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Mentors, Faculty Affiliates, Honors EXCEL Staff Support

What is a Mentor? What is a Faculty Affiliate? How can the Honors EXCEL program staff provide you with support for your project? 

Read below for more information on how we can help you succeed!
  • Your mentor – This is the person with whom you will probably work most closely over the course of your project. Your mentor is from your discipline, and thus guides your project by providing background information and context for it, suggesting appropriate tools, techniques and resources, and helping you to define the scope of your work. Some mentors are very hands-on and will ask you to meet weekly for progress updates; some will provide you with more flexibility and you will need to reach out to them more proactively when you need help or guidance.
     
  • Your faculty affiliate  – The Honors EXCEL faculty affiliates are also the instructors who teach the two Honors EXCEL classes, HONR 450 and HONR 451. In that role, they provide instruction on how to develop a project and on how to communicate about it. At the same time, the faculty affiliates are also a good resource for you if you need a broader perspective about scholarship in general, or about your project in particular. Our faculty affiliates are well-connected within their field, which is why they can suggest other faculty members, university resources or OCEs that could be useful for your project. Remember that  you are welcome to contact  any of the faculty affiliates, even if they did not teach your Honors section! In other words, consider all our faculty affiliates (see the  2020-2022 list here) a valuable resource that you are invited to use!
     
  • Honors EXCEL staff  –  Dr. Damien Clement is here to help you with all things related to the Honors EXCEL program, the curriculum, funding and OCEs. He can help with project development, connect you to resources, approve your courses for experiential learning and give you access to Honors EXCEL funding. He is also here just to hear from you — so stop by during office hours, or contact him at HonorsEXCEL@mail.wvu.edu with any questions, ideas or concerns. In other words, consider him your ongoing support system as you develop and implement your Honors EXCEL project! 

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