June/July 2001
Issue

Phi Theta Kappans have approached the satellite seminars as they have most new programs — with enthusiastic support! At press time, there were 173 subscribers to the seminar series, most of these from two-year colleges with Phi Theta Kappa chapters.

Most colleges are using the seminars to improve the quality of their Phi Theta Kappa honors program on campus and to reach out to community leaders and high school students who want to be heard on the issues elicited by the Society’s provocative Honors Study Topic.

In order to use the seminars to the maximum benefit of the chapter, college and community, it is important to plan your entire program well in advance.

The following guidelines may help:

• Get permission from the appropriate college administrator to use an auditorium on campus in which the students may comfortably view the seminars.
• Determine what costs will be involved in hosting the viewing and who will be responsible for these costs.
• Make a list of community leaders whom you would like to invite as your special guests. Consider who could lead the discussions following the seminars.
• In addition to community business leaders, consider high school and college teachers and administrators as group leaders. College presidents and deans often relish this role.
• Provide each group leader with appropriate information about his/her group discussion, including information from the Honors Study Topic Program Guide and the brochure of the speaker series. These materials will be mailed to registrants this summer.
• Go through the proper high school officials to invite honor students from area high schools. If possible, have your college president make these initial contacts.
• Make it clear who will provide the transportation to and from the college.
• Be very clear about the purpose of the activity and the rules of participation.
• If you have limited space, reserve a certain number of seats per high school and ask for a commitment from each school to limit their group to this number.
• Hold discussions following the seminars with community leaders, college officials and high school students to evaluate the participation and suggest ways to improve it.
• Advertise the success of the seminars. Be sure to also send Headquarters your success stories. E-mail Publications Coordinator Annie Schott or mail media coverage to Phi Theta Kappa Center for Excellence, 1625 Eastover Drive, Jackson, MS 39211.

Inviting High School Students to Participate
Executive Director Rod A. Risley shares some public relations strategies.

For chapters participating in the Five Star Program, one of the goals is a "College Project" to be conducted with the support of the college administration. Many of the college presidents are very interested in recruiting outstanding high school graduates to the community college. Inviting the high school honor society students to your college to participate in the satellite seminars provides a terrific recruitment opportunity for the administration.

With your chapter advisor(s), arrange a meeting with the college president to inquire if the college could use the chapter’s assistance in recruiting high school honor society students to attend the college. Since the total cost of subscribing to all five seminars is only $425, this event becomes a very inexpensive recruitment opportunity.

Your college president will probably recommend involving your admissions office staff to assist with the effort. Perhaps the admissions office will pay for the subscription fee from their budget and provide funds for a reception prior to or following the seminars.

Before or immediately after the broadcast, college representatives could inform the high school students about the college and the Phi Theta Kappa chapter. The college president might contact the principals of the local high schools to extend a formal invitation for their honor society students to come to the campus for the seminars and a special program being held in their honor.

The event could be marketed as a High School Honor Society Day on campus. The principal could then provide the name of the Honor Society advisor to the college president and arrange a time for the Phi Theta Kappa chapter to visit with the advisor and honor society officers/members to explain the recognition event being held in their honor.