Cosby Honors College Catalyst Week gives Blugolds a kickstart to fall

“Being able to start school a full week early and establish a large group of familiar faces to start my first year is incredible,” Zell says.

Catalyst is a free weeklong summer program for all incoming honors students, made possible by funding from Mark Stephen Cosby in support of the college. Honors students were invited to arrive on Aug. 24, a full week earlier than most of campus. These early birds get a week to meet their cohort of 81 students, meet current honors student mentors, engage with honors faculty in activities and academic discussions, explore campus and participate in community-led projects.

“The hope is that these students really start to feel at home on campus and with each other and in the concept of honors in general,” says Dr. Heather Fielding, director of the Cosby Honors College.

“Making friends is a huge benefit, as is the early chance to interact with faculty in a casual, more relaxed atmosphere. We hope they learn from the start that faculty are approachable, they want students to reach out and ask questions. Student success and access to resources skyrockets once they understand this,” Fielding says.

Mentors and faculty give a guided taste of life in the honors college

Feilding says a key component of Catalyst is the 17 current students serving as peer mentors for the week.

“The mentor group has been fully in charge of planning the evenings — planning what they know to be fun and engaging activities for each night,” Fielding says. “From karaoke nights to kickball, walking tours and more, they’ve packed the evenings with many ways to deepen connections and familiarity with campus and one another.”

Leading the team of mentors is Zoe Eineichner, a senior double-majoring in psychology and organizational communication. In addition to her love of the honors college and all it has brought her, Eineichner embraces opportunities to create a welcoming environment for newcomers, and this Catalyst program does just that.

“My goal for these new Blugolds is to make their transition into college feel less intimidating and more exciting,” Eineichner says. “I hope to be a steady, friendly presence that they can rely on.”

For fellow peer mentor Megan Hohensee, a driving force in filling this role is to make sure new students in the honors college get a glimpse of the kinds of influence the program has on students like herself.

“I want all Blugolds to understand that honors is so much more than academics. We are surrounded by people who encourage us to grow, challenge us to step outside of our comfort zone and support us throughout the student journey," Hohensee says.

During the week, faculty are leading student groups through 10 distinct interactive sessions, each focused on a key element of the courses and opportunities in the honors college.

“The courses in honors rely heavily on open discussion and dialogue, interdisciplinary approaches to understanding complex topics, independent and group projects and creative ways to think critically and see things through new lenses,” Fielding says. “This week is all of those elements, all day, every day.”

One session uses lighthearted/low-stakes topics to raise student comfort level with disagreement. “What’s your favorite candy and why,” for instance. Another session breaks down the science of fermentation through the creation of cheese and hot sauce.

“It’s all about showing the different things we do in typical honors courses, and to make it fun and interactive,” Fielding says.

Serving the community from the start

The last day of Catalyst Week will engage all 81 students in community-based service projects, work that shows new students before classes officially begin that a Blugold education is one that gives back where it counts.

“We have four long-standing community partners stepping up to engage with our students in demonstrating how the university can be a reliable and versatile partner in building a strong community,” Fielding says.

The organizations and projects involved for Friday, Aug. 28, are:

• A day of maintenance and repair work along the Eau Claire Sculpture Tour, hosted by Visit Eau Claire.
• Two groups will learn about tackling area food insecurity with help from staff at both Feed My People Food Bank and the Trinity Lutheran Church Food Pantry.
• Students will learn about and engage in trail maintenance at Centennial Park in Altoona, alongside volunteers from Eau Claire’s Community for Outdoor Recreation, Biking, and Adventure.
• Trinity Lutheran Church will host a dinner for all the groups at the end of the day, and students will be able to sample the fermented foods they created earlier in the week.

All told, planners and participants in Catalyst Week are excited to start off another great year of high-impact learning in the honors college, and the kickoff week exemplifies the overall goals of the college.

For Catalyst instructor Chris Outzen, teaching professor of communication and journalism, this unique semester launch program for honors goes a long way in showing incoming students the part of an honors education he most enjoyed as a college student.

“Seeing the accelerated learning that becomes possible in a truly multidisciplinary setting like honors is exciting — I loved it as a student years ago and I have been looking forward to introducing a new class of Blugolds to the wonder of it all,” Outzen says.