PTK adviser, students work on increasing awareness on campus, in the community
By: CHRISTIAN HARGAS
Staff Writer
Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) is an international honor society, founded in 1918, serving two-year community colleges.
Rachel Schaffer, president of PTK, said the organization wants to reward students who have good grades.
“You come here to work hard and you want to be rewarded for your hard work,” Schaffer said.
According to Jeffery Schneider, PTK Faculty Advisor, students must take at least 12 credit hours of college level courses and achieve a GPA of 3.5 or higher.
Schneider said the membership dues are a one-time payment of $95.
Schaffer also said one of the best things about PTK is their numerous scholarship opportunities.
“There are automatic scholarships you can get for just being a PTK member,” Schaffer said. “When you send your transcripts to a four-year college, you automatically get a certain amount, per year, for two years.”
The PTK Chapter at STLCC-Meramec is “Xi Lambda”, but Schneider said the organization is more than just academics.
“We help with community engagement and civic engagement, through the service learning department with Debbie Carson,” Schneider said. “We have fellowship opportunities along with leadership opportunities.”
Schaffer agrees and said the organization does many different service projects.
“This semester, we are going to do one big service project each month for PTK. And we are going to try and get a bunch of students involved to help out the school,” Schaffer said.
Schaffer added that the organization does a project for PTK only, known as the College Project.
“For the college project, we meet with faculty advisors, usually the vice president of academic affairs, and we ask, ‘What would you like us to work on? What do you think PTK can do to help benefit the campus?’” Schaffer said. “We go into the meeting with a list of what we think might benefit the school and a decision is made.”
Schaffer said, for their college project, the organization has been working on increasing awareness about financial aid and also increasing the relationships with financial aid staff.
“We are hoping we can increase the relationships between students and faculty. That way they feel more comfortable,” Schaffer said. “And to increase awareness about how to properly fill out the FAFSA.”
The PTK Induction Ceremony will take place on March 5, and Schaffer said eligible students will receive an invitation by Feb. 12-13 in the form of an email and a mailed letter.
Schneider said he feels PTK is a great organization and one of the campus’ more premiere societies.
“It is a great organization for students, particularly students who are going to transfer, because there are so many transfer scholarships and opportunities available through PTK,” Schneider said. “It is more than just a club, it is trying to prepare you for not only transferring to a four-year college, but for when you get a career.
