Meagan Stark, coordinator of academic support at Tusculum College, has been named program director of the Honors Program.
Stark received her bachelor’s degree in political science and sociology from East Tennessee State University and her master’s degree in political science from Syracuse University.
She has been part of the Student Support Services team at Tusculum College since 2014.
Meagan Stark
Stark will direct the restructured program along with Dr. Troy Goodale, associate professor of political science and faculty moderator, who will serve as faculty director.
“Ms. Stark brings a great deal of passion to the leadership of the Honors Program,” said Dr. Goodale. “Her previous experience at Syracuse University and East Tennessee State University allow her to bring a new perspective to Tusculum’s Honors Program. As the director of Peer Tutoring services at Tusculum, Ms. Stark has developed meaningful relationships with our students that uniquely positions her to cultivate a rapport with our Honors students and collaborate with each student to create a richer Honors Program experience.”
Several changes were developed over the course of the past year by the Honors Council, which is comprised of both faculty and staff dedicated to the success of the program.
The Tusculum College Honors Program promotes a cross-discipline dialogue between students that includes three core seminar courses. These courses are taught across the semester, every semester, to provide students ample opportunities to participate.
“The Honors courses we have developed are designed to be interesting courses that the instructors and students can be passionate about,” said Stark. “The courses continue to be challenging courses, but participants will also gain experiences in other areas such as leadership and research.”
In addition to the main Honors courses, a core concentration course will be required in areas that include global awareness, peer leadership, civic engagement or research.
“The Honors Program connects like-minded students who push one another to discuss socially and politically-important ideas, news and concepts,” said Sarah Holley, a 2016 graduate who plans to serve a year with AmeriCorps before attending graduate school to become an archivist/museum curator.
She added, “I met my best friend through this program, and they challenged me to become better culturally and academically. My favorite components of this program have been the special topic seminars because they facilitate discussion and create an open dialogue that spills from the classroom into daily life.”
To qualify for the program, first-time students must have a composite score of at least 25 on the ACT or 1150 on the SAT, have a high school grade-point average of 3.5 or higher and rank in the top 10 percent of high school graduating class.
“This year several recruitment events will be held on the Greeneville campus during the Advanced Registration period, and the application deadline will be Jan. 15, 2017,” said Stark. Candidate interviews will be held in February and selections made on March 1.
For more information, contact Stark at mstark@tusculum.edu.