A newsletter for the students, faculty and staff of the Collin County Community College District. Published monthly. For information or submissions, call 972.758.3849. Cougar News welcomes student and faculty submissions. Next deadline: May 10 All submissions are due by 5 p.m. on the due date. Photos cannot be returned. Text should be e-mailed to mrobinson@ccccd.edu or sent on disk. Please submit copy that is proofed, edited and saved in Word format. Cougar News staff: Lisa Vasquez, director; Mark Robinson, editor; Marcy Cadena-Smith, contributor; Sydney Portilla-Diggs, student correspondent; Stephanie Hall, student correspondent; Nick Young, photographer; Heather Darrow, contributor; Shawn Stewart, contributor; Lydia Gober, contributor; Tatiana Shehedah, contributor
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Students wield honor society as competitive edge
By Stephanie Hall
Campus Correspondent
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| Phi Theta Kappa members (from left) Melissa Cole, Evelyn Wilk, Shirley Allen and Danya Salinas volunteered at the Plano Balloon Festival in support of the student organization's dedication to the community. | Students actively involved with Phi Theta Kappa wield a competitive edge in the continual effort to stay ahead in the game of life.
Alpha Mu Tau, the Phi Theta chapter at Collin, currently consists of about 300 students dedicated to enhancing future prospects and gaining self-enrichment.
“PTK is an honor society for students with high scholastic achievement at the institution,” said Angela Putman, professor of speech communications and a PTK advisor.
To be invited to join, a student must have taken 12 credit hours at Collin with at least a 3.5 GPA. About 1,700 students out of the 40,000 attending Collin were invited to join PTK this semester.
“It is a tremendous honor to be invited to join,” Putman said.
There is a one-time $90 fee to become a member, but Putman says that the benefits far outweigh this initial fee. After becoming a member, the student must maintain a 3.0 GPA and be enrolled in at least three credit hours in the fall and spring semesters. Once a student is a member of PTK, he or she is expected to actively participate in the organization.
“There are some students who pay the dues and never participate in any of the activities, but they expect to receive scholarships,” Putman said. “It doesn’t work that way.”
In fact, a PTK member needs to gain at least a three-star level, said Evelyne Wilk, the vice president of the PTK at the Spring Creek Campus. The society has a five-star Enhanced Membership program indicating where each member stands.
"A member must have a certain amount of participation to increase their star level," said Wilk.
For instance, the PTK helped with a golf tournament at the beginning of March to raise funds to help send children with cerebral palsy to a physical therapy camp, said Wilk. Members who volunteered for this event received marks toward increasing their star level. As an advisor, Putman believes active involvement in PTK will greatly contribute to a student’s success in school and after graduation. She was in an honor society in her college years and knows first-hand of numerous benefits of being a part of PTK.
“You’re always going to need letters of recommendations and references, and if all you ever do is go to class and go home, it’s very hard to get someone to write a passionate letter of reference or recommendation for you,” she said. “Even if you got an ‘A’, that’s all they can say if you weren’t involved.”
Because of her own involvement, “I had plenty of people at my school to write me letters,” she said. “Everything I did in college I thought of as a resume builder.”
However, enhancing a resume is only one benefit of PTK, said Putman.
“PTK is a great way to get involved,” said Robert Wayne Burroughs, a sophomore and member of PTK at Collin. “It also allows you to interact with people who feel the same way about getting involved. It is self satisfying to be involved with projects and activities that help others,” he said.
Each event the PTK is involved with is instilled with the four hallmarks of the society: leadership, scholarship, fellowship and service. These qualities characterize the organization and its members, said Wilk.
“Students involved with PTK are intelligent, hard-working and want to get somewhere,” said Burroughs. “I have a lot of respect for my peers in PTK.”
Burroughs joined PTK fall semester, and he said the society has enlightened him to why it is important to be involved.
“PTK is an enriching environment,” he said. “It is hard work, and because of that, it has allowed me to grow as a person.”
The organization molds the future leaders of tomorrow by instilling confidence, responsibility and a certain sense of unity.
“This organization gives you a huge boost in confidence,” said Wilk.
A fellow student convinced Wilk to join PTK last year, and while Wilk was at first reluctant, she joined anyways.
“I never thought I would do the kinds of things PTK has allowed me to do,” she said.
The confidence to talk in front of a crowd is one of the things Wilk gained from PTK, she said. Wilk said she has gained a lot from attending the school and even more by being a part of the PTK, she said. Being a member of PTK has put Wilk in the running for a full scholarship to the Southern Methodist University. She already has attained a half-scholarship to attend.
“I never thought I would have these opportunities before me,” she said. “Without Phi Theta Kappa, I don’t think I would have.”
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