Dr. Angela M. Salas
Director of the Honors Program
The Honors Program at IU Southeast is designed to serve the needs and interests of highly motivated students who seek a stimulating and exciting academic experience and formal recognition for completing a challenging program.
Hello! - 09/18/2007
This is my first blog ever, so I hope you’ll bear with me if I break any rules of blog etiquette.
I’m Angela M. Salas, the Director of the Honors Program, and Associate Professor of English. I came to Indiana University Southeast last year from Clarke College, in Dubuque, Iowa, where I’d been in the English department and taught in the Honors Program. Before that I’d written an academic book and had been on the faculty of Adrian College, in Adrian, Michigan, where, at various times, I’d Chaired the Honors Program and the English department, as well as being president of the faculty.
I value rigor and inclusiveness. To my mind, schools and academic programs should “nurture the intellect”, as Kate Ronald, one of my professors at Nebraska once put it. I’m not a big believer in academic hazing, or in academic Darwinism (the strong thrive and the “weak” fall to the side), although I am a proponent of high standards, hard work, and pride in accomplishing tough things. For that reason, I’m pleased to be a part of Indiana University Southeast in general, and the Honors Program in particular. After all, both entities exist to provide educational opportunities of all sorts for people who want to learn, to think, to better themselves, and to prepare themselves for the future.
In the Indiana University Southeast Honors Program, students are not “judged” by whether they did well in 9th grade, or whether they are comfortable and successful standardized test takers. To the contrary, while we are thrilled to welcome students who have always thrived in school, we’re also glad to consider students who may have caught fire a little bit later. That’s why we ask applicants to fill out a pretty standard application form, but also require a personal statement and three references from people under whom they’ve studied or worked. This more holistic approach to viewing our applicants permits us to see potential, as well as past performance, and to get some sense of how well an applicant might “take” to the Honors experience. The Honors Council and I do not judge whether an applicant is “worthy” of being in the Program; rather, we think deeply about what we’ve learned from each applicant, and about the Honors Program’s ability to help them thrive and meet their goals. In short, we look at each student’s potential for growth and their willingness to work hard and be a part of the academic community.
I believe in excellence and hard work. I see a lot of excellence and hard work around me at Indiana University Southeast, and I’m proud to say that our Honors students are among those pursuing excellence, service, hard work, and lofty goals. For what it’s worth, I’m pleased to be a part of it.
