Written by Everett Kirkman and Hannah Hackworth | Photo by Madison Meyer

In January, associate professor of communication Jim Miller was promoted to assistant dean of the Honors College. Starting in August, associate professor of engineering James Huff will begin a new position as senior faculty fellow for the Honors College.  

Although both Miller and Huff were previously faculty fellows, these new roles solidify their relationships within the Honors College. 

“Both [Miller and Huff] are full time in the Honors College,” dean of the Honors College Kevin Kehl said. “That was one of the big changes, was that they moved to full time. We wanted to enhance the experience for students, so this model really said, ‘You can borrow them in the department that they’re in, but their permanent  home is really the Honors College.’” 

Huff’s responsibilities evolved to assisting students and faculty that are involved in contract courses, helping with honors capstone or thesis completion, as well as participating in mentorship.  

Recently, Huff has been producing his own psychological research in engineering and other professional domains. 

“By having the experience of doing research and mentoring students with research, I’m able to work with the Honors College to work with other faculty members to build infrastructure for contributing scholarship across all of the University,” Huff said. 

Miller said one responsibility within his new role will include administrative oversight of Honors Symposium.

“I will continue to oversee curriculum development and the implementation of co-curricular and extracurricular programming for honors students. I will also lead all efforts related to promotions, recruiting, and alumni relations within the college.”

Through his work with the Honors College, Huff has the opportunity to work with students from across all academic disciplines, rather than just engineering students. 

“I’m seeing honors theses come out that challenge our understanding of our political identity and political landscapes,” Huff said. “Those are things that I myself as a researcher would never have the creativity, or the energy, or the background to fully execute those projects. But, these students have this initiative and they, with their faculty mentors, are really producing some very Christ informed scholarship that I think is going to continue on a trajectory where we get to be transformative to the world around us in ways that are not reactionary, but in ways that are really beautiful and transformative.” 

“Academic excellence is thriving at Harding,” Miller said. “Our students and faculty are engaged in high-caliber scholarship across campus, and the Honors College is well positioned to support, promote, and expand those efforts. It is our goal to provide students and faculty with opportunities to make significant contributions to the world through their academic pursuits.”

The search for a new faculty fellow will remain within current University faculty. In a colleagues email sent on Feb. 8, Kehl listed duties and preferred characteristics of applicants. 

“The Honors College partners with every academic area across campus,” Miller said. “Having a new faculty fellow will provide fresh insight to these efforts and enhance our ability to support excellence from a variety of fields and disciplines.”

Interested faculty were told to email Kehl no later than Friday, March 11. The position is to be filled by August, allowing for the fellow to begin working with the Honors house in the fall semester.