Our long-time administrative assistant, Melissa Burchfield, retired on June 30th. Melissa joined the Brock Scholars/UHON staff in 1991. In the intervening years, she earned the Master of Arts degree, taught rhetoric and composition to freshmen at UTC, took art and history classes for her own enjoyment, pursued teacher licensure (in progress), volunteered with a local elementary school and with Bridge Refugee Services, advised and encouraged our honors students, and much more. She did all this while managing multiple responsibilities in her “regular” job and lending her technical expertise and graphic design talent to many projects. Certainly Melissa deserves some leisure time in retirement, but she is nevertheless beginning her next career, following her passion to teach English as a Second Language courses to Chattanooga-area refugees. She will be greatly missed here in the Guerry Center.
We have also added a couple of new staff members. In July 2014, Salvatore Musumeci joined the Honors College as the Director of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (URCA). Salvatore is a socio-cultural historian with an interest in the material and visual cultures of Europe between 1300-1600. He earned the Ph.D. from Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London, and joined us from Bryan College where he taught European history and Italian language courses and co-founded and directed the Bryan Center for Undergraduate Research. The URCA Office will serve as a resource for undergraduate research across campus and facilitate opportunities for undergraduate research and creative activity, both on and off campus.
Lindy Harp joined the Honors College in August 2014 as Administrative Assistant and Budget Specialist, and was promoted in August 2015 to Coordinator for Programs and Administration. Lindy is a graduate of Drury University in Springfield, Missouri, where she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. In her new position, Lindy will provide budget oversight and additional programming and advising support for new programs in the Honors College.