FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

Contact: Paul Vincent Flumen, Chairman of the Board, ptkaw@washburn.edu

 

TOPEKA, KS--Phi Theta Kappa Alumni of Washburn University (PTKAW) was recognized at the International level this past week.

 

On Friday, April 17, the Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society of the Two-Year College (PTK) concluded its annual International Convention (Catalyst) with its annual Hallmark Awards presentation. (The convention was held as an online seminar due to the COVID-19 precautions.) In recognition of PTKAW’s achievements as a PTK Alumni Chapter, PTK awarded PTKAW with a 2-Star Alumni Chapter Rating.

 

PTKAW is an organization for Washburn students who were members of Phi Theta Kappa at a community college, called a University-based PTK Alumni Chapter. PTK officially recognizes Alumni Chapters at four-year universities by the conferral of a Charter, which was granted to PTKAW in 2017. This recognition itself is rare, as the criteria to earn a Charter includes a minimum member count and submitting an annual report to PTK headquarters; only 16 University-based PTK Alumni Chapters were Chartered in the United States as of this semester. The goal of a University-based Alumni Chapter is to support the current members of PTK at the community college level, promote PTK membership, and promote their university as a transfer option for PTK members. More recently, PTK started an initiative which granted even greater recognition to its Alumni Chapters.

 

For decades, PTK has recognized its members, advisors, regions, and chapters at the community college with Star ratings, ranking from 1 to 5. Performance criteria are set up as benchmarks for each level, up to the highest level of 5-Star. These criteria include volunteer projects, fundraising goals, honors study topics, and participation in regional and international conventions. In 2018, PTK created a similar 5-Star recognition system for Alumni Chapters, using alumni-centric criteria for each level. The 2020 Alumni Chapter Star ratings were based on Alumni Chapters’ annual reports for calendar year 2019; this was the first time PTKAW applied for a Star rating and the first time it has been conferred.

 

The recognition is very exclusive. Even among the 16 Chartered University-based PTK Alumni Chapters, only 4 received a Star rating: Athens State University (5-Stars), Louisiana State University (2-Stars), the University of Mississippi (1-Star), and Washburn.

 

PTKAW was represented at the webinar by Katty Vasquez, Vice President for PTK Relations, senior in Biology, alumna of Kansas City Kansas Community College, and former PTK Kansas/Nebraska Region Officer.

 

PTKAW fulfilled the following criteria to earn a Star rating:

• Submitted an annual report to PTK Headquarters, reporting the roster and officer team

• Held regular business meetings throughout the year

• Held an Induction Ceremony for new members each semester

• Held 2 ‘Alumni Engagement Events,’ designed to engage PTK Alumni new to Washburn

• Organized a minimum of one volunteer project on campus

• Participated in the 2019 PTK Kansas/Nebraska Region Convention

• Endowed and completed a fundraiser for a scholarship awarded to a PTKAW member (the Ebony White Award for Outstanding PTK Alumni, created in 2018)

 

PTKAW actually met every single criterion on the Star rating list in 2019 except one: participating in the 2019 PTK International Convention, which was cost prohibitive to members because it was held in Orlando, FL. Had members been able to attend, PTKAW would have been granted a 5-Star rating this year.

 

There are other forms of PTK Alumni Chapters, organized on the Regional level. Those chapters are easier to form and maintain because they are not restricted to current college students, and many of them achieved 5-Star ratings, including the Kansas/Nebraska Region Alumni Association. That chapter is open to all PTK Alumni living in the states of Kansas or Nebraska, regardless of their college status, and is, in fact, one of the most accomplished such chapters in the world. The University-based Alumni Chapter, however, is the hardest to maintain and the achievements of those chapters are the most remarkable.

 

PTKAW’s mission is threefold:

• Promote Washburn University as a transfer option for members of PTK

• Promote membership in PTK to new community college students

• Participate in projects which will enhance members’ competitiveness for leadership-based scholarships at Washburn

 

The mission is fulfilled through:

• PTKAW volunteer projects

  • Shoe Drive on campus with Doorstep, Inc.

  • Trunk or Treat with Family Service & Guidance Center

  • Hygiene Products Drive with Community Care Ministries

  • STAT Medical Supplies Drive with Pine Ridge Family Health Center

• Outreach activities with community colleges

  • Collaborating on their college projects

  • Participating in their PTK Chapter Induction Ceremonies, including Highland Community College-Wamego and Allen Community College Iola and Burlingame campuses

  • Assisting PTK members on scholarship applications

  • Volunteering at the PTK Kansas/Nebraska Region Convention

 

The recognition of PTKAW with a Star rating from PTK is the fruit of years of hard work from its members since first registering as a Washburn student organization in 2016. PTKAW thanks the members, past and present, and supporters who made this international recognition for Washburn a reality. PTKAW has already met or is assured to meet every criterion for Star ratings in calendar year 2020, making it attainable to achieve the highest possible 5-Star rating at the next PTK International Convention in 2021.

 

Read the Alumni Chapter Star rating criteria here.

 

See the full Hallmark Awards list here.

 

Learn more about PTKAW at https://ptkaw8.wixsite.com/ptkaw