2014-15 Scholars Council Election Results

Congratulations to the winners of the Scholars Council Elections

Class of 2015

                   Aditi Patel

Class of 2016

Benjamin Bogard

Bradley Waller

Class of 2017

Leah Onsgard

Sara Mohr

Ella Newell

Scholars Student Government

Now that Dr. Birgen is back from the National Conference, the next few blog posts will be items of interest to students.  The next one is:

Student Government Reborn

You may not have noticed, but the Scholars Student Council has been pretty ineffective this term.  I do not believe they have met and they certainly haven't planned anything for the Scholars Program.  I attended a presentation by some students who had recreated the Scholars Council at their university, Millikin.

Top Ten Tips

1. Have effective leadership
2. Act with purpose
3. Have structure in leadership
4. Think ahead
5. Never lead blind
6. Delegate responsibilities
7. Have regular meetings
8. Have accountability process
9. Host events
10. Engage members from the first year

They said one of the things they had changed that really helped is to have every person on the Council responsible for one and only one thing, all reporting to the Council President.  Their jobs were:

• President
• Vice President
• Secretary
• Treasurer
• Public Relations Director
• Programming Director
• Academic Director
• Transition/Recruitment Director

Additionally, they created by-laws for their council which we also don't have.  They placed emphasis on community building and providing serviced to enhance the honors experience.

From their suggestions, I think the two things we can do yet this term is for the council to start meeting and to assign a job to every person on the council.  Your council members this year are Abbigail Mueller (assisting Andra while student teaching), Aditi Patel, Alexia Brewster, Andra Peeler, Benjamin Bogard, Bob King, Ella Newell, Kelsey Miner, Levi Endelman, Zach Schulz (stepping in for Alexia during Wartburg West).  The eight jobs I would propose, but of course are subject to change by the council are:

• President
• Vice President
• Secretary/Treasurer
• Service Director
• Public Relations Director
• Programming/Special Events Director
• Academic Director
• Transition/Recruitment Director

First Year Scholars Council Members

The newly elected first year Scholars representatives this year are

Ella Newell 

Kelsey Miner

Congratulations - Second Year Election

Thanks to all the second year students who voted in the election for a Scholars Representative  as a replacement for our Rep. who is at Wartburg West this Fall.  Please congratulate Zach Schulz next time you see him.

All Work and No Play?

All Work and No Play is not our Motto

While a bunch of you were at Band Bonding, another group of Scholars participated in a rousing game of Messy Twister.  Thanks to the Scholars Council and Aditi in particular for organizing the fun.

News and Information for August 2013

It is almost time for everyone to move back to campus.  This year we have an incoming class of 29 Scholars students.  Dr. Earl and I are teaching the first-year course with a focus on Social Justice.

Scholars Student Council

• Ben Bogard
• Alexia Brewster
• Levi Endelman
• Bob King
• Aditi Patel
• Andra Peeler
• Plus two first year students to be elected in September

Scholars Student Assistant - This is a paid position to assist the first year students with their adjustment to the Wartburg Scholars Program

• Sarah Mullinax

Important Dates

• August 30 - First year students move in
• September 11 - Scholars Dinner with the College President (Please RSVP when you receive your invitation)

Committee Heads

The Wartburg Scholars Program has five committees that are in charge of most of the extracurricular parts of the program.  Chosen by their peers, the heads of the committees for 2013-2014 will be

Academics Committee	Robert King
Admissions Committee	Aditi Patel
Publicity Committee	Nicole Jamieson
Service Committee	Kelsey Smith
Special Events Committee	Andra Peeler

Additionally, there will be a Service Project opportunity Friday afternoon outside Dr. Birgen's office in the Science Center when we put together Travel Gift Bags for all the Scholars traveling over May Term.

Scholars Council Election Results

Congratulations to the winners of the Scholars Council Elections.

The Council members for AY 2013-2014 are

Graduating in 2014

Andra Peeler

Graduating in 2015

Aditi Patel

Robert King

Graduating in 2014

Alexia Brewster

Benjamin Bogard

Levi Endelman

General Monday Announcements

Today is the last day to vote in the 2013 Scholars Council elections.  If you have not yet participated, Vote Here.

We need you to RSVP for the Scholars Spring Dinner where we celebrate the hard work you have done over the last year.  If you have not yet responded, Please Do So Here.

If you are a Junior and have not yet responded to the request for information about your Senior Project, Please Do So Here.

Call for Scholars Council Nominations

Faculty Mentors

This is just an idea I am working through for Scholars.  What would you think of being assigned (or choosing) a faculty mentor starting your second year at Wartburg?  This would be a person to help you navigate academia, Scholars, going to conferences, post-graduate fellowships, honors organizations, etc.

I am looking for ways to keep students in Scholars by making it more relevant to them personally.  I would need to find a way of rewarding the faculty and make sure that the ratio of Scholars to Mentor would be small (no more than 3).  The faculty may or may not be someone from your major depending on the number of students in your program.

Anyway - feedback is welcome.

New Scholars Council Members

Just a heads-up that we will be calling for nominations for Scholars Council in March.  We will need

1 representative  from class of  2014
3 representatives from class of 2015
2 representatives from class of 2016

Look for the call when you get back from break.