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Department of Social Entrepreneurship

Academic Honors

There are many ways to achieve academic honors in the SE major.

There are many ways to achieve academic honors in the SE major.

Annual Awards

Year  Award Recipient
2023

Outstanding Senior Academic

Alexis Matton
2023

Outstanding Academic

Olivia Tamburlini
2023

Rising Social Entrepreneurship Minor

Jack Krantz
2023

Outstanding Social Entrepreneurship Explorer

Carly Richards
2023

Changemaker in Action

Anna Perman
2023

Leading Change

Jerome Verbaet
2023

Social Entrepreneur of the Year

Sara Cohen
2022

Outstanding Senior Academic

Madisen Mendoza
2022

Outstanding Academic

Nani Blanco and Aqsa Hasan
2022

Rising Social Entrepreneurship Minor

Adam Lahlou
2022 

Outstanding Social Entrepreneurship Explorer

Havana Landers and Conrado Rovira Monterrosa
2022

Changemaker in Action

Raph Adomakoh

2022

Leading Change Reed Andary and Emily Zientek

2021

Outstanding Senior Academic Brandon Dennis

2021

Outstanding Academic Alexis Matton, Lily Denneen

2021

Rising Social Entrepreneurship Minor Katie Pharo

2021

Social Entrepreneur of the Year Brandon Dennis, Sebastian Adum, Carter Castanza

2021

Changemaker in Action Curtis Shaffer

2021

Leading Change Samantha Maris

2020

Outstanding Senior Academic Dahlia Lilleslatten 
2020 Outstanding Academic John Curtis, Rachel Stern
2020 Rising Social Entrepreneurship Minor Melissa Rodriguez
2020 Social Entrepreneur of the Year

Jaylyn Harrison, Dahlia Lilleslatten, Kela Leonard, Brycyn Smith

2020 Changemaker in Action Brittany Chaney
2020 Leading Change Arianna Montrose
2019 Outstanding Senior Academic Carlye Goldman
2019 Social Entrepreneur of the Year Charles Bonker, Brittney Chaney, Kinsley Gerks
2019 Changemaker in Action Hannah Jackson, Kalese Justice, Arianna Montrose
2019 Leading Change Ryan Abronski, Reed Andary, Tatiana Fagen, Matias Meirelles Van Vliet, Maxim Zarudnyy
2019 Honorable Mention for Leading Change Rachel Stern, Laura Tobin, Johanna Brown, Evan Joss, Dannia Szymanski, Dana Wagenhauser
2018 Outstanding Senior Academic Megan Cury, Ashley Reed
2018 Outstanding Achievement Award, Business Division Megan Cury
2017 Outstanding Senior Academic Frisco Poenisch, Julie Steinbauer
2016 Outstanding Senior Academic Devin Moscovitz, Michael Mozzicato


Award Descriptions

Outstanding Senior Academic: This award will be awarded to a graduating senior SE major with a high overall GPA (typically 3.8 or higher) and outstanding academic achievement, including significant participation and critical thinking contributions to SE classes.

Outstanding Academic: This award signifies high academic achievement for a SE major; this is denoted by a high GPA (typically 3.8 or higher) as well as significant participation and critical thinking contributions to SE classes. Graduating seniors are not eligible for this award.

Rising Social Entrepreneurship Minor: This award is bestowed on an outstanding SE minor in his/her sophomore or junior year, based on academic performance in SE classes and significant participation and critical thinking contributions to SE classes.

Outstanding Social Entrepreneruship Explorer: This award is bestowed on a SE explorer who has taken at least 2 SE classes and exemplifies outstanding academic achievment, including significant participation and critical thinking contributions to SE classes

Social Entrepreneur of the Year: This award is bestowed on a SE major or minor (sophomore, junior, or senior) that created and launched a social enterprise (winners of key pitch competitions are also eligible). The awardee may be one individual or one team.

Changemaker in Action: This award is bestowed on a SE major (sophomore, junior, or senior) who is actively engaged in his/her campus and/or local community and who has already completed the required immersion (no later than the Fall semester of their senior year).

Leading Change: This award is bestowed on a SE major or minor (sophomore, junior, or senior) who is committed to the social entrepreneurship major/minor by exemplifying leadership and being an ambassador of social entrepreneurship.

Honor Society

Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society Inductees

Beta Gamma Sigma is the exclusive academic honor society associated with AACSB-International.  The top 10% of junior and senior Social Entrepreneurship majors are eligible for consideration.

Social Entrepreneurship Student Inductees:

2023 - Maria Blanco, Aqsa Hasan, Nicole Marshall, Alexis Matton, Olivia Tamburlini
2022 - Suhailabbas Manekia, Chloe Rose, Juan Tafur
2021 
- Brandon Dennis, Madisen Mendoza, Mauricio Gomez Novoa
2020
- Ryan Abronski, John Curtis, Dahlia Lilleslatten
2019
- Carlye Goldman, Ford Johnson, Isabel Roche
2018
- Charles Bonker, Claudia DeFabio
2017 
- Ashley Reed
2016
- Frisco Poenisch, Megan Cury
2015 
- Lane Cohen

Sigma Nu Tau Honor Society Inductees

Sigma Nu Tau is the only national honor society dedicated to entrepreneurship. It promotes, recognizes, and rewards academic excellence in entrepreneurship and encourages and recognizes the practice of principled entrepreneurship. Principled Entrepreneurship maximizes long-term profitability for the business by creating real value in society while always acting lawfully and with integrity.

Social Entrepreneurship Student Inductees:

2023 - Grace Alfieri, Hannah Gilbert, Aqsa Hasan, Nicole Marshall, Marina Newell, Taylor Nicks, Anna Perman, Somar Ramos, Naina Sahney, Olivia Tamburlini, Sophie Vreeland, Madeline White

2022 - Maria Fernanda Blanco, Diego Cornelio, Celina Corvea, Liliana Denneen, Marissa Faris, Suhailabbas Manekia, Samantha Maris, Alexis Matton, Sofia Murgueitio, Chloe Rose, Evie Snipes, Christian Sweeney

2021 - Douglass Bush, John L. Curtis, Brandon Michael Dennis, Brett Masson, Madisen Mendoza, Mauricio Gomez Novoa, Rachel Stern, Isabel L. Swartzmiller, Ariel Williams, Emily Zientek

2019 - Ryan Abronski, Reed Andary, Alexander Arbit, Brittany Chaney, Michael Crossett, Michael DeNunzio, Tatiana Fagen, Ronald Fallows III, Christianna Rose Gess, Sabrina Gonzalez, Hannah Jackson, Bradford McClure Johnson Jr., Kalese Justice, Benjamin Baker Koch, Dahlia Arado Lilleslatten, Sydney Rock, Genia Sprinkle, Sophie Violet Stavisky, Laura Tobin, Rhys J. Wick

Honors in the Major

Honors in the Major Field provides for independent research during the senior year under the supervision of a three-member committee. To be eligible for Honors in the Major Field, students must:

  • achieve a minimum overall GPA of 'C+' (2.33) for all courses at Rollins,
  • achieve a minimum overall GPA of 'B+' (3.33) for all courses taken in the major at Rollins, and
  • receive endorsement of the committee for participation in the program.

    Satisfactory performance on an approved thesis or individual project, an oral examination, and maintenance of the above averages qualifies a student for Honors in the Major Field, which is shown on the student’s official academic transcript.

    I. Committee

    Your committee must consist of at least three members, including your honors project sponsor and two additional readers. Your sponsor and at least one reader must be tenured or tenure-track members of the Social Entrepreneurship Department. Projects may include a tenured or tenure-track faculty member outside the department, subject to approval by your project sponsor.  

    II. Course Registration

    Candidates for honors in the major will typically enroll in two semesters of research independent study, SE 498 and SE 499 for at least four hours per semester. Students must complete the second semester of honors research in their senior year. Students will be assigned a grade for each semester (see expectations described below).  

    III. The First Semester

    The first semester of work should be spent defining the scope of the project, reviewing literature, and developing your research methodology. This process will take place under the direction of your project sponsor, but your committee will review your progress at the end of the semester. Be sure to establish a clearly understood set of expectations with all members of your committee.

    By the end of the first semester, students developing a research thesis must submit to their sponsor a 10-15 page written proposal of their research project, a reference list (of approximately 30 sources), and a preliminary outline detailing the planned sections of the research paper.


    Students who fail to submit these materials to their sponsor will not continue with the project in the second semester. During the first semester, we also encourage students to make written progress toward their chapters, including outlines and drafts. Additional assignments should be discussed with the faculty sponsor.

    IV. The Second Semester

    By the end of the second semester, students working on a research thesis should produce approximately 60-70 pages, organized into chapters with section/subsection headings. While the pages listed above are guidelines, your committee should agree upon specific expectations for the length of your project. 

    V. Project Submission and Oral Examination

    Research projects require an oral examination.  Students should schedule their oral examination, or “defense,” with the committee no later than the second to last week of regularly scheduled classes. You should submit your completed final project to your committee at least one week before the scheduled date of your defense.  

    Defense meetings will typically last one hour and will include a brief presentation by the candidate, a question and answer period, private discussion among the committee during which the candidate will be asked to leave the room, and a final discussion on the committee’s decision once the candidate returns. The award of “Honors in the Major Field” requires satisfactory completion of the oral examination. Often, the committee will require further revisions to be undertaken after the defense, for evaluation by the sponsor and/or the entire committee.

    In addition to copies for the committee, students should submit a bound copy of the thesis to the Department of Social Entrepreneurship.

Student-Faculty Collaborative Research

Want your resume to stand out? How about graduating with a professionally published research paper in hand?

Not many universities enable undergraduate students to co-author professional papers with their faculty, but Rollins does! The Student-Faculty Collaborative Scholarship program is a competitive program where students and professors team up to conduct research, write a paper together, present this research at an academic conference, and aim to publish it in a professional journal.

Are you interested? Speak to your Social Entrepreneurship professors to learn more.