First-Year Students Get the Right Message at Academic Convocation

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UA alumnus and CNN Newsroom anchor TJ Holmes speaks to first year students at Academic Convocation.

“Academic convocation shows first-year students that faculty, staff and administrators are willing and available to help them succeed during their University of Arkansas experience,” said Quincy Spencer, director of First Year Experience programs. “This event has been very successful in the past few years, and our research data shows that.”

First year student attendance at convocation increased from 2,487 in 2008 to 3,090 this year. Those students who attended this year heard a great speech from T.J. Holmes, a University of Arkansas alumnus and anchor of the weekend morning edition of CNN Newsroom. Holmes graduated from the University of Arkansas with a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism in 1999 and was honored with the Young Alumni Award in 2007.

“Academic convocation is an important ceremony for first year students. And T.J. Holmes’ keynote this year was phenomenal,” said Chancellor G. David Gearhart. “He told a very personal story about how some poor choices he made during his first semester at college followed him the rest of his freshman year. It was the ideal message for incoming students to hear, and I applaud T.J. for sharing it in such a public forum.”

“I always thought: I wish I would have gotten more guidance on my way into college,” Holmes said.

“Right now you are vulnerable. Right now you are susceptible to peer pressure. Right now you need some guidance,” Holmes said. “College is where you are going to become the adult you are going to be for the rest of your life.”

Students were given a survey about convocation and one of them wrote, “T.J. Holmes' success despite his choices in college inspired me, especially since I am a Broadcast Journalism major. He showed me that a graduate from the U of A went on to work for such a high-profile company, even though his college career began a little shaky. He was a great choice of speaker and I thoroughly enjoyed him!”

T.J. Holmes was the latest convocation speaker, but there have been others. In 2009, Dave Van Horn, the head baseball coach and a university alumnus, gave the keynote address. Van Horn, who coached the Razorbacks to the College World Series that year, gave the students some sound advice.

“You’ve got to learn how to be on your own. You’ve got to be a good roommate,” Van Horn said. “Respect is what it is all about. Be accountable. If you have a group project, do your share. Be a leader, not a follower. I truly believe that college is all about helping you become a leader.” Watch Van Horn’s keynote address here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7JnLK_p-ig

The event is held in Bud Walton Arena to signify that this is also where students will be during graduation commencement.

“See yourself in your cap and gown receiving your diploma. Visualize your parents and loved ones in the stands beaming with pride as they applaud the successful culmination of your academic career,” Provost Sharon Gaber told the 3,000-plus new students at convocation the day before classes started.

Part of getting the students excited about starting their academic careers during convocation is recognizing faculty and student collaboration in research projects with an award and emphasizing that with a video that highlights the projects and how to become involved.

The John A. White Award for Faculty-Student Collaboration is presented to faculty and students whose academic research and scholarly activity demonstrate active involvement of students, strong faculty-student interaction, the ability to excite students about academic involvement outside of the classroom, and academic excellence.

One winner this year was “The Use of Sustainable Algae Biomass in the Production of Transport Fuels Project,” supervised by professor Jamie Hestekin in the Ralph E. Martin department of chemical engineering. With the United States importing over 60 percent of its crude oil on an annual basis, the nation is working toward energy independence with exploration of biofuels involving various feedstocks and new technologies. The Hestekin group, which includes several undergraduate students who began working with Hestekin during their freshmen year, has done significant research in the complete algae-usage cycle and are leading initiatives to make transport fuels derived from algae a reality. View the video about the project here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fodBSw1nDB0.

Another winner was “The Tibetans in Exile Today Project,” supervised by professor Sidney Burris, director of the Fulbright College Honors Program, and Geshe Thupten Dorjee. The project is an oral history program devoted to allowing Arkansas students to collect the stories of Tibetan refugees living in exile in India. Forty-five students will have participated in the project by the summer of 2011.

“I think that faculty-student collaboration, however and wherever it occurs, is the lifeblood of any university, but as professors' research agendas become more and more demanding, and as our students become busier and busier, sometimes this collaboration gets short shrift. That the convocation would choose to highlight this important aspect of a university is of inestimable value,” Burris said. “Because the convocation is designed to provide a meaningful beginning to our students' career at the University of Arkansas, it is unique among academic ceremonies which largely congratulate our students on ending their work here. And from the perspective of a first-year student, what could be more important than a sound start to a four- or five-year process?” View the video about this project here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SylervQN4S8.

Convocation is followed by Burger Bash, which is a welcome-back picnic with food and entertainment held in The Gardens near Bud Walton. Burger Bash is sponsored by Chartwells, the campus food service provider, each year.

“The convocation was great, going hand-in-hand with the burger bash,” another student commented in the survey. “It allowed new and current students to engage and interact.”

Academic convocation started as an annual program for first-year students in 2001 with an endowed gift of $50,000 by Cole and Shirley Peterson. Each year the program has been refined to optimize the best parts of convocation to help the students get the right start to their University of Arkansas experience.