Becomes the most awarded Phi Theta Kappa Chapter in Community College history
Yavapai Community College’s Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society Chapter received a fourth-place ranking out of 1,290 other national and international chapters for the award of the Most Distinguished Chapter at the national convention in Denver earlier this month.
Phi Theta Kappa recognizes the academic achievement of college students and provides opportunities for its members to grow as scholars and leaders. Established in 1918, Phi Theta Kappa has a presence on almost 1,300 community college campuses in 11 nations. The American Association of Community Colleges has recognized Phi Theta Kappa as the official honor society for two-year colleges since 1929. More than 3.5 million students have been inducted since 1918, with approximately 250,000 active members in the nation’s community colleges.
Denise Woolsey, the lead advisor for the 25-year-old chapter, described the fourth place ranking as “unprecedented” as she requested the Community College purchase a trophy case for the cache of awards the chapter has earned this academic year at the regional and national levels.
“I expected we would do well, but we knocked it out of the park,” Woolsey said of the chapter’s ranking, which is based on the scores earned for projects Chapter members created, researched, and reported to regional and international officials. “It was really cool to see this little, tiny chapter from Arizona compete well with the big schools,” she said.
The Community College chapter also picked up a Distinguished College Project award at the international conference, winning for a collaboration with Community College President Dr. Lisa Rhine aimed at making available mental health resources easier to discover and access via the college website. “The goal of the college projects is to produce something that really helps students on our campuses. This will definitely help them. It’s so needed,” Woolsey said.
The members also earned a Distinguished Honors In Action (HIA) project award at the international conference. The chapter’s HIA project team researched the positive effects of reading to children at a very young age. An actionable result of the project – literacy partnerships with area schools – is in development and expected to roll out next fall.
In addition to the fourth-place ranking and the two Distinguished Project awards delivered at the international conference, the Chapter also received a Distinguished Chapter Award and a Distinguished Officer Award – one of only 20 – for Chapter Vice President Chasity Bryant. A nursing student, Bryant previously was named the top chapter officer in the region.
The Community College chapter captured multiple awards during the regional conference hosted by Yavapai Community College in March. All of the regional and international awards combined to make the 2021-2022 chapter the most rewarded ever.