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New Recruitment Tools Now Available

Phi Theta Kappa’s official fall Awareness Week is next week, September 24-28. Chapters across the country will be out in force to increase their visibility on campus and encourage eligible students to become PTK members. Participating chapters will have the opportunity to win one of four Golden Opportunity Scholarships to waive the $60 international membership…

I AM PTK: Nick Gorman

At 23, Nick Gorman was sleeping under a bench in Waterfront Park in Charleston, South Carolina. He had served time in prison, been on and off drugs, and alienated himself from any family that could help. He had hit it: rock bottom. He was scared, and he was alone, but he decided this wasn’t the…

Scholarship Essay Strategies for Everyone

Phi Theta Kappa’s Fall Scholarship Application opens this week, on September 15. It’s your opportunity to apply for more than $600,000 in scholarships to help you complete a bachelor’s degree upon transferring or to cover the cost of certifications, training, and other tools as you prepare to enter the workforce. The essay question is key…

The Jack Kent Cooke Scholarship: How to Become a Cookie

Editor’s Note: This post was written and submitted by 2018-19 International President Elda Pere. You’ve heard this before: “As community college students, we never get any financial support. Institutions and foundations always focus on university students! Aren’t we unlucky?” …Well, no. In fact, aside from the $90 million in scholarships Phi Theta Kappa has to…

1,000 PTK Members Receive Free Cengage Unlimited Subscriptions

One thousand Phi Theta Kappa members will receive a free semester of Cengage Unlimited, a new subscription service for online college course materials, through a partnership with Cengage and PTK that seeks to remove barriers and increase access to learning.

I AM PTK: Will Mims

For Will Mims, there was pretty much only ever soccer. He began playing at his local YMCA in Texas in the first or second grade, and as he grew older and better, the sport became part of his identity. He was an average student in high school. He enjoyed learning, but he was generally unenthusiastic…

New Transfer Scholarship: Plymouth State University

Plymouth State University in New Hampshire is the latest four-year university to offer a transfer scholarship exclusively to Phi Theta Kappa members. It joins more than 850 colleges and universities in offering more than $37 million in transfer scholarships. PSU is located in central New Hampshire at the “gateway to the White Mountains and the…

I AM PTK: Haley Hughes

Haley Hughes is often the only female student in her classes at State Technical College of Missouri. She is a student in the Precision Machining Technology Program, and she previously completed the Outdoor Power and Sports Technology Program (now Powersports Technology). “Being a girl is something that I hope will be more common in the…

Advisor 1-3 years? This is for you!

Hosted by Paige Still Panelists: Erica Bold and Tammy Fuentez

New Initiative: When We All Vote

As Phi Theta Kappa members, we often stand out on our campuses as servant scholars and leaders who are plugged into our local communities. This shared sense of civic responsibility is why we are excited to announce a new partnership with When We All Vote, a non-partisan and non-profit organization aimed at registering as many…

Skills You Gain in the Five Star Advisor Plan

Advisors — have you checked out the Five Star Advisor Plan yet? Four levels are now available, and the fifth one will be released soon. This self-paced plan is for all advisors, regardless of how long you’ve served. It isn’t just “what an advisor does” — although that’s in there, too! This plan will teach…

I AM PTK: Kyleigh Kinsella

Kyleigh Kinsella walked into her first college classroom in August 2017 at age 16. She had completed homeschooling courses less than a month before and quickly fell in love with the challenges of college classes. Kyleigh began homeschooling when she was in ninth grade. Though she enjoys learning, she had become bored with school and…

Five Appointed to Phi Theta Kappa Honors Program Council

Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society has appointed five college faculty members to serve on its Honors Program Council and help direct its honors programming for the next four years.

4 Proven Recruitment Tips

The Alpha Sigma Zeta Chapter at Onondaga Community College (OCC) in New York has watched its member acceptance rate increase over the last few years. Chapter advisor Dr. Annie Tuttle attributes this to a few key things, including old-school, in-person communication. Below, she shares what’s working for her chapter. (Editor’s Note: The following was written…

Navigating the Advisor website and the Advisor Five Star Plan

Hosted by Melissa Price Panelists: Robin Lowe and Erica Bold

Changing the College Transfer Game

Kathy Urban has been on both the sending and receiving sides of the transfer process — as a transfer counselor at a community college and as a non-traditional student program director at a four-year college. From both sides, it’s clear: completing a bachelor’s degree can be a long, hard road. “The majority of today’s undergraduates…

I AM PTK: Rahul Kane

Rahul Kane has the number “34” tattooed on his chest. It’s a reminder of the amount of money he had in his pocket the day he started working as a graduate teaching assistant at Saint Cloud State University in Minnesota in 2007. It was all he had left. He had come to the United States…

3 Ways You’ll Benefit from the Five Star Chapter Plan

The Upsilon Delta Chapter at Southwest Tennessee Community College in Memphis had been a One Star Chapter for many years. It wasn’t inactive — the chapter consistently offered opportunities to members — but students often faced time constraints that prevented them from taking on larger tasks such as an Honors in Action Project. This changed…