NCHC WINS NATIONAL PARK SERVICE CENTENNIAL INITIATIVE GRANT
The National Collegiate Honors Council is proud to be one of only a hundred organizations whose projects have been accepted by the National Park Service for the 2008 Centennial Challenge. Our “Partners in the Parks” initiative was recognized on April 24, 2008 at a ceremony held on the Capitol steps in Washington D.C.
Partners in the Parks is an experiential learning program, conceived by Joan Digby as a means of engaging NCHC students in week-long seminars in the national parks. There will be seven projects in 2008 taking place at national parks across the country. Honors students and faculty will have unique opportunities to visit areas of the American landscape noted for their beauty, significance and lasting value. The seminars will be led by university faculty and park personnel and will include historical, scientific, cultural, and other important areas unique to a given park. Projects will also take advantage of exciting recreational opportunities in the parks to broaden participant's understanding of the overall value of national parks to our country and its citizens. Matt Nickerson is overseeing the program and chairing the committee on Partners in the Park.
Matt and Joan had the opportunity to travel to Washington DC to represent NCHC in April of 2008. Secretary of the Interior, Dirk Kempthorne, and National Parks Director, Mary Bomar, along with many members of Congress, spoke about the urgency of protecting the parks and cultivating new generations of visitors.
The NCHC project was one of only five projects featuring higher education partners and the only one with a nation-wide scope featuring parks across the country. The grant, which represents an NPS investment of $63,750 in the NCHC program, will be administered by Matt Nickerson through Southern Utah University.
Joan and Matt met Secretary Kempthore and National Parks Director Bomar as well as Superintendent Frank Dean, who will be overseeing the 2008 Centennial Challenge projects. Several other NPS people expressed interest in attending an NCHC “Partners” program over the next year.
If you have students interested in attending one of the several Partners programs coming up this summer, please consult the website www.partnersintheparks.org for availability. To learn more about the National Park Service Centennial check out www.nps.gov/2016
If you are interested in hosting an NCHC Partners in the Parks program at a national park near your institution, please get in touch with Matt Nickerson Nickerson@suu.edu