The Honors Program

Maude Bigford
Honors Program Coordinator
Helen Ferris 129
(231) 591-2216
bigfordm@ferris.edu

Maude Bigford has been employed at Ferris State since 1983, and has served as the coordinator of the Honors Program since its inception in 1997.  During her tenure the program has grown from 133 students to 500+ in 86 different majors.  In her capacity as coordinator she serves as campus liaison, advisor, mentor and professor for the Honors cohort, and is dedicated to providing the best possible services for those in Honors.

As coordinator of Honors Maude meets with each Honors student individually and helps to connect them to services/faculty members/organizations on campus; she is responsible for teaching the Honors Orientation class; oversees the Honors curriculum; coordinates the bi-weekly Pizza With A Prof series; oversees the Senior Symposium, Senior Send-Off, Honors Awards Nights, Honors Orientation and Honors Invitational Competition; prepares statistical reports detailing the progress of the program.

Maude has worked in several different positions at Ferris.  From 1983-87 she served as an adjunct professor in the department of Languages and Literature;  from 1987-91 she served as an instructor in the Collegiate Skills Program (CSP); from 1991-96 she served as Assistant Professor and ultimately Acting Coordinator of CSP; from late 1996 to the present she has coordinated Honors. She has served on university search committees; has been the chairman of Select Sixty, a women’s mentoring group, since 1994; serves on the Arts and Lectures Committee; the Promotion Committee for University College; is a tour guide for the Jim Crow Museum; and is chair of the Honors Council and the Student Advisory Board, which serve the interests of those in Honors.

In recognition of her outstanding service to the University, Maude was honored with the Distinguished Teacher Award in 1995; received the Ferris Professional Woman of the Year Award in 2002; and served as commencement speaker in December 2003 to the graduating class.

John Cullen, Ph.D.
Assistant Coordinator of Honors
Helen Ferris 105
(231) 591-2216
cullenj@ferris.edu

John Cullen teaches Composition, Creative Writing and Literature classes for the Department of Languages and Literature and is Co-Coordinator of the Honors Program. His areas of specialty in the field of literature are American Nature Writing and Contemporary American literature, specifically contemporary poetry. His work with the Honors Program includes advising potential scholarship students, teaching Honors FSUS classes, advising the Honor's Program newsletter, and working with students on Honors-related projects.

Education: MA, MFA and Ph.D. from Bowling Green State University, and BA from the State University of New York at Geneseo.

Tammy Babcock
Honors Program Assistant
Helen Ferris 131
(231) 591-2216
babcockt@ferris.edu

Tammy Babcock is the Assistant for the Honors Program Office. She has worked at Ferris since 1997 in various capacities and joined the Honors Program as Assistant in 2001.

She is responsible for maintaining the budget, training and supervising Honors staff, facilitating the Honors admissions process, producing reports, arranging travel for the coordinator, monitoring student progress, and coordinating the "Lunch and Learn" series in the Honors halls. She is the main contact for internal and external inquiries, and organizes large events throughout the year such as as Honors Summer Orientation, the Senior Symposium and Senior Send-Off Banquet, Honors Awards/4.0 banquets, and the Honors Invitational Competition. She also serves as co-advisor for the Honors Programming Board.

Education: A.A.S. General Business, Ferris State University.

William Potter, Ph.D.
Dean, University College
Starr 308
(231) 591-2428
potterw@ferris.edu

Dr. Potter is Dean of University College at Ferris where he directs a diverse array of student support programs such as tutoring, peer mentoring, educational and career counseling, disabilities services, the campus-wide requirement for first-year seminars, supplemental instruction, developmental curricula in reading and career exploration, and the Honors Program. He began his work at Ferris in 1999 after twenty-five years in various administrative capacities at Alma College.

Dr. Potter earned a bachelor's degree in History at Alma College, a master's degree in History at Central Michigan University, and a Ph.D. in College and University Administration at Michigan State University.