National Winner
Month: June 2010

NACURH, INC.

Executive Board Member of the Month

School: Valdosta State University Region: SAACURH
Nominee: Michael Howatt Nominator: Anne Palnau

On-Campus Population: 3000 Chapter Size: 26

Please explain the outstanding contributions of the nominee during the month of nomination

June is such a challenging month for productivity in any situation. Valdosta State University's NRHH chapter is so lucky to have Michael Howatt as a part of the executive board. He is hardworking and dedicated to the chapter. Throughout the month of June he has been successful at keeping the ball rolling in a positive direction for the new executive board and for the chapter as a whole. A lot of the VSU NRHH chapter are RAs who see NRHH as an opportunity to excel in their job. Michael is not a RA, he is a member with a true pure heart for NRHH. His actions are for the betterment of the organization instead of his own agenda. The NRHH chapter here at VSU is going through some big changes. One of the first things that the new executive board is working on is changing the chapter name. VSU's NRHH chapter is currently called the Skull and Bones chapter. Michael Howatt has been one of the active executive members involved in changing the name to a greek name to coordinate with the rest of the honors organizations on campus. Michael has kept an open line of communication between the members of the executive board to ensure that the change happens in a timely manner.

Michael Howatt was unfortunately unable to live on campus for the summer, but you would never guess. He is so dedicated to the organization. He is always easy to get in touch with and he has worked hard to maintain that line of communication. This month I have heard more from him than some of the executive board members that are still on campus for the summer. It would be really easy to pass off some of his responsibilities to someone who is always on campus, however Michael makes time to get on campus to ensure that everything that needs to be done gets done.

I have already talked about Michael's outstanding communication with the other members of the executive board, but that same strong communication goes towards the chapter members as well. This month Michael has done an outstanding job informing the members of NRHH about the "behind the scenes" work of the executive board. This communication is essential for the organization. No one wants to be left behind, Michael ensures that no one will. He regularly checks the NRHH email account to stay up to date on the emails from the chapter members as well as regional and national news.

Valdosta State is a growing university. In order to keep up with the growth the email platform of the university is changing. When Michael Howatt first heard of the email change he thought of how NRHH could be bettered by this change. Michael immediately came up with a plan for NRHH to switch to the new email platform and sent an email seeking the approval of the rest of the council. This is a big task, and Michael took the initiative.

Housing tasks are easy to forget about when you live off campus and are no longer surrounded with reminders. Michael Howatt has not let this effect his already strong work ethic and true passion and enthusiasm for the organization. He works hard to maintain strong stable communication. The chapter is making excellent progress during a month where progress is all too often slowed; this would not be possible without the dedication from Michael Howatt.

Word Count: 571


Date of entry into database: 2010-06-29 21:06:26

NRHH Database Home