The Journey
A newsletter for chapter advisors, chapter officers, and regional officers.

<-- Continued from "FIVE STAR, Five Steps for Five Star Goal Setting"

The College Project: The Ultimate in Teamwork

In order to achieve the fifth level of the Five Star Chapter Development Program, chapters are required to complete a College Project. But just what is this project, how does it fit into chapter development and how can it be implemented? The answers to these questions become clear, once the purpose of the College Project is understood.

One of the aims of Phi Theta Kappa is to create a productive, working relationship between the chapters, college administrations and the Society as a whole. Such a relationship lends strength at all three levels. An effective way to build a relationship is through the College Project.

By chapters working in conjunction with their college administrations, they learn to view the college "as a whole." In turn, the college realizes the value of the Phi Theta Kappa chapter on their campus. Working together also opens communication between the chapter and the administrators, allowing for a more beneficial flow of ideas and resources.

Therefore, in order to implement a successful College Project, the chapter needs to start by meeting with the college administration. Explain the purpose of the College Project, and find out what the overall goals of the college are. Then the chapter can review those goals and come up with an idea for a project, or one may be suggested by the administration. Here are some examples of the goals of a college:

1. To form an alliance with area schools
2. To promote the passage of a bond issue that would divert more state funds to community colleges
3. To increase community awareness of and enrollment in the community college
4. To improve the aesthetics of the community college campus

Once the chapter and the administration have agreed upon a project, the chapter can outline the Project Objectives required for the College Project Form (see page 11 of the Five Star Chapter Development Guide-Twelfth Edition). Please note that the College Project Form is completed and submitted to Phi Theta Kappa Headquarters and your Regional Coordinator upon completion of the College Project.

Using the first goal listed, the Project Objectives might be stated as follows: "In order to form an alliance with area schools, our chapter will recruit chapter members and non-members from the general student population to tutor students at local public schools who have been identified as academically at-risk."

Note that this objective fulfills the College Project requirement for the chapter, and it also assists the chapter in fulfilling requirements at levels 2, 3, and 4 of the Five Star Program pertaining to the International Service Program, America's Promise - The Alliance for Youth.

The next step on the College Project Form is to outline the Strategies Employed to Complete the Project. This is simply and briefly listing an overview of the specific steps the chapter took in order to complete the project.

Using the first example again, some strategies could include the following:

1) The chapter identified public schools to be involved in the project;
2) Teachers at the schools were asked to identify at-risk students;
3) A campaign to recruit volunteers was held at the community college;
4) Each volunteer was assigned to a specific student for a specified amount of tutoring time.

The last step, once the project is completed, is to document the Results of the Project. The direct results would be important to list, such as how many tutors and students were involved, whether or not the local school teachers felt this affected the grades/learning abilities of the students tutored, etc. Equally important is to state briefly how the project succeeded in meeting the original goals of the college as discussed with the college administrators during the initial meeting. In this example, the chapter would describe how the completion of the tutoring project assisted in creating an alliance with the area public schools.

At the conclusion of a successful college project, your chapter can celebrate the positive impact you had on the college and the local public schools!

Questions about Five Star? Contact Directory of Regional Programs Theresa Burns, 601.957.2241, ext 562.

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