Irina Ellison, Ph.D. — co-director of the Mercy College Global Honors Program and associate dean of the School of Health and Natural Sciences — recently published an article in the “Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council.” The article — entitled "Leveraging Regime Change as an Opportunity to Reimagine, Reset and Demonstrate Results in Honors" — describes how navigating upper administration leadership changes at Mercy College has positively impacted the Global Honors Program.
The Global Honors Program is an academic program that aims to transform highly motivated students into intellectual, civic-minded college graduates. “The program aligns with many of the College’s institutional goals,” Ellison explained. “Mercy is all about meeting students where they are and developing their potential. Mercy values inclusivity and innovation. That's all happening in the Honors Program.”
In 2017, Ellison and co-director K. Patrick Fazioli, Ph.D., were charged with revitalizing the program. As they navigated multiple leadership changes in upper administration — including new provosts and admissions leaders — they approached the changes outlined in the article as opportunities to move the program forward.
“When you have to articulate why a program is important to a new group of leaders, that’s an opportunity to reflect on what you have accomplished, where you see the program going and where you need to readjust,” Ellison said.
Starting in 2018, Ellison and Fazioli shifted the Global Honors Program to one that focuses on developing potential in students. Rather than automatically gaining admission to the program based on prior academic performance, the program has implemented an inclusive admissions model where students are admitted based upon their future potential to succeed in and contribute to the program. Additionally, participation in the program now involves meeting requirements such as completing an Honors course every semester and community service every year.
Since making these changes, the demographics of Global Honors students have shifted to mirror Mercy College’s overall undergraduate demographics and graduation rates have increased for program participants. Through her published article Ellison is providing critical best practices for advancing student success amid high-level organizational change, which educational institutions across the country are experiencing.
To learn more about the Mercy College Global Honors Program, please click here.