2020 Oscar and Shoshana Trachtenberg Award Goes to Donald Jones
Associate Professor of English Donald Jones (A&S) is the recipient of the 2020 Oscar and Shoshana Trachtenberg Award that honors a full-time University of Hartford faculty member for sustained service to the University. Jones came to the University in 1996. He is the current Director of the Honors Program and won UHart teaching awards for excellence in 2000, 2007, and 2018.
An excellent classroom instructor and productive scholar, Jones is being recognized for his accomplishments as director of the Honors Program since 2010. In the past decade, he has transformed the program and grown its participation from an average of 11 students in 2007 to a record number of students who completed the program—70— in 2019. The Honors Program requires students to complete 18 HON-level course credits with a minimum GPA from 3.25 to 3.5 depending on the school or college. This top echelon of students enhances the University’s recruitment and retention capabilities, academic excellence, and reputation.
Jones is the driving force behind upgrading the Honors Program to one now described as robust, vibrant, and growing. His responsibilities are many and include presenting at admissions events, creating the HON class schedule, managing honors contracts, conducting workshops for students who are writing theses, and evaluating Honors colloquium proposals. He teaches students to convert their honors theses to 300 word presentation proposals and facilitates their applications and acceptances to present at regional and national conferences. He is the Faculty Associate for the Honors Residential Learning Community (RLC) in Hawk Hall and holds monthly meetings with students on that RLC floor to discuss fundamental academic skills as well as college goals and employment readiness. He also reviews resumes, conducts mock interviews with students, and has established a relationship with Aetna to provide internship and job opportunities for honors students.
Jones has helped recruit many high-achieving high school students to UHart. He helped develop the University’s 2019 and 2020 Scholarship Days for top academic applicants to come to campus to learn more about the University and compete for lucrative scholarships. He developed the essay prompts, met with students, and organized panels of Honors students to speak to the attendees and their parents.
College of Arts and Sciences Dean Katherine Black says the Honors Program enables UHart’s top students to maximize their education, experiences, and future opportunities. “The University and our Honors students are so very fortunate for his dedication.”
Jones earned his PhD at the University of New Hampshire, his MA in Literature at Drew University, and BA at Connecticut College.