February/March eNewsletter
Alumni eNewsletter
Welcome to Phi Theta Kappa's Alumni eNewsletter, sharing news of the alumni associations, achievements of alumni members of the Society, and a variety of information of interest to alumni. Please send your news to Alumni.Office@ptk.org for inclusion in future issues!
1. First Hispanic Congresswoman Named 2008 Distinguished Alumna
2. Join us on Facebook
3. Commemorate the 90th Anniversary of Phi Theta Kappa
4. Register Online to Imagine a World
5. Alum Shares Photographic Vision
6. Show Your Pride
7. Leadership Lesson: Good Information or Positive Emotion?
8. Announcements from Headquarters
9. Contact Us
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the first Hispanic woman and first Cuban-American
elected to the United States Congress, has been named Phi Theta Kappa's
Distinguished Alumna for 2008. Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen was inducted
into Phi Theta Kappa at Miami-Dade College, Kendall Campus, in Miami, Florida.
Ros-Lehtinen
has represented Florida's 18th Congressional District since her election
to the United States House of Representatives in 1989. She is the Ranking
Member on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. While serving in this
role, the Congresswoman has been a tireless advocate for the advancement
of human rights across the globe, and a strong opponent of Castro's regime
in Cuba.
Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen came to Florida with her
family from their native Cuba. After completing high school in Miami and
graduating from Miami-Dade Community College, Ros-Lehtinen earned a
Bachelors of Arts in Education from Florida International University.
She then founded and served as the chief administrator of a private elementary
school. She completed a Master's Degree in Educational Leadership at FIU,
and earned a Doctorate of Higher Education from the University of Miami.
A
supporter of education, Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen recently voted in
favor of a bill to reduce the interest rates on student loans. While in the
Florida Senate, she introduced legislation to create Florida's first
Pre-Paid College Tuition plan.
Read more about Ileana Ros-Lehtinen
online.
2. Join us on Facebook
Connect with classmates or find old friends online by joining the Phi Theta Kappa Alumni group on Facebook. The site is one of the fastest-growing social networking tools on the Internet. If you are not currently a member of the online community, we encourage you to sign up free online.
We hope you will join us in Philadelphia as Phi Theta Kappa celebrates its
90th anniversary. To commemorate this event, we proudly introduce the
1918 Club. To find out how you can join with a gift to benefit Phi Theta Kappa
scholarship funds, please contact the Alumni
Office or visit the website http://www.ptk.org/foundation/1918/.
Additionally, with a challenge grant made possible by the Hites
Family Foundation to establish a transfer scholarship for Phi Theta Kappa
members, your 1918 Club gift can be matched 2 to 1, turning a $90 gift, for
example, into a total of $270 towards the establishment of the Hites Transfer
Scholarship. We are excited about the establishment of this new scholarship
and hope to count you among Phi Theta Kappa's supporters!
Register
online for Phi Theta Kappa's 2008 International Convention by
February 29 to receive the lowest rate. The 90th anniversary Convention
will be held April 3-5 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Visit
the International Convention
website for information on the exciting slate
of speakers, a schedule
and a chance to share your interpretation of the Convention theme, Imagine
a World. For Alumni-specific information, visit our Alumni
Information website.
Online rates are $249.00 per
person for registrations received on or before February 29. For registrations
received from March 1-14, the rate is $279.00 per person.
Hotel
reservations may be made online or by calling the Convention hotels. Three
hotel options are available for Convention attendees. The hotels, room
rates and reservation numbers, and links to online reservation options
are as follows:
Philadelphia Marriott Downtown
Phone
Reservations: 800.320.5744
Group Code: PTK
$205.20 per night,
based on single, double, triple and quad occupancy
Courtyard
by Marriott
Phone Reservations: 800.321.2211
Group Code:
PTK
$188.10 per night, based on single, double, triple and quad occupancy
Crowne
Plaza Philadelphia City Center
Phone Reservations: 866.618.0410
Group
Code: PTK
$192.66 per night, based on single, double, triple and quad
occupancy
The hotel reservation deadline is March 10.
Alpha Nu Gamma alumnus Richard Ashmore is one of three artists to exhibit
in Texas Works 2007-2008, currently on display at the Buddy Holly
Center Fine Arts Gallery in Lubbock. An award-winning photographer, Ashmore
began documentary photographic work in Big Bend National Park in 1995 while
a geology research assistant.
"It's always a great honor to
be asked to show work with well-known artists in a professional exhibit,"
said Ashmore, a self-taught photographer and doctoral student in Biology
at Texas Tech University who received bachelor degrees in Geology and Earth
Science from Lamar University in 1999 and his masters degree in Geology
from Texas Tech University in 2003.
Ashmore's involvement
with Phi Theta Kappa began at Lamar State College where he served as a chapter
officer. He has been honored as a Guistwhite Scholar and was named to the
All-USA First Team in 1997. He joined Delta of Texas Alumni Association
as an undergraduate at Texas Tech University and served as president during
the 2000-2001 academic year. He later became the advisor and still serves
in that role.
Unable to travel to Lubbock? View Richard's artwork
online at http://www.richardallenashmore.com/.
During Convention, alumni and friends have the opportunity to buy shirts sporting their Phi Theta Kappa pride. Choose an embroidered polo and/or a t-shirt with the phrase, "Once a Phi Theta Kappan, always a Phi Theta Kappan." Limited quantities will be available, so reserve your shirt now. To reserve your polo or t-shirt, email Courtney Taylor with your sizes needed. Shirts will be available for pick up at the 2008 International Convention Foundation Booth.
7. Leadership Lesson: Good Information or Positive Emotion?
When it comes to making decisions, most of us would assume that good information
and superior intellectual inquiry are more essential than positive emotions
to arriving at good decisions. Daniel Goleman would say we are wrong. Goleman
is a researcher, teacher, and author of Emotional Intelligence
(Bantam, 1995), Working with Emotional Intelligence (Bantam,
1998), and with coauthors Richard Boyatzis and Annie McKee, Primal
Leadership: Realizing the Power of Emotional Intelligence (Harvard
Business School, 2002). He says that emotions trump intellect.
Goleman
explains, "Every group - every team - has a mood." He suggests thinking about
the last time you got to a team meeting late. "You could probably sense the
emotional temperature in the room immediately." These are emotional realities
and profoundly affect the quality of the thinking, decision making, and
contributions of individuals and of the group.
Goleman further
explains that no matter how hard we try, our brains are not capable of leaving
our emotions at the door of the meeting. In short, the human brain is wired
for emotions to command attention.
Emotions are in what he refers
to as an Open Loop System that is regulated both internally and externally
in our relationships with other people. If there is someone in a meeting
who is upset or angry, and that emotion is not dealt with, it can affect everyone
in the room. The opposite is also true of course; someone with an extraordinary
sense of humor can quickly get the room laughing. Any emotion is contagious.
The leader in the group must tune in to the emotional reality
present and direct the shared emotions so that the individuals can make
higher quality contributions and the decisions that result are the best.
To learn more about emotions and decision making, read the
entire Leadership
Brief Online.
8. Announcements from Headquarters
Dates & Deadlines to Note:
February 15, 2008 Alumni Award
of Merit Nominations due
March 1, 2008 Alumni Advisory Council
Application for Candidacy forms due
March 14, 2008 Convention Registration
deadline
March 17, 2008 Annual Association reports due
April
3-5, 208 International Convention
Get an Alumni Certificate
To
get an alumni certificate, contact Paula
Morgan. Cost for alumni certificates are $10 and can be purchased
by individuals or through an alumni association.
Stay Connected
Don't
miss out on Phi Theta Kappa news and events! Update your records
online.
Curious about your fellow Phi Theta Kappans? Visit
the online Alumni Notes.
Better
World Books discount
Receive a 10% discount on all books purchased
from Better World Books--with
free shipping within the United States, and only $2.97 worldwide. To receive
the discount, access the Better World Bookstore through the Phi Theta Kappa
website or the link above and use the coupon code "ptk_2007". Five percent
of all online purchases using the Phi Theta Kappa discount code will be given
back to Phi Theta Kappa to fund scholarships.
Letters of
Recommendation
Phi Theta Kappa members in the midst of job searches
are reminded that they may request letters of recommendations to be sent
from International Headquarters to their prospective employers. Get
Connected and visit Phi Theta Kappa's Career
Resource Center to learn more about this unique membership benefit.
Get
involved
Find an alumni association near you by visiting our
Alumni Association
Directory.
9. Contact Us
Phi Theta Kappa Headquarters 1-601-984-3504
Dr.
Nancy Rieves Director of Institutional Advancement ext. 3537
Courtney Taylor Alumni
and Advancement Programs Coordinator ext. 3577
Paula
Morgan Institutional Advancement Assistant ext. 5507
