To: Maryland Honors Program Directors and Other Interested Parties

From: Executive Board of the Maryland Collegiate Honors Council

Re: The John and Edythe Portz Awards for Outstanding Honors Students

The Maryland Collegiate Honors Council (MCHC) is pleased to announce the 2005 John and Edythe Portz awards for Outstanding Honors Students at Two-Year and Four-Year Colleges in Maryland. Dr. John Portz, longtime Director of the Honors Program at the University of Maryland, College Park, endowed these awards through MCHC to honor the achievements of Honors students in his home state of Maryland. One award is designated for an Honors student at a four-year college or university, and the other for an Honors student at a two-year college. Each award carries a stipend of $500.

This year, Portz nomination packages will be due on March 4, the day of the 2005 MCHC Conference. Each nomination package must include a student project that represents the highest standard of achievement in a college or university Honors program. Some preference is given to student research or creative work that has been carried out for Honors course credit. In an effort to make the selection process more transparent, the MCHC Executive Board is inviting all Portz award nominees to give a five-minute presentation of their work at the conference. The Portz nominee presentations are currently scheduled for the afternoon session. Nominees are not required, but are strongly encouraged, to participate. Portz nominees may also elect to present their work to the membership in poster form or in another form suitable for display throughout the day.

Every MCHC member institution in good standing may nominate one candidate for the MCHC Portz Award. See below for the Portz Award nomination form, membership form and dues notice for 2005. You may send dues directly to the MCHC Treasurer, Maureen Connelly of Frostburg State University; her address is included on the membership form.

MCHC Portz Award Nominations are due by March 4, 2005 to Betsy Yarrison, University of Baltimore, 1420 N. Charles Street, Baltimore MD. The award winners will be announced in late April or early May.

John and Edythe Portz Award nomination form

MCHC membership form and dues notice

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