OSU-OKC student, faculty member awarded

OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma State University-Oklahoma City honored two deserving individuals this month with the revival of the Outstanding Honors Contract Award and the Faculty Mentor for Outstanding Student Honors Contract Award. 

“The OSU-OKC Honors Committee is proud to announce the 2020-2021 Outstanding Honors Contract Award goes to Elizabeth Geist for her anatomy poster project,” said Tracy Edwards, associate vice president of academic affairs.

Edwards said Geist’s achievement was all the more impressive because her project was done in a difficult class during a pandemic and a mostly remote semester.

“The hard work and determination that it took to do this during this time in history is nothing short of amazing.  Furthermore, I have not heard such praise from the Honors Committee about another submission and I’ve been the administrative contact for the committee for several years,” he said. 

That made it the perfect time to bring back the dual awards, a tradition that had fallen by the way a few years ago. Student awardees receive a $250 cash scholarship and faculty awardees receive a $250 stipend.

Honors coordinator and psychology faculty member Elizabeth Peters said the committee was impressed with the intricate detail of the anatomy poster and the effort that went into the accompanying YouTube video. 

“This was definitely the most fun I've had while completing an honors project, and that made it easier for me to do a lot more work and research. It makes me very happy to hear that everyone on the honors committee appreciates my work,” Geist said.

The Honors Committee also recognized Dr. Lucas Rhodes as the Faculty Mentor for Outstanding Student Honors Contract for his support of Geist on the project. 

“It was wonderful to see students and faculty still working together doing great things in spite of the pandemic,” Edwards said. “Our faculty are awesome.”