By: Teagan Jones and Dr. Vicky Klima
Since May 2023, Dr. Christopher Seitz, associate professor in the Department of Public Health and Exercise Science, has served as the academic mentor for Honors College students pursuing majors in the Beaver College of Health Sciences.
Honors College mentors play a crucial role in the Honors College mission by supporting holistic development and fostering engagement beyond individual disciplines. Dr. Seitz views his role as an Honors College academic mentor as “helping students by giving encouragement, providing advice, and introducing students to others who can help them along their academic journey.” He values the holistic way of mentoring in the Honors College because of the important personal relationships he is able to foster with students.
About Dr. Seitz, Interim Dean Vicky Klima shared, “The first time I heard Dr. Seitz speak with Honors students, he used almost exclusively teenage slang to share suggestions for maximizing the college experience. His August 2023 Honors Convocation address made a strong impression, not only because he gave sound advice but also because we all appreciated his effort to connect with students. As an Honors College academic mentor, Dr. Seitz continues to build community by building relationships with Honors Health Sciences students and creating opportunities for them to build relationships with each other.”
Honors College mentors empower and engage students by collaborating with them to:
- Strategically navigate the Honors curriculum, major decisions, and general education choices to explore and define personal and professional long-term goals, including plans for post-graduate education or employment.
- Identify and pursue co-curricular and extra-curricular opportunities to further refine and achieve their goals.
- Become leaders, healthy, well-balanced community members, and engaged local-global citizens.
Honors College mentors begin working with students before they arrive on campus, partnering with them at their Honors Orientation to develop plans for completing their undergraduate requirements, including majors, minors, and general education. Honors College advising is unique in that advisors support their students for the entire duration of their time at Appalachian. Even after they declare their majors, mentors continue to guide students through University Honors requirements such as interdisciplinary coursework, international education, and the completion of their honors thesis.
Many Honors College mentors are also faculty members in their advising area, teaching one course fewer than they would otherwise and reassigning that time to Honors College mentoring. As established professionals with terminal degrees, Honors College mentors are well-connected in their fields and best-positioned to understand available opportunities. Their professional expertise and experiences, combined with the personal relationships they develop with students, allow them to connect each student with international programs, internships, research experiences, and leadership opportunities that specifically support that student’s success.
Dr. Seitz received a Doctor of Public Health degree from UNC Greensboro in 2013, a Master of Public Health degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 2009, a bachelor's degree in health science from Lock Haven University in 2006, and an associate degree in medical laboratory science from Stevenson University in 2004. He has been a faculty member in the Department of Public Health and Exercise Science since 2017 where he teaches courses on public health and public health intervention planning, biostatistics, epidemiology, research methods, and program evaluation. His research focuses on smoking and vaping prevention, effective teaching in higher education, and Photovoice, which is a method using photography to advocate to decision-makers for changes to improve community health.
Dr. Seitz was initially interested in becoming an academic mentor for the Honors College because of his past experiences with Honors students. He shared “I’ve done student advising and mentoring in the past, and I’ve also been a director of several honors theses at App State and previous universities that I’ve worked at. Through my experiences, I’ve observed just how motivated and kind Honors students tend to be. I like to surround myself with people like that!”
Dr. Seitz worked as an academic advisor for undergraduate students during his time at UNC Greensboro, during which he “advised over 400 undergraduate students each semester as a graduate assistant”. He notes that meetings with students were limited and solely based around fulfilling class requirements. However, Dr Seitz notes that the Honors College way of mentoring is significant to him because,
Holistic mentoring to me is understanding what student’s dreams are. Knowing more about students and their future career goals can help me to give good advice about their coursework, international education experience, and which professors they should consider asking to be their director and second reader.
Dr. Seitz has served as a thesis director and second reader on several undergraduate honors students’ theses. As an academic mentor, he guides students toward the completion of their University Honors requirements including the thesis. Dr. Seitz recommends that students starting the thesis process “choose their thesis director based on how much they enjoy the professor as a person, and also on having an interest in the professor’s research.”
Within his own research, Dr. Seitz regularly includes students as co-authors on peer-reviewed publications, and professional academic conference presentations. He shared,
“Involving students in research is important to me because of my mentor from undergrad. My academic advisor and I made a mistake in my course schedules, and I was three credits shy of graduating on time. In response, my mentor (who was also the department chair) volunteered to help me complete an independent study of three credits (which meant my last semester of college was going to be 21 credits!) by conducting my own research study, similar to taking on a thesis. It was from that experience that I gained an appreciation for research, and I’m certain that it helped my graduate school applications. I want my students to have the opportunity that my mentor gave to me. I simply tell students during class what research projects I am working on and ask anyone if they’d like to help out. I’m grateful to Dr. Mary Rose Colley (Professor Emerita at Lock Haven University) for guiding me through the research process and having a huge impact on my career!”
Dr. Seitz also completed a Fulbright fellowship from 2016-2017 in Ireland, and has served on App State’s Nationally Competitive Scholarship’s Fulbright Committee, supporting App State students and faculty with their Fulbright applications. Given his first-hand experience with Fulbright, he is able to use his role as an academic mentor to encourage and support Honors students in applying for Fulbright awards and other competitive and nationally recognized scholarships. He shared that: “Students are often unaware of such opportunities, or they do not believe that they could win a prestigious award. I tell them that they can! My advice to any Honors students thinking about applying for a Fulbright would be to contact me or App State’s Office of Nationally Competitive Scholarships. We’re here to help you!”
Outside of mentoring, teaching, and conducting research, Dr. Seitz enjoys spending quality family time outside enjoying nature with his wife and their baby boy, Christian. He offers this advice for current Honors College students:
“Don’t let earning good grades and pursuing your goals get in the way of your learning. Enjoy this time. Soak up your fall, spring, and summer breaks. It’s over before you know it.”
