The University of Nevada, Reno has become the host institution of the Western Regional Honors Council, the largest of the six regional councils across the country, thanks to the dedicated efforts of people like Daniel Villanueva, assistant director of the Honors Program.

The last WRHC meeting, April 10-12, 2016, was held at the University of California, Riverside. It was then that the membership unanimously elected Villanueva, along with the University, to become its new host.

According to Villanueva, there are more than 300 honors programs within the western region, but only about half of those are active members, who pay their dues and attend regional meetings. Villanueva and his colleagues in the University's Honors Program are working to improve the rate of membership, and he believes hosting the regional council will help.

Villanueva also believes that being in this position will help the University have a hand in the shaping and upholding of best practices in honors programs.

"We know we will not have the best answers for everything, but as WRHC host institution, we act as a sounding board for other universities," Villanueva said. "For example, the amount of scholarship winners we work to produce is something we are particularly proud of and what other universities may want to model themselves after."

One of the primary ways Villanueva sees the University setting itself apart from others is the amount of time and effort mentors give the students. He believes that the work put forth by Honors students can be attributed to the guidance and support of mentors within the Honors Program.

Director of the Honors Program, Tamara Valentine agrees with Villanueva. She believes the University has students that are highly competitive in national fellowships and scholarships because of the intense and massive amount of work they put forth under the guidance and support of the Honors Program faculty.

"The knowledge of our staff combined with the resources of the University can help students mold themselves into a worthy nominee for awarded scholarships and fellowships," Valentine said. "We are here to give the students access to success - it's up to them to attain it."

The Western Regional Honors Council has been in existence for more than three decades, and the University's Honors Program was one of the founding members, along with peer institutions such as Washington State University and the University of New Mexico. Since its establishment, the University of Nevada, Reno has hosted its annual conference twice, most recently in April 2015.

Villanueva sees the WRHC as having five basic functions and he believes the University's Honors Program to be the most active in the first three:

1. Supporting active sharing of ideas and best practices among administrators at the over 300 Honors Programs and Colleges in the Western Region
2. Providing funding for students and faculty to attend National Collegiate Honors Council seminars and professional development events
3. Hosting an annual regional conference to showcase undergraduate scholarship and faculty/staff best practices
4. Publishing Scribendi, the award-winning undergraduate Honors literary and arts journal
5. Representing issues specific to the Western Region at the annual National Collegiate Honors Conference

For more information on the Western Regional Honors Council and the Honors Program at the University, visit unr.edu/honors.