Honors Staff

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Charles Ruffner

Director
ruffner@siu.edu
618-453-1688

Charles M. Ruffner, Ph.D., specializes in old-growth forest ecology and fire history in his research and teaching, and is deeply engaged in service with professional and community groups at multiple scales.

Charles’ SIUC Fire Dawg crew works closely with local agencies, landowners, and interest groups to reintroduce prescribed burning to forests and prairies of the Central Hardwoods region. He currently serves as an Illinois Nature Preserves Commissioner, and held recent leadership roles with the Oak Woodlands and Forest Fire Consortium and the Illinois Prescribed Fire Council. Charles leads study abroad groups to Ireland, Scotland, and Bavaria and completed two overseas sabbaticals in Ireland and Afghanistan. His involvement with farmers and foresters across the developing world includes work with both military and civilian personnel in Venezuela, Panama, Afghanistan, Dominican Republic, Lithuania, and Morocco.

David Milley

Assistant Director
milleydr@siu.edu
618-453-1691

David joined the Honors team Fall 2014, focusing on mentoring, Honors group service, the Honors Living-Learning Community and program outreach with Admissions Open Houses, New Student Orientations. A native of Massachusetts, with a B.A. in English from Gordon College and M.Ed. in Educational Administration and Counseling from Rhode Island College, he has been highly engaged with students in campus activities, co-curricular life, leadership development, orientation, residence life, student government, and organizations at six colleges in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Iowa, and Kentucky, along with academic support, personal enrichment and wellness teaching with students at one middle school in Kentucky. He has had an active civic engagement “second career,” focusing on child and youth advocacy in community, educational, human services, recreational, spiritual, and youth program settings in Mount Vernon IA, North Adams, MA, Berea, KY and now, Carbondale IL.

Elizabeth Donoghue

Assistant Director
elizabeth.donoghue@siu.edu
618-453-3471

Elizabeth Donoghue is a mentor in the University Honors Program. She has a background in non-profit development and taught speech at the university level for six years. In the Honors Program, she advises on applying for nationally, and internationally competitive scholarships. Her work as a fellowship advisor has helped multiple students win major awards. She serves as instructor for the Honors Colloquium (UHON 111) each spring which is a selective class for students wishing to pursue major scholarship opportunities. Elizabeth assists in event planning for the Honors program, coordinates the Honors Global seminar outreach and co-teaches a study abroad class (Literature, History and Music of a Changing Ireland) that travels to Ireland during intercession every other summer.

Elizabeth is a first-generation student that holds two degrees from SIU; a B.A. in Theater and an M.S. in Communication Studies. She is passionate about the transformational role of education and loves encouraging students to cultivate and take advantage of all the opportunities available during their collegiate years.

She serves on the Sustainability Council for SIU. She also serves as Vice President on the board of the Buckminster Fuller Dome Home nonprofit which is creating visitor center and museum to accompany the newly restored dome home in Carbondale. She has coordinated guest speakers and programs on campus with a focus on building awareness and appreciation for the legacy of Buckminster Fuller at SIU and in the region. In addition, she is a board member for the Southern Illinois Irish Festival.

For nearly fifteen years Elizabeth hosted and produced a local radio show focused on issues related to climate change. She is currently producing a new show called “Muse” that focuses on art, astronomy, and our place in the universe. You can listen to it at wdbx.org in the archive or live at 10am on Thursdays. She is also a member of the Radio Players which produces radio plays that air on WSIU.

Elizabeth is an avid bicyclist and loves exploring the beauty and nature of southern Illinois when she gets the chance. She sings and plays music (bass and guitar) and can be found occasionally at local open mics. She is working on a longtime goal of producing an EP of original songs.

Brenda Sanders

Assistant Director
brendas@siu.edu
618-453-2838

Brenda is enthusiastic and passionate about her work as a mentor with the University Honors Program and enjoys guiding her mentees towards higher achievements and enriching experiences at SIUC. She has earned two degrees from SIUC―a B.S. in University Studies with minors in Workforce Education and Speech Communication and a M.S. in Workforce Education and Development, specializing in College Student Leadership. Her honors and awards include an Undergraduate Research/Creative Activity Award, a Graduate Fellowship Certificate of Achievement, a REACH and Undergraduate Assistantship Award, and she was selected as a McNair Scholar. Brenda presented at the Association for the Tutoring Profession Conference at St. Louis University and at the 11th Annual Rocky Mountain McNair Research Symposium & Graduate Conference at Colorado State University. She was an Assessment Fellow at SIUC. And is the author of Empathy and prejudice: Can Holocaust education produce positive change in how adolescents view others? (2008). Her volunteerism includes group and individualized tutoring, GRE quantitative review leader, and many student-involved non-profit charities, with her favorite being Gum Drops. She volunteered to teach 64 first-graders math in the Village of Kimbo, Kenya, Africa, participated in the Sixth Asian Conference of the Academy of Human Resource Development in Beijing, and assisted with a UHP study abroad seminar course in Costa Rica. All of these experiences and her love for education, leadership and service help Brenda to ensure an inclusive and just learning environment.

Betsy Back

Administrative Aide
eback@siu.edu
618-453-2822

Betsy is a native of Southern Illinois with an Associate Degree in Accounting from Shawnee Community College. She is active in Girl Scouts as a traditional Troop leader and a Special Interest Troop leader, and the Registrar for her Service Unit. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling, watching movies, and spending time with her family and friends.

Lauren Stoelzle

Office Support Specialist
honors@siu.edu
618-453-2824

Lauren is a SIU alumna with a Master of Fine Arts degree in Mass Communications and Media Arts. She currently serves on the Y’all Rock Community board and overall has a passion in helping others believe in themselves and pursue their dreams. She is a proud mother of three and supporter of any single parent pursuing a college education. She is a Celia M. Howard fellow and served her fellowship at the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute developing a video tool to be used for national and worldwide change in promoting trauma informed care and acknowledgement of Human Trafficking and necessary care for survivors. As a Southern Illinois native, she is confident in local talent and in the collaborative support Southern Illinois University has for the arts and their student body as a whole.