Teresa Wells, Language Arts instructor at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College’s Jefferson Davis Campus, has been selected as a Phi Theta Kappa Faculty Scholar. Faculty Scholars serve as seminar leaders at Phi Theta Kappa’s Annual Honors Institute that will be held at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque during June 2015.

Faculty Scholars will participate in the two-part Faculty Scholar Conference at Phi Theta Kappa’s Center for Excellence in Jackson in January to prepare for their leadership role during the summer institute.

Wells, who has been a Phi Theta Kappa adviser since May 2007, said she was looking forward to the training and being able to work with students at the Honors Institute. “I was honored and delighted to find out I was selected,” she said. “It is an incredible opportunity for me to learn and to perform as a leader with this prestigious organization.”

Only 28 Phi Theta Kappa chapter advisers were selected from nearly 3,000 of their peers to serve as 2015 Faculty Scholars. They were selected through a rigorous application process based on knowledge of the 2014-2015 Honors Study Topic, “Frontiers and the Spirit of Exploration,” and demonstrated excellence in teaching or administration. In addition to the strength of their applications, the selection committee also considered where the applicant lives, the Phi Theta Kappa division in which they advise, the teaching or professional discipline and the variety in terms of the number of years the applicant has served as a chapter adviser. The result is intended to be a strong, diverse group of Faculty Scholars.

“The Faculty Scholar Conference is recognized internationally as one of the finest professional development programs available for community college faculty members,” said Dr. Rod Risley, Phi Theta Kappa Executive Director and CEO. “Intense training is provided by nationally recognized scholars to prepare the Faculty Scholars to serve as facilitators for Honors Institute, which is attended by approximately 450 Phi Theta Kappa members and chapter advisers from around the world and praised as ‘the crown jewel of honors programming experiences.’”

During Honors Institute, the Faculty Scholars will lead groups of 15 to 20 honor students in seminar discussions of the issues presented by experts on the Honors Study Topic throughout the week. A second Faculty Scholar Conference will be held in the days leading up to Honors Institute.

Wells has been a full-time instructor at MGCCC since 2005 and teaches Honors and Language Arts classes at the freshman and sophomore levels.

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