Ruth Randall Receives 2009 Board of Directors Alumni Achievement Award
Ruth Randall, a former Phi Theta Kappa advisor, Regional Coordinator and
Honors Committee member, is the 2009 recipient of the Society's Board of
Directors Alumni Achievement Award. Randall received the award during
the Phi Theta Kappa Convention held in Grapevine, Texas April 16-18. She
also served as Keynote Speaker at the Convention's Alumni Banquet.
Randall
uses a quote from astronaut James Lovell to express her feelings about Phi
Theta Kappa: "There are people who make things happen, there are people
who watch things happen, and there are people who wonder what happened."
Phi Theta Kappa, she says, makes things happen for community college students.
She
knows that Phi Theta Kappa can make things happen for students, because
as a student the Society made things happen for her.
Randall
was inducted into Phi Theta Kappa at Johnson County Community College in
Kansas. She had returned to school as an adult, seeking a new career and positive
changes in her life. "I was looking for a home, and I found one at my community
college and in my Phi Theta Kappa chapter."
Randall transferred
to Mid-America Nazarene University and returned to Johnson County Community
College as an assistant with the Honors Program, which includes Phi Theta
Kappa. Soon she was serving as an advisor, and learning all about Phi Theta
Kappa Headquarters. After earning a master's in English from Baker University
she began to teach and was eventually named Director of the college's Honors
Program.
Randall and her chapter won many awards. "What was
most exciting, beyond the awards, was having two International Presidents
from our chapter, Thomas Jordan in 1998-99 and James Daugherty in 2002-2003."
"I
saw the growth that both of them experienced in those roles and the opportunities
made available for them in their year in office. This was very rewarding
to me as an advisor and mentor."
Randall has herself won the Paragon,
Giles and Continued Excellence awards for advisors, has served on the Honors
Committee and as a Faculty Scholar. She has been active with the National
Collegiate Honors Council, serving on their board and various committees.
Randall
is completing her doctorate in Educational Leadership, and in 2008 she
was named Dean of Curriculum and Academic Quality at Johnson County Community
College, which necessitated her stepping down as a Coordinator and advisor.
But she will still oversee the Honors Program and Phi Theta Kappa chapter
at her college, and will still be involved as an alumna.
"As I
said, Phi Theta Kappa makes things happen. We see students all the time at
our community college, who come here either to enhance their skills or explore
their options and find their future. Phi Theta Kappa gives them a root foundation
and a place in the community college to meet fellow members, to form fellowships
and to find a purpose. They find a home in Phi Theta Kappa - find where their
talents lie - where they can direct their enthusiasm and energy."
Phi
Theta Kappa Honor Society, headquartered in Jackson, Mississippi, is
the largest honor society in American higher education with 1,250 chapters
on college campuses in all 50 of the United States, Canada, Germany, the
Republic of Palau, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated
States of Micronesia, the British Virgin Islands, the United Arab Emirates
and U.S. territorial possessions. More than two million students have
been inducted since its founding in 1918, with approximately 100,000 students
inducted annually.
