ETSU's Honor College Spring 2024 Newsletter

Newsletter | spring 2024 Creating Remarkable Stories

Hands-On Learning Alternative Spring Break

Honors students spent their spring break representing ETSU through its Alternative Breaks program. Installing clean water systems in Cuba, working with youth in New Orleans, helping with maintenance at Rocky Fork State Park, and making improvements to community meeting grounds in Costa Rica.

Building Relationships

Real World Impact

Producing

Lasting Change Girl Scout Gold Award

First-year Global Citizen Scholar, Natalie Wood, Knoxville, felt inspired to tackle her community’s food insecurity issue. Her project, “Church Based Community Food Pantry,” earned her a prestigious Girl Scout Gold Award

The national Girl Scouts organization recognizes outstanding community service projects, providing a $10,000 award to one Gold Award Girl Scout from each Girl Scout council in the country. Wood became the 2023 recipient which covers 46 counties in East Tennessee, Southwest Virginia and North Georgia.

”I was very shocked and excited to receive this scholarship,” Wood said. “I wasn’t really expecting it, and it just made me excited that I’d be able to put that toward school and that other people were seeing my work.”

“In establishing the food pantry at her church, Natalie learned valuable leadership, communication and collaboration skills,” said Dr. Jennifer Axsom Adler, an assistant professor in ETSU’s Department of History who serves as chair of the board of directors of the Girl Scouts Council of Southern Appalachians (GSCSA) “She came to appreciate how food insecurity isn’t just a local problem; it’s a global issue. She’s thinking globally and acting locally, reminding us that we can all do our part to make the world a better place, one community at a time.”

Over spring break, ETSU students partnered with Global Medical Brigades Panamá to set up clinics in remote, underserved communities. The group served 190 patients by taking vitals, running patients to different stations, leading educational workshops, and assisting physicians and dentists. Students also participated in a research day where they collected data from a community is Los Faldares about the motor, cognitive, and social development of children. Another brigade in Panama is in the works for January 2025. The Panama brigade was student-organized and student-led, serving as an example of what our students are capable of as global citizens. These are exactly the kinds of experiences we want for our pre-health students at ETSU, said Dr. Melissa R. Schrift, Professor of Anthropology and Director of Culture and Health Program.

Research, Teaching & Innovation

Alumnae Receives NSF Fellowship

Paige (Elizabeth) Bond, a doctoral student in the biomedical sciences graduate program at Penn State College of Medicine, has been selected as a fellow for the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) in 2024. The GRFP recognizes graduate students who are advancing research and teaching within the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Bond, whose background is in biochemistry, is one of the 1500 fellows selected from over 12,000 applicants.

For the five-year fellowship, Bond will focus on identifying DNA changes that influence traits and disorders that are more prevalent in women, such as many autoimmune diseases. She is particularly interested in finding genes on the sex chromosomes, as there are chromosomal differences between men and women, yet the role of the sex chromosomes in human genetic disorders is often ignored. Jointly supervised by Laura Carrel, PhD, and Dajiang Liu, PhD, Bond will use a combination of experimental and computational approaches to link DNA alterations to genes that are disrupted in autoimmune disorders to better understand disease mechanisms and to facilitate the identification of individuals in the population that are at highest risk.

2024 Remarkable Story Awardees

Outstanding Scholar Malachi Cope

College of Arts and Sciences, Chemistry

Presented by Daniel Hedden, Director Changemaker Scholars Program

Outstanding Mentor

Dr. Rachel Miller-Slough

Dr. Miller-Slough is an Assistant Professor of Psychology and Co-Director of Clinical Training

Nominated by Natalie Paige Wilson, Honors Scholar

Paige Bond, College of Arts & Sciences, ‘22 Chemistry major.

“It is a great honor to receive this award. In our increasingly interconnected world, it is imperative that we conduct interdisciplinary research to tackle complex problems from multiple angles. I am excited to see what we can accomplish through the blending of data science, genomics, and molecular genetics to improve patient outcomes.”

Dr. Liu added, “Paige is a very worthy recipient of this award. Her science is at the forefront of human genetics. Her ability and interest in utilizing multiple approaches will be key for understanding the molecular basis of autoimmune disorders”.

Academic Excellence, Service and Leadership

ETSU 1911 Inductees

Three Honors College Scholars, Class of 2024 were inducted into the 1911 Society Named in commemoration of the year ETSU was founded, the organization honors some of the university’s most notable graduates from undergraduate, graduate and professional programs. The 1911 Society recognizes students who have distinguished themselves for academic excellence, service and leadership.

Levi Jones, Soddy Daisy, TN

College of Arts and Sciences - Summa Cum Laude. B.S. political science, double minors in communication studies and theatre. Levi founded the College Democrats at ETSU and served as National Council Chair for the College Democrats of America and as the Head Delegate of ETSU’s Tennessee Intercollegiate State Legislature (TSIL) delegation.

Brooke Patterson, Lenoir City, TN

College of Arts and Sciences - Summa Cum Laude. B.S. in political science. Patterson was elected as the Alpha Delta Pi President, during which she earned chapter of the year awards, the highest national award, and the highest individual honor. She has served in all three branches of the Student Government Association, with her most recent role as the SGA Executive Vice President.

Caleb Vaughn, Kingsport, TN

College of Arts and Sciences - Summa Cum Laude. B.S. in political science and a B.A. in Theatre (Acting Concentration). He has been involved with the Preview and Orientation Leader Organization, Expedition Leaders, Pre-Law Society, Mock Trial, New Student and Family Programs, various theatre productions, ETSU Ambassadors, and is a member of Omicron Delta Kappa. He plans to further his education in law school upon graduation.

Community Engagement

ETSU Research Day

The annual Jay W. Boland Undergraduate Research Symposium joined the Appalachian Student Research Forum and the Go Beyond the Classroom Initiative in April to host the symposium.

Designed to highlight the research and community-engaged learning projects by ETSU students (and a few from other institutions as well!), Research Day brought together some of the best minds on campus.

This year, undergraduates delivered 66 presentations at the Symposium: 15-minute oral presentations were given by 45 students, and 21 students participated in the newly-added “Research-in-Progress” roundtable session, giving students the opportunity to discuss the framework, methods, and preliminary findings in the early stages of their research.

Preparation and Determination Prestigious Awards

The Office of Prestigious Awards offers opportunities for all ETSU students in: Education Abroad, International, Domestic, Arts & Creative Activities, Leadership & Public Service, Health & Stem, and Graduate School Funding.

Shivam Patel, ETSU alum and current medical student at Johns Hopkins University was selected as a finalist for the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship.

Patel was a Roan Scholar inducted in the 1911 Society, SGA president, and has served with the ETSU chapter of the American Society of Microbiology, the SGA and the Preview and Orientation Leaders Organization. Outside of ETSU, he volunteered with the RAM clinic, United Way and local political campaigns. Despite not progressing forward, Patel has set a precedent of academic excellence and remarkable character.

“The Office of Prestigious Awards is really about scholar development, the transformational process of applying for these awards. Shivam is proof that the process works.” - Dr. Medley, program director.

Levi Holcomb was previously awarded the Benjamin A. Gilman Scholarship to study abroad in Japan and has now been selected as an assistant language teacher with the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program (JET)

Both prestigious awards value cultural exchange and aim to build mutual understanding between the U.S. and other nations. Holcomb will serve in this position for a year with the potential to renew his placement.

Truman Scholar Elite Honor

Trent White, SGA President and Roan Scholar has earned a Harry S. Truman Scholarship. Trent is a junior majoring in political science.

This prestigious award offers up to $30,000 toward graduate school, Truman Scholars Leadership Week, Summer Institute, and professional development programming and networks. Of the 709 candidates nominated from across the U.S., 60 students were chosen based on their records of leadership, public service, and academic achievement.

“Trent winning the Truman is a win for every first-generation college student who ever wondered if they belonged or not,” said Dr. Carson Medley, assistant dean of the Honors College and director of Prestigious Awards. “His story – the mentoring and teamwork behind his triumph – should restore trust in all those who have lost faith in higher education and question the value of college.”

Enriching Experiences Exploration and Interaction

The ETSU Global Year Program is a comprehensive effort that provides the campus, curricula, and surrounding community with a complex sense of place and global interconnectedness through a year-long series of events, projects, course enhancements, and initiatives that focus on a single country. Scotland is Global Year country for 2024-25.

Faculty seminar participants and the Global Year Scotland Leadership Team traveled to Scotland May 25-31. The group met with colleagues at the University of Glasgow and the University of the West of Scotland to learn about opportunities for collaboration including scholarship, education abroad, and exchange programs; discuss possibilities for community engagement with Scottish non-profits; and consider course enhancements, projects, and initiatives that can deepen the historic and cultural ties between Scotland and the Appalachian Highlands.

Place As Text: Johnson City Community Engaged Learning

Quillen Honors Scholars (QHS) Present Healthcare Challenges

The Quillen Honors Scholars first-year students presented their community engaged learning (CEL) projects and results to doctors, Quillen College and Honors College faculty and staff, QHS2 students, and parents at the end of the fall semester during a banquet held at the Quillen College of Medicine. Their projects consisted of presenting three hypothetical patient cases based on the greatest healthcare challenges in the Tri-Cities, as determined by interviews with 15 doctors in the Tri-Cities.

Along with doctor interviews, student research included Tri-City walkabouts and conversations within healthcare facilities, higher education, downtown businesses, neighborhoods, and greenspaces.

ETSU Honors College and the Quillen College of Medicine collaborate to offer a competitive, experiential-learning based medical school preparation program. The program includes a funded, faculty-led study abroad experience for students the summer after their first year.

This year, Dr. Leybold traveled with QHS1 and QHS2 students to the United Kingdom for a medical humanities experience along with Dr. Duncan, Dr. Schrift, and Dr. Foster, May 14-27th.

Dr. Karla Leybold, Director of the Center for Global Engagement and Advisor for the Quillen Honors Scholars program recived her doctorate in higher education leadership.

gift to a specific program, contact:

TEDx Johnson City

Honors College Alumni, Dr. James Elliott and Miranda Meredith were invited to speak at the 2024 TEDx Johnson City Series on June 11.