Honors News

UF Honors Participates in Annual Gator Nation Giving Day

Special Honors Focus on Supporting Faculty-Student Engagement

The Honors Program is hoping UF’s Gator Nation Giving Day this Thursday, Feb. 15, will contribute toward a future full of student-faculty interactions. As a multifaceted program with various courses, programs, clubs and communities, Honors seeks to foster individualized student experiences. This includes maintaining productive relationships between students and faculty. 

Interim Honors Program Director Melissa Johnson has kept up with research that shows faculty-student interactions benefit college students’ development, persistence and achievement, she said. Even once past the college years, these interactions improve satisfaction and work engagement, according to a Gallup study. However, according to Student Experience in the Research University survey results, 75% of UF junior and senior student respondents could only name two or fewer faculty members they knew well enough to ask for a letter of recommendation or reference, and a third of them could not name one faculty member. This gives Johnson concern, seeing as two-thirds of incoming Honors students – who plan to matriculate to graduate or professional school – along with others who plan to work in their field, will need letters and references.

“So from a practical standpoint, our students need to get to know faculty so they can get to that next step. But we also know from that [Gallup] research that getting to know faculty can have a far greater impact on students even beyond the transactional need for rec letters and references,” she said.

Johnson herself has felt the impact of student-faculty interactions. As an instructor for a Fall 2023 Honors course, she hosted small-group coffee meet-ups with students outside of class that she paid for herself. Discussing goals and interests during the meet-ups led to the students now researching with Johnson, signing up for her study abroad program, and complementing their applications for academic opportunities with a meaningful letter of recommendation. Giving Day can provide resources for this to happen on a larger scale within the program, without faculty needing to use their personal funds.

“As the academic program for UF’s top performing undergraduate student scholars, we know we can do better,” Johnson said.

This student-faculty interaction goal will be translated into Giving Day funds being used for programs including monthly Drop-ins with the (Interim) Director, Medallion Ceremonies, informal engagement with the Honors advisors, and course activities outside the classroom. Johnson said that course activities or socials had been reimbursed before this year, when the funds were needed to be redirected toward honors student organizations. She hopes the program will be able to return to its quota of up to $100 for a class activity per Honors instructor. Because there are limited funding sources that can be used for refreshments, Giving Day funds can provide maximum flexibility for supporting these social engagements, Johnson said. 

Michael O’Malley, an Honors advisor, assists in strategy and communication. He worked in university fundraising before joining UF, and his experience connecting to philanthropic alumni enlightened him on the subject. He said fundraising is about determining what donors find meaningful and connecting their generosity to that meaning.

“So, my hope for the Honors Program this Giving Day is that students, alumni, parents, and friends of the Program have an opportunity to recognize and reflect on what the Honors Program meant or means to them and then manifest that meaning into a gesture of gratitude by making a gift to support Honors students,” O’Malley said.

Strategic Initiatives and Partnerships Coordinator TehQuin Forbes also takes part in this process. Alongside the advancement team, he works with Honors alumni interested in donating to find where their donation would be used.

“For example, donations to help sponsor students to attend honors retreats go a long way – especially for those students experiencing financial hardship,” Forbes said.  “There is a clear tangible benefit to current students, and an intangible but intrinsic reward for alumni.”

Honors will be hosting its Drop-in with the (Interim) Director for Giving Day event on Thursday, Feb. 15 at the Honors office, 201 Walker Hall, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Students are welcome to come chat with Johnson over coffee and tea as well as pick up Giving Day swag. Additionally, the first 50 students wearing Honors swag will be able to grab a limited-edition Honors giveaway.

Donations for the program are much appreciated and can be given at https://givingday.ufl.edu/pages/honors-program.

Written by UF Honors Communications Fellow, Bari Weiner.