NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – Tennessee State University’s Honors College recently hosted a retreat that brought honors programs at several local universities together for the first time.
The National Collegiate Honors Council Nashville Honors Consortium was held Sept. 16 in the McDonald Williams Honors Center at TSU. Besides TSU, the other participating schools were: Belmont University, Fisk University and Lipscomb University.
“This is a great opportunity for our universities to come together and share knowledge, collective experiences, collaborate in service learning projects, and break down the racial and cultural divide,” said Dr. Coreen Jackson, interim dean of the Honors College at TSU and NCHC board member.
The consortium itinerary included training on servant leadership, team-building activities, philosophy of leadership, consortium planning activities, and a collective vision exercise.
The Honors directors from each school, along with their students, also participated in sharing their experience in leadership.
“This is my last year at Tennessee State University and I’ve always longed for an opportunity to interact with students from the other colleges in Nashville,” said Mikayla Jones, president of TSU’s Honors Student Council. “Platforms like this retreat should happen more often because we have so much to learn from one another.”
Leaders of the Nashville Honors Consortium plan to share their collaborative experience with the NCHC conference in Atlanta in November. The proposed panel presentation is entitled, Creating a Local Honors Consortium: an Example from Nashville, Tennessee.
“It was exciting to meet and work with this collective group of honors student leaders from Honors programs and colleges around the city,” said Dr. Tyrone Miller, associate director of TSU’s Honors College. “I think it is a great initiative and provides a good example for how other colleges can explore new possibilities for joint programming and sharing ideas in the future.”
To learn more about TSU’s Honors College, visit http://www.tnstate.edu/honors/about/welcome_page.aspx
About Tennessee State University
Tennessee State University is Nashville’s only public university, and is a comprehensive, urban, co-educational, land-grant university offering 38 bachelor’s degree programs, 25 master’s degree programs and seven doctoral degrees. TSU has earned a top 20 ranking for Historically Black Colleges and Universities according to U.S. News and World Report, and rated as one of the top universities in the country by Washington Monthly for social mobility, research and community service. Founded in 1912, Tennessee State University celebrated 100 years in Nashville during 2012. Visit the University online at tnstate.edu.