Integrating Honors throughout the University: this effort is aimed at augmenting the number of departmental honors tracks, and providing a useful coordinating mechanism. As has been discussed several times with the central administration, there remain needs both for expanded opportunities in academic departments to support students of high caliber who intend graduate or professional study, and, at the same time, there remains a need for some central coordinating effort to ensure consistency among honors tracks (while recognizing the fundamental vital need for variation from department to department.) An effort was made to begin that coordination in AY ’08-09, but it was forestalled by the formation of the Senate’s committee examining resources for high-achieving students. To some extent the forefront of this effort has shifted to the Senate committee on high-achieving students, on which two members of the Honors faculty serve.

Developing Useful Transfer Mechanisms for Honors Transfers from Community Colleges (PCC): this effort is aimed at providing both a point-of-arrival for students of high caliber transferring from PCC, and at continuing the necessary conversations to specify articulation agreements between the University and PCC. A number of meetings have already taken place to consider the state-of-development of the PCC project (still awaiting curricular approval for honors-designated courses, although that is anticipated for AY 2009-10, and first courses are to be offered Fall, 2010), and to begin to address needs for students ultimately arriving at Portland State.

Expanding Resources in Support of Internship: In 2008 an endowment fund was established in the PSU Foundation through an initial gift; its specific intention is to provide increased financial support for the Washington, D.C., internship project. A number of donors have suggested a degree of interest that would allow at least the tripling of the fund balance, but they have been made uneasy by what they perceive as a negative attitude toward the Honors Program.

Increasing Curricular Choice within Honors Program: this effort is aimed at developing new thematic strands, and the revision of curricular armatures, for the lower-division core course covering the first two years. We are in the process of designing a second lower-division strand; current design ideas suggest a formation around themes of colonialism and post-colonialism, national and ethnic identities, race, class, gender and struggles for full enfranchisement. We also now intend to carry out the planned return to the earlier differentiated-track model, which divides the second-year cohort into liberal arts and technical/professional cohorts. (This latter, more efficient means of delivery of the core course, has been delayed by staffing difficulties.)