History of the DHC

Originally founded in 1981, the Honors Program at The University of Montana began its life in a small office in Corbin Hall with a part-time director, Classics Professor John Madden, and a part-time secretary. Over the next decade the number of students in the program grew from a few dozen to approximately 300. In 1991, following a lengthy planning process and approval by the UM Faculty Senate, the UM Administration, and the Board of Regents, the Honors Program was transformed into an Honors College. Professor John Madden was selected as the College's first Dean. The new Honors College was housed in a small third-floor office in Main Hall, where Dean Madden and the College's secretary/advisor received and worked with the increasing number of students who wanted to take advantage of the academic and social opportunities the College could offer them.

Joan Wenke worked with distinction as Administrative Associate in the DHC from 1992 to 2004. Her knowledge, skills, and personal traits gave her the special ability to help hundreds of students and parents feel welcome to the DHC community and to provide excellent staff support to her co-workers. She went about her work each day with grace and a deep sense of pride for our mission and goals, for our students, faculty, and everyone who entered the DHC.

To help accommodate the increasing numbers of students, the College hired Linda Gillison to serve as the first Academic Advisor in 1995. In that same year Karen Kaley, who had worked for several years in the School of Journalism, joined the Honors College staff as assistant to the Dean, general advisor, and business manager. Linda Gillison left her position in the DHC in fall 1997 to take up a tenure-track position in Classics, and Sean O'Brien, Adjunct Faculty in Philosophy, was selected to replace her as Faculty Advisor.

In spring 1996, thanks to a large gift from UM alumni Nancy and Ian Davidson, and with the support of many other alumni and friends, the Honors College and its now 500 students were able to move into a marvelous new building located on the Oval just southwest of Main Hall. At that time, it became officially known as the Davidson Honors College. Due to the building's exemplary facilities, the DHC has since become a favorite location for many campus events, lectures, workshops, receptions, and courses, and has played a central role in the life of the campus.
When founding Dean John Madden announced his retirement in the spring of 1998, the Davidson Honors College was positioned to meet the challenges of the future. In July 1999, Gerald A. Fetz, German Studies Professor and Chair of Foreign Languages and Literatures, became Dean. During his tenure the Davidson Honors College continued to grow and prosper; Dean Fetz presided over a remarkable expansion in the range and diversity of Honors courses offered at UM, and he spearheaded the development of a new Honors core course, "Ways of Knowing." In spring 2003, Dean Fetz moved across campus to serve as Interim Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, becoming Dean of the CAS in spring 2004.

Assistant Provost Betsy Bach, Professor of Communication Studies, stepped in to become Interim Dean of the Davidson Honors College from 2003 to 2005. During her tenure the DHC carried out a comprehensive self-study and successfully completed its first external program review. Some important outcomes of this review process included the formation of a new Faculty Advisory Board, composed of representatives from every college and school at UM, and the formation of a Student Advisory Council. Both of these advisory groups have played an essential role in the subsequent development and governance of the DHC.

On July 1, 2005, James McKusick became the third dean of the Davidson Honors College. He also serves as Professor of English at The University of Montana. In response to a growing need for professional advising and mentoring in the DHC, the half-time Academic Advisor position was reconfigured as a full-time position, and in August 2005 Laure Pengelly Drake was hired as the DHC's first Director of Advising and External Scholarships. Laure has mentored candidates for such prestigious awards as the Rhodes, Marshall, Mitchell, Truman, Goldwater, Udall, and Jack Kent Cooke scholarships. Laurel Aroner and Andi Armstrong joined the DHC in 2006 and 2007 (respectively) as Administrative Associates, a position in which they offer friendly advice and assistance every day to DHC students, faculty, and staff.

The Office for Civic Engagement

The Office for Civic Engagement (OCE) began as Volunteer Action Services in the spring of 1992. Volunteer Action Services (VAS) was a program of the Davidson Honors College designed to coordinate student volunteerism on campus and in the community, and to serve as the local affiliate office of the newly established Montana Campus Compact. The office served as a resource center for all students to identify potential volunteer opportunities and match students with community agencies in need of service. VAS coordinated a variety of service projects throughout the school year, such as Clean Start, to expose students to the benefits of volunteering and offered service-based internships for students to gain credit for coordinating volunteerism. VAS worked with faculty members on campus to identify and implement service-learning opportunities for students to connect community service with classroom learning. For the first three years the program was staffed by a part-time director and student interns.

In 1995, a full-time Volunteer Montana! AmeriCorps member was hired as a volunteer coordinator to assist the director, and two part-time Campus Corps AmeriCorps members were added to assist with specific student volunteer projects. Over the years the Campus Corps program continued to expand. The director and Campus Corps members developed many partnerships with community organizations to help increase student volunteerism and service-learning activities designed to build partnerships between the campus and the community and effectively address and resolve identified needs.

In 2001, new programs were developed by Volunteer Action Services that encompassed an expansion of efforts to engage students and faculty in academic work in collaboration with community organizations. As a result, an additional staff member was added and the name changed to the Office for Civic Engagement (OCE). The OCE operates as a program of the Davidson Honors College and is housed in the lower level of the DHC building. The OCE employs one director, two program managers, two AmeriCorps team leaders, one graduate student assistant, nine student AmeriCorps members, and two student employees.

•Site Map•DHC Homepage•