New interim honors coordinator

Associate writing arts professor Dr. Donald Stoll has been appointed the Interim Honors Coordinator of the Bantivoglio honor’s concentration, and will oversee the program for the rest of the school year.

Stoll announced his new position to students in an e-mail on Oct. 30, assuring those in the program that they will “barely feel this administrative change.”

“I don’t know enough yet, there is still very much a learning curve,” Stoll said.

Last month, Dr. Kathleen Pereles resigned from her position as coordinator. However, Pereles will continue to be involved in the concentration.

Stoll has been teaching at Rowan for 35 years in the writing arts program. He is in his eighth year teaching in the honors concentration and his third year on the Honors Advisory Board.

The Honors Advisory Board is made up of faculty from each college. The board recommended Stoll in late October, a recommendation that was ultimately approved by Interim Associate Provost Jim Newell.

Elizabeth Agababa, senior marketing major and President of the Honors Student Organization, said last month that she would like to see internal issues resolved before the program found a new coordinator. Now, Agababa feels the program is on the right track.

“Right now, everything seems to be going strong,” Agababa said. “I’m not sure how the program will change, but we are going to try to make the best changes possible.”

Stoll said he does not plan on changing anything in the concentration, but instead intends to continue progressing issues already on the table. Currently, the Honors Advisory Board is working with the university to create honors housing where students in the program can live together.

Stoll also said he and the board are looking into creating a larger curriculum for the concentration by adding a larger variety of classes.

“We want to expand the honors courses into more academic programs, so there is more opportunity for a wide variety of students to be in the concentration,” Stoll said.

Stoll said that any major changes to the program will ultimately be made by the next full-time coordinator. Stoll will only have the position until June 30, 2010.

Agababa said that her experiences with Stoll have been positive.

“I’ve had him as a teacher,” Agababa said. “He definitely cares, he knows that the most important thing is the student.”