June 30, 2008
Bowling
Green, Ky. - Western Kentucky University is strengthening its educational commitment to high achieving college students.
WKU, which launched the state’s first Honors College in 2007, is adding two positions that will expand the Honors curriculum and will assist all WKU students in seeking nationally competitive scholarships.
Amy Eckhardt will join the Honors College as director of the Office of Scholar Development and Dr. Clay Motley will be the Honors College’s assistant director for Academics.
Eckhardt comes to WKU from the University of Pittsburgh where she has served as director of National Scholarship and International Programs since 2001. Motley has been director of the Honors Program at Charleston Southern University since 2004.
“Amy and Clay possess the experience, expertise and drive to assist the Honors College in its goal to become one of the top honors colleges in the country,” said Dr. Craig Cobane, director of the Honors College. “WKU students will benefit immensely from the passion these two bring to their jobs.”
In her new role, Eckhardt will mentor, advise and assist WKU students as they apply for prestigious national and international scholarships. In the past five years, she has helped University of Pittsburgh students win three Marshall Scholarships, 10 Goldwaters, four Trumans, three Udalls, a Rhodes and a Churchill.
“I am eager for the challenges involved in establishing a new Office of Scholar Development and the opportunity this represents to make a difference at the individual level and at the institutional level,” she said. “I look forward to working directly with students on scholarship advising and to develop innovative programming that supports the essential and broader goals of ‘scholar development.’ ”
As a student and university employee, Eckhardt has more than 20 years of experience with honors programs at Indiana University, Penn State University and the University of Pittsburgh. She is a member of the National Association of Fellowship Advisors.
In addition to scholarship advising at Pittsburgh, Eckhardt developed two international curriculum proposals including field studies programs in Mongolia and South Africa.
She has lived, studied and taught in Peru, England, Italy, Israel and Slovakia (including a stint in the Peace Corps) and speaks Spanish, French, Italian, Hebrew and Slovak. Eckhardt is a graduate of Penn State University and the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.
Motley, meanwhile, is returning to his native Kentucky for his new job at WKU.
As the Honors College’s assistant director for Academics, Motley will provide leadership in the development of the Honors curriculum and programming, in the recruitment of faculty to offer Honors courses and in the development of assessment tools.
“I am very familiar with the growth and development of the WKU Honors College and its important role in the university’s mission of being a ‘leading American university with international reach,’” he said.
As director of Charleston Southern’s Honors Program since 2004, Motley has increased the program’s visibility, quality and role on campus. He has been a member of the school’s English Department faculty since 2002 and teaches literature courses.
Motley has been a finalist for CSU’s Excellence in Teaching Award for 2006-07 and 2007-08, has been a member of the Faculty Senate and Academic Council and has served as faculty representative for the Goldwater and Udall scholarship programs.
Motley received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Kentucky, master’s degree from Eastern Kentucky University and doctorate from the University of South Carolina.
More WKU news is available at www.wku.edu. If you’d like to receive WKU news via e-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.
For information, contact Honors College at (270) 745-2081.
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