A New Look for Honors and the Center for Student Excellence

January 24, 2023

Pending Board approval, a new College of Honors & Excellence (CHE) will house the University Honors program and the current Center for Student Excellence (CSE) with Dr. Claire Procopio serving as Interim Dean.

Several factors have prompted this decision including the continued growth of the Honors program, the success of CSE initiatives, the recommendations surfacing in the work of the Strategic Enrollment Management Task Force on specialized recruiting and retention efforts, and the unexpected departure of Dr. Lorett Swank, Chief Student Success Officer. Dr. Swank is resigning her position effective March 1 to become the Executive Director of Academic Success & Advising at Georgia Tech.

Dr. Procopio has been a member of the Southeastern family since 2005, and has served as Honors director since 2016. Under her guidance, Honors reached the highest enrollment on record (n=831) in 2022-2023 with a 41% increase in the size of the program in the last five years. A full professor in the Department of Communication and Media Studies, Dr. Procopio is a member of the graduate faculty whose research focuses on effective communication within colleges and universities. She was awarded the President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2017.  Dr. Procopio has worked closely with Dr. Swank and her staff and is committed to increasing the impact of Honors initiatives and those of the CSE.

Creation of the College of Honors & Excellence provides a banner to showcase Southeastern’s Core Values of Excellence and Caring; increases recognition of CSE efforts; enhances the prestige of our Honors program; extends successful initiatives and resources to more students; and will help attract and retain highly qualified and diverse students.  It’s going to be great!

My sincere thanks and admiration are extended to Dr. Swank for her extraordinary years of service and steadfast commitment to our university and our students!

All the best,
Tena