Honorable Mentions

November 13, 2019

On behalf of Jenna Caviezel, Director of Tutoring--and now also Director of the HONORS program as well, allow Momentum to share with you that 2024 is the 49th anniversary of Honors classes at Motlow. That means that 2025-2026 will be our 50th anniversary, and planning for that important milestone is already percolating. Expect some big celebrations next year as we officially reach the half-century mark! 

Director Caviezel’s interdisciplinary collaboration this summer led to a series of successful quick shifts in Honors communication and operations that yielded 69% growth in the number of Honors Students enrolled this semester when compared to Fall 2023. That, in turn, led to adding nine additional honors courses to the schedule over the course of the summer. Thank you to everyone in Student Success and Academics who stepped up to respond to this wonderful growth.

Honors + Tutoring

External Affairs collaborated with Director Caviezel to rebrand Honors packaging this summer. The team working on this project built on the very successful marketing packaging developed for TUTORING to produce a new set of assets to extend the visibility of Director Caviezel’s programs to include HONORS. The goal was to create cohesive brand packaging that worked for both Tutoring and Honors since these two programs now share space, leadership, and student engagement.

Readers may recall that Tutoring’s iconic imagery features a collection of bright light bulbs that hang from the top of all tutoring collateral working to convey the message that tutoring is a great idea—for all students, for lots of reasons—therefore lots of bright lights!

Newly developed Honors branding features celebratory bunting donning the top of all its program messaging. Bunting has long served as symbols of official celebrations. It’s said that the ribbons, flags, and banners colleges use to decorate commencement ceremonies hail in part from a long history of bunting used to unfurl the official colors of a nation, state, or organization at formal ceremonies. Recognizing and cultivating the scholarly abilities of students is central to the academic success we seek to inspire. Thus, our Honors program is the ideal focal point for raising a flag to that mission, and bunting serves as a steadfast reminder of the importance we place on scholarship. 

Motlow’s Honors program welcomes students entering Motlow with a history of academic achievement with automatic membership at no charge. It also invites existing students who achieve meritorious academic status to join the ranks of its honor scholars. Honors membership is an achievement worthy of recognition and celebration. Thus, Honor’s use of bunting in its new program packaging was designed to convey a sense of organizational value.

Poised to Set New Record

Thank you to everyone in Student Success that helped facilitate the swift changes in Honors enrollment processes this summer. Thank you to all faculty who stepped up and added Honors courses to their teaching schedule. Motlow’s largest Honors enrollment occurred in 2018 under the leadership of Dr. Meagan McManus. Everyone’s collaborative effort this year saw Honors enrollment come very close to her record of 350. We currently have 288 Honors students for Fall 2024. With this momentum, we’re on a path to set a new record next year!