Started on / Tuesday, 28 January 2014, 06:37 PM
Question
Project Topic
(examples: C4-promote community college completion, mentor incoming freshmen, help with college graduation, serve as college ambassadors, etc.) :
Question 2
Briefly describe your College Project and who from the chapter and the college administration was involved in determining it?
Word Count Limit: The essay responses for the entire application cannot exceed 1200 words. No limit is given for each essay question, but to the application as a whole.
Answer:
As part of our College Project, Beta Iota Rho held a C4 Signing on the fourth and fifth of November 2013. There were two time periods scheduled for the signing, 10am-12pm and 1pm-5pm. For our event there were five officers, two advisors, the college’s president and other members of the school board in attendance. The five officers present were Tara Warnig (President), Merissa Sims (VP of Leadership), Vikki Washick (VP of Scholarship), Fred Bodman (VP of Fellowship), and Stephanie Swartz (Recording Secretary). Along with the officers were advisors, Stephen Housenick, and Mary Sullivan and college President, Thomas Leary. This event was held as part of the college’s open registration for new, current, and returning students. We set up on campus so the students could first stop by our honor society table before meeting with an academic advisor. In the period before the signing, we posted messages on the student intranet, mentioned it in our classes, and hung C4 posters around campus. On the days of the signing, we lured students to our table with a candy dish, completion buttons, C4 wrist bands, info-signs, and our signing banner. Then we took the opportunity to talk them about the “reasons to complete” and had them sign the pledge. Thus committed, the students then met with an advisor to see what classes they needed for the spring semester and, relevant for our purposes, where they stood on their road to completion.Word Count: 245
Question 3
Summarize your objectives for the College Project and the process by which the chapter and college administration set these objectives.
Answer:
The objectives for holding this event were to encourage students and fellow Phi Theta Kappans to take the pledge to “Commit to Complete, Complete to Compete.” The objectives were to foster a culture of completion, address the soaring drop-out rate, provide statistical data, cultivate life-long learning, and prepare them for the work force environment as well as transferring to four-year institutions. Also, our objectives were to convince students that completion gave them the tools to succeed in school, in life, and in whatever their future may hold. Officers, advisors, and the college president set these objectives at a chapter meeting by reviewing the C4 material we had and discussing LCCC’s current rates of retention, graduation, and withdrawal that the president supplied.Word Count: 122
Question 4
Describe the planning process and strategies developed to complete the College Project.
Answer:
Our planning process was simple; after the success of the C4 signings the previous year, we decided it was important to not only follow up with students who may have signed up last year, but also to encourage as many students as possible to join us in signing this year. We set up a meeting for officers, advisors, and other members to discuss when it would be the most advantageous time to sponsor and hold the event. We also discussed what C4 is and how it would affect other students. After communicating with President Leary, we decided that holding our event during open registration would be a fantastic time to connect with fellow students. Our chapter made flyers, posters, buttons, bracelets and stickers to advertise the signing so that other members and student body could further learn the statistics of C4.Word Count: 141
Question 5
What were the quantitative and qualitative outcomes of your project, including the lessons learned by your chapter members and others?
Answer:
With a 20% graduation rate for a three-year attendance, we felt that if our event encouraged even one student to commit and follow through by graduating, our event was a success. We took the opportunity to talk to as many students as possible, sharing with them the importance of committing to complete their degree by staying in school. We also spoke to them about furthering their education after completing their degree at Luzerne County Community College by transferring to a four year college. We acquired 78 signatures over the two-day period. This event also gave us the opportunity to socialize and connect with fellow students. We had the opportunity to explain who we were as an honor society, the benefits of Phi Theta Kappa membership, and the benefits of working hard and excelling in school. We learned that the best way to lead our fellow students to success is to lead by example – to show our fellow students how working hard and making a personal commitment to themselves for their future is paramount. Through this fellowship, we also hope to increase membership rates during our spring membership drive and participation numbers at chapter meetings and events.Word Count: 194
Question 6
What is left undone or what opportunities remain for the future?
Answer:
We are working to start an online social media site to reach more fellow students who may be attending school at a satellite campus or enrolled in distant education to promote C4 signing. We are striving to increase membership in Phi Theta Kappa to give us the opportunity to set up more signing events. With a limited number of participants it can be difficult to cover every event or function the school holds. We also have an ambitious goal remaining:To establish a state-wide Signing Day through the Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges. Our chapter is trying to take the lead and to be the model upon which such an event is based.Word Count: 114
Question
Chapter Advisor Certification
Certifying the application should be the final step after all parts of the application are complete. The person responsible for certifying the application must log in to certify. Choose your name below and press "Save without submitting." A check box to affirm the statement below will appear. Check this box and click "Save without submitting." Once the application has been certified, edits can no longer be made unless the certification is un-checked. Once the application has been completed and certified, a "Submit All and Finish" button will appear to submit the final application.
I certify that the award application is the work of our chapter’s members and that only supervision and/or assistance was provided by chapter advisors, faculty members or alumni in the preparation of this award entry. The activities represented in this entry are, to the best of my knowledge, an accurate portrayal of the work the chapter has completed.
I affirm this statement.
To be certified by
Housenick, Stephen