by a BSU faculty member.
Mr. Costa will launch his independent research program this spring and he has chosen as his topic an exploration of the growth of the Portuguese-American community in southeastern Massachusetts. “That’s my heritage and my culture, and I look forward to examining this segment of the population has helped this region to grow and prosper.” (Story and photos by David K. Wilson, ’71, University News)
