Craig Cobane felt like he was overwhelmed three weeks into a fellowship at the Pentagon. He said he was intimidated by working at the headquarters of the Department of Defense.

But Cobane said the nervousness helped him identify with students who have the same feeling when leaving behind familiar surroundings.

“I can say I’ve been there, but you get over it,” he said.

Cobane was selected this summer to be the director of Western’s honors program.

He previously worked at Culver-Stockton College in Missouri from 1999 to 2004.

Cobane said he noticed many students were transferring to other schools while he was a faculty member at the college. He created an honors program to keep good students at Culver-Stockton and expose them to opportunities for scholarships.

Cobane worked at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. for a year before he came to Western. He analyzed policies dealing with the War on Terror and also participated in a trip to Afghanistan.

Cobane said one of the reasons he decided to take the position at the Pentagon was because it was the kind of thing he encouraged students to do.

“I want them to get their hands dirty,” he said. “I want them to experience whatever it is they do.”

Cobane first learned about the Western honors director position through an e-mail. He was later interviewed on campus.

“I was impressed by his enthusiasm and creativity and the record he had,” said John Petersen, associate vice president of academic affairs. He was one of the people who interviewed Cobane.

Cobane said his goals for the Western honors program are to make it nationally recognized, increase programming and activities for members and to increase the number of students who apply for prestigious national scholarships and study abroad.

Applying for national scholarships is something Cobane said he feels is beneficial for all students. He said it allows students to organize all the things they do in college into a cohesive path and relate the activities and classes to one another.

“If a student applies for some of these, and even if they get none of them, the application process will change the student’s life,” Cobane said.

Cobane has begun meeting with honors freshmen to discuss what direction they will be going in their college careers and what they want to get out of the honors program.

He also wants all honors students to have a chance to study abroad at some point, and is working with Study Abroad Adviser Yating Chang to accomplish that goal.

“I think he brings a lot of creative energy to the honors program,” Chang said. “His personality definitely reflects in his work.”

It makes sense for study abroad and honors program to work together, because it makes the curriculum more well-rounded, Chang said. Students may also be working at an international level in the future.

Although he is a full-time administrator, Cobane will be teaching some international politics classes in the political science department next semester. Cobane received his doctorate in political science from the University of Cincinnati.

“In my heart of hearts, I am a professor,” he said.

Reach Samantha Hupman at news@wkuherald.com.