The Journey
A newsletter for chapter advisors, chapter officers, and
regional officers.
May 2001
Issue
complete the
Journey Survey!
Satellite
Seminars
Create Exciting New Opportunities
for Phi Theta Kappa Chapters
At the International Convention in Denver, Phi Theta Kappa enthusiastically introduced the new Honors Study Topic for 2001-2002. This honors topic, "Customs, Traditions and Celebrations: The Human Drive for Community," will be studied in various ways by hundreds of chapters and thousands of two-year college honor students.
In addition to preparing a Program Guide to help chapters with ideas for implementing the topic, Phi Theta Kappa has joined with the National Collegiate Honors Council to produce an interactive teleconference on the 2001-2002 honors topic and many chapters have already planned ways to incorporate the five satellite seminars into their year-long implementation of the topic.
For many chapter and college administrators, hosting the National Collegiate Honors Council/Phi Theta Kappa Satellite Seminar Series and facilitating the activities which grow out of these seminars is the perfect opportunity to meet the College Project requirement for Level Five of the Five Star Program (see this article for more information).
The following chapters are among many which have sent us information about their plans to use the satellite seminars in the implementation of the new Honors Study Topic.
Johnson County Community College members in Overland Park, Kansas, will have a guest speaker series to correspond with the satellite seminar series. Prefacing each satellite seminar, there will be a guest speaker to spark interest. Both the pre-seminar speakers and the satellite seminars will be supported by the college's Public Events and Community Services Department. The college Staff Development Office will recommend books on the study topic and promote discussions among faculty and staff. The satellite seminars will also help the college's honor students prepare presentations for the Great Plains Honors Council Conference at Wichita State University.
The Phi Theta Kappa chapter at Utah Valley State College in Orem, Utah, will join its campus-based Ethics Institute to host the satellite seminars, which will be open to the entire community. Students in the college honors program will attend the seminars for credit which will help them meet graduation requirements for college honors. High school honor students in the four districts which feed the college will participate in the seminars in preparation for debates or essay contests organized by the chapter. The debate winners on each high school campus will then debate before a college panel and the essay winners at the high school level will submit their essays to a panel of college professors. The overall winners in the debate and essay competitions will receive scholarships to Utah Valley State College.
The chapter at Chipola Junior College in Marianna, Florida, will invite all National Honor Society and Beta Club members from 15 area high schools to hear the interactive satellite seminar discussions and then participate in discussions about how each seminar's issues are relevant to Florida Panhandle communities. These discussions, led by college and high school faculty, will lead to joint efforts by college and high school students to improve communities in ways recommended as a result of the student-faculty discussions.
Society members at Normandale Community College in Bloomington, Minnesota, plan to use the satellite seminars to continue to improve their "High School Connection," an ongoing project for the chapter. The college will invite area high school honor students to view the satellite seminars and expects to fill the auditorium with more than 450 college and high school honor students. These students will take ideas from the seminars and post-seminar discussions to help develop the following projects: (1) A Children's Honors Institute, which will bring elementary students on campus during each academic term to explore the honors topic through the interactive study of art, science and social science; (2) an Honors Academy for high school students, which will be separate from the Children's Institute, but which will have similar goals.
Among the greatest assets for any community are its high school students. Promoting scholarship among high school students and building community between high school and college honor students creates a win-win situation. Clearly these efforts help colleges recruit the best students in their area, but they also help high school students with their transition into college and promote good relationships and cooperative efforts between schools at different levels.
For a subscription form and more information, visit the Satellite Seminar section of the Phi Theta Kappa website.
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