Honors Program Interim Director, Working Group Announced

Laura Machia

College of Arts and Sciences Dean Behzad Mortazavi has announced the appointment of Laura Machia, associate dean for academic initiatives and curriculum and professor of psychology, as interim director of the Renée Crown University Honors Program. In this role, Machia will be responsible for program administration, student advising and support, faculty coordination and curriculum oversight.

“Laura’s commitment to academic excellence for all students is reflected by her willingness to act as interim director of Honors during a key time for this valuable program,” Mortazavi says. “In her full-time role as associate dean for academic initiatives and curriculum, she is instrumental in ensuring that our programs are high-functioning and strategically aligned with college and University priorities. Therefore, I know that the Honors Program will also be in incredibly capable hands.”

Machia’s leadership comes at a pivotal time for the Honors Program. This semester, a working group, convened last spring by Interim Vice Chancellor, Provost and Chief Academic Officer Lois Agnew, will conduct a comprehensive review of the program. As a member of the working group, Machia will maintain the program’s academic excellence while collaborating with fellow members to develop recommendations for long-term enhancement.

The working group, composed of faculty or dean representatives from the schools and colleges that participate in the Honors Program, is charged with:

• Identifying ways to better link the Honors Program to the areas of distinctive excellence outlined in the academic strategic plan, especially experiential inquiry.
• Reviewing the Honors Program curriculum.
• Determining how the Honors Program thesis requirement can better accommodate students in the professional schools and colleges.
• Proposing a governance structure for the Honors Program, including bylaws, a charter or charge, a mission statement and a governing and/or advisory body.
• Suggesting strategies to create more faculty engagement and involvement with the Honors Program.

Working group co-chairs are Elisa Dekaney, associate provost for strategic initiatives, and Jamie Winders, vice provost for faculty affairs. In addition to Machia, members are:

• Amber Anand, Edward Pettinella Professor of Finance, Martin J. Whitman School of Management
• Kelly Chandler-Olcott, dean, School of Education
• Dan Hebert, assistant teaching professor, College of Professional Studies
• Molly Hunker, associate professor, School of Architecture
• Seth Jolly, associate professor and chair of political science, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs
• Wendy Moy, associate professor of music, College of Visual and Performing Arts
• Rebecca Ortiz, associate professor of advertising, S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications
• Steven Sawyer, professor, School of Information Studies
• Kay Stearns Bruening, associate professor of nutrition and food studies, Falk College of Sport
• Pun To (Douglas) Yung, teaching professor and biomedical engineering undergraduate program director, College of Engineering and Computer Science

The working group will submit a final report to the provost by the end of the semester.