Wayne Community College’s honor society has been recognized for outstanding growth.
The Upsilon Chi chapter of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society (PTK) has been named a 2021 REACH Chapter.
The REACH Rewards program recognizes and rewards PTK chapters that excel in membership development. The honored chapters increased their membership acceptance rate by 15 percent or higher during the 2020 calendar year.
In 2020, the Upsilon Chi chapter added 68 members. which was 19.4 percent of the WCC students who were eligible to join the organization.
“We are still growing every day,” said Katie Holloman, WCC chapter advisor and mathematics instructor.
In the first two months of 2021, the chapter has gained 15 new members.
“I am in awe,” Holloman said. “Our students have excelled throughout the pandemic and deserve all the recognition for their achievements.”
“We created this program because we believe strongly in the mission of Phi Theta Kappa and want as many students as possible to receive the benefits of membership — including scholarships and increased opportunities for engagement with peers and faculty on campus, which lead to higher rates of completion,” said Dr. Lynn Tincher-Ladner, PTK president and chief executive officer.
“Being a REACH chapter is more important this year than ever before as Phi Theta Kappa worked to support community college students in completely unfamiliar circumstances,” Tincher-Ladner said.
“Although this is a chapter award, it demonstrates that students are more focused on their futures than ever before, and their colleges are providing the opportunities to get them there — even amid a global pandemic,” said Tincher-Ladner.
Chapters that earned the recognition will be rewarded with free PTK graduation stoles for their chapters.
“Our chapter will receive three graduation stoles that we will distribute to any member with a financial need who is unable to purchase a stole from the organization. We will keep any unused stoles for future members who are in need,” said Holloman.
“We couldn’t be prouder of our REACH Chapters for their efforts to encourage PTK membership acceptance despite challenges presented by the pandemic and unlock limitless opportunities that PTK membership provides for deserving students,” said Christin Grissom, PTK’s Vice President of Scholarship and Membership.
More than 90 percent of Phi Theta Kappa members will complete an associate degree or transfer to a four-year college, compared to just 38 percent of community college students nationally. Members have access to $48 million in scholarships — $1 million in competitive scholarships through the Phi Theta Kappa Foundation and more than $46 million in transfer scholarships to over 850 four-year colleges.
About Phi Theta Kappa
The mission of Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society is to recognize academic achievement of college students and to provide opportunities for them to grow as scholars and leaders. It is the largest honor society in higher education with nearly 1,300 chapters on college campuses in all 50 of the United States, plus Canada, Germany, the Republic of Palau, Peru, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the British Virgin Islands, the United Arab Emirates, and U.S. territorial possessions. More than 3.5 million students have been inducted since its founding in 1918, with over 250,000 active members annually.
