Ida Ayalew is a senior at UMKC and in her second year in the Honors College. She is pursuing a double major in Black Studies and Philosophy. Ida is on her way to being a graduate student in a dual degree J.D./Ph.D. program. She intends to apply her comprehensive academic experience in Ethiopia. Ida is the Student Government Association (SGA) President for the 2015-2016 academic year. She attributes her success in the SGA election to the Honors College, with support from students and faculty.

During the summer of 2015, Ida is serving as the student intern in the Congressional Office of Emanuel Cleaver, II of Missouri’s fifth district. This internship has been established in partnership with the Truman Library. Ida is gaining public relations experience by doing research, creating write-ups and various forms of social media for the people of the University of Missouri System.

With the help of the Honors College campus partner, the Director of International Academic Programs, Dr. Linna Place, opportunities like this were brought to Ida’s attention. Dr. Place “has been a huge supporter in my life since freshmen year. When I told her about all my plans and dreams, she always tried to find a way to help me achieve my desires.” Ida encourages campus cooperation to be an effective leader and contribute to monumental accomplishments.

Written by Jesse Bihlmeyer, UMKC Honors Student

The Honors College at the University of Missouri-Kansas City is ready to take off. Its doors officially open on July 1.

Formerly known as the UMKC Honors Program, the UMKC Honors College retained all of the best features of the Honors Program while adding new educational opportunities for outstanding students. Undergraduates who were enrolled in the Honors Program automatically became part of the new Honors College.

The Honors College offers the best elements of a small liberal arts college while drawing upon the resources of a comprehensive research institution. It aims to recruit high-achieving undergraduates of all majors and provide them with support services tailored to their needs.

James C. McKusick, Ph.D., was hired as the founding dean of the new college in March, with an appointment as a professor in the English department.

Breana Boger will work closely with McKusick as the college’s academic advisor. She is available to discuss honors requirements; majors and careers; graduate school readiness; involvement and leadership opportunities; and academic and personal success. Boger will work in the University College, Atterbury Student Success Center.

The college will welcome its inaugural class of students in Fall 2015 with two hundred students currently enrolled. Students will be housed in the Honors Wing of the UMKC Oak Street Residence Hall, where they can live and learn together through classes, special programs and events, informal interaction with faculty and social activities.

The college does not offer a major or a minor, but students who complete the required honors courses receive a University Honors Designation on their diploma. Incoming freshmen should have an ACT composite score of 28 and a high school GPA of 3.5 in the core (17-unit) college preparatory curriculum. However, highly motivated students who do not meet these criteria are encouraged to apply.

According to McKusick, all UMKC undergraduate students are welcome to apply to the college.

“If you currently are a UMKC student and wish to become a part of the college, undergraduates from all academic units and disciplines are welcome to apply,” said McKusick. “To be considered for admission to the Honors College, students should have a UMKC GPA of 3.5 or above.” The priority deadline for applications is March 15 for the fall semester and Oct. 31 for spring semester. Applications submitted after these priority deadlines may also be considered on a space available basis. The final application deadline is Aug. 3 for fall semester.

The immediate goals for the college are to grow the program and increase enrollment. Honors College aims to increase enrollment to 600 students, expand the Honors curriculum, increase the number of honors faculty members and build an office suite in Cherry Hall. The administrative office for the Honors College – currently in the Administrative Center, Room 348 – will move to the fourth floor of Cherry Hall in summer 2016.

Resources for the college were allocated by the University of Missouri System for high-impact learning experiences. The college offers its students the best quality education with small seminar-type classes, innovative teaching methods and cutting-edge research opportunities.

Wandra Brooks Green, Division of Strategic Marketing and Communications

Story originally posted on UMKC Today on July 1, 2015.

The University of Missouri-Kansas City Foundation is pleased to announce a $1 million bequest from distinguished alumna and civic leader Linda Hood Talbott, Ph.D., to endow and name the deanship of UMKC’s new Honors College.

UMKC Chancellor Leo E. Morton thanked Talbott for the gift, which he said will further confirm the new Honors College as an important thread in the fabric of the university.

“The Honors College will help us attract more of the best and brightest students to study at UMKC,” Morton said. “We are a great university because we have students who are smart, engaged and curious. As we transition our existing honors students to the Honors College, and admit an inaugural class of Honors College students, we have yet another reason to believe in a promising future.”

The Honors College will help UMKC recruit high-achieving undergraduates and provide them with a broad-based education, including special honors courses, academic enrichment programs, opportunities for study abroad, leadership development, advising, housing and support services tailored to their needs.

Talbott, who holds three degrees from UMKC, and did post-doctoral study at Harvard and Oxford universities, has long been a generous supporter and volunteer with UMKC.

“I believe the Honors College will benefit the entire university as well as the Kansas City community,” she said.

James C. McKusick, Ph.D., founding dean of the Honors College, said Talbott’s gift has “a very solid meaning and intention behind it.” He called Talbott a trusted advisor and friend of the college.

Talbott said the broad liberal education the Honors College will offer to bright, inquisitive undergraduates is invaluable in an age of rapidly changing technology.

“Whatever the undergraduates’ ultimate career goals, a broad liberal education helps students learn how to think analytically, how to write clearly, how to speak and express themselves persuasively, how to communicate, how to do research to learn what they don’t know, and — best of all for a satisfying life and vocation — how to continually learn and enjoy learning throughout their lives,” Talbott said.

Talbott endowed the first undergraduate scholarship for the Honors College last summer and served on the search committee for the college’s founding dean.

“We are fortunate to have Dr. McKusick as the founding dean with his strong leadership skills, energy, vision and honors college academic experience to lead our UMKC Honors College,” Talbott said.

The University of Missouri System has allocated substantial funding to support the Honors College. In addition to hiring a dean and executive assistant, the college is in the process of searching for a full-time honors advisor and up to six new faculty members, McKusick said. In the next five years, he expects to increase to 600 the students admitted to the Honors College. Currently UMKC’s honors program has about 200 students.

“The $1 million from Dr. Talbott will go to form an endowment that will create income in perpetuity to be used at the discretion of the dean,” McKusick said. “It’s a transformative gift that will create unrestricted opportunity funding for the future needs of the college.”

In the summer of 2016, the Honors College administrative offices will move to space in Cherry Hall on Oak Street. Faculty for the college are based in academic disciplines throughout the university.

Talbott, who was herself an honors student, said she knows having top students is crucial to UMKC’s future. In turn, a strong UMKC is vitally important to the Kansas City community.

Talbott has a lifetime of civic involvement that includes leadership in the community, in the nation, at the university and with the UMKC Foundation. She has endowed five scholarships at the university, many of them with her late husband, Thomas H. Talbott, also a distinguished alumnus.

A past president of the UMKC Women’s Council, Talbott has also endowed Graduate Assistance Funds through the Linda Hood Talbott Award of Excellence, enabling 24 UMKC women graduate students to complete interdisciplinary master’s and doctoral degree programs in diverse fields. Talbott said those women are now in professional careers in Kansas City, across the nation, and around the globe.

“This institution is incredibly lucky to have the generous support of Dr. Talbott,” said Steven P. Norris, president of the UMKC Foundation. “Her philanthropy will continue to make a positive difference in the lives of our students for many years to come.”

Story originally posted in UMATTERS on April 6, 2015.