The Journey
A newsletter for chapter advisors, chapter officers, and regional officers.
May 2000 Issue
Plug in to Part-Time Power!
Can you think of any outstanding scholars who are part-time students?
Chances are several come to mind. According to research by the American Association of Community Colleges, 64 percent of students enrolled in two-year colleges are part-time students.
Can part-time students become members of Phi Theta Kappa? Sure! According to the International Constitution and Bylaws, part-time students may be eligible for membership once they accumulate the number of hours used by your college to designate full-time status (usually 12 hours on a semester system) and have the required cumulative GPA. For example, a part-time student taking a course load of 6 hours per term could become eligible for membership after the completion of two academic terms. Remember, the decision to allow part-time students to become members is that of the chapter and should be addressed in the local chapter bylaws.
Do many chapters induct part-time students? Yes! In fact, an overwhelming majority of chapters (more than 87 percent according to the 1998-99 Chapter Annual Report) extend invitations of membership to part-time scholars.
Why should your chapter plug in to part-time power?
- Your chapter will be helping the Society fulfill its purpose of recognizing outstanding scholars for their academic achievements. Opponents might argue that students taking a part-time course load have fewer responsibilities and, therefore, can more easily attain a high GPA In reality, most part-time students are also balancing the responsibilities of a full-time job and family, and may have even less study time than a full-time student. Should these students' scholarly accomplishments go unrecognized simply because their station in life does not afford them the opportunity to be a full-time student?
- Your chapter will have a greater pool of volunteers to draw from when implementing chapter programs. The greater number of members a chapter has, the less each member has to do for the chapter to achieve its goals.
- More members mean more diversity for your chapter. Part-time students often bring different life experiences and different points of view to the chapter. After all, variety is the spice of life!