Union PTK Chapter Earns Multiple Awards

The Chi Delta Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa at East Central College in Union recently was recognized for individual accomplishments and the work of the chapter.

Each year the honor society chapter participates in regional and international programs related to research and service projects and then report on their work to the statewide organization, according to Kevin Dixon, PTK advisor of the Chi Delta Chapter.

Once the reports are submitted each year, they are judged by the PTK headquarters staff.

On June 14, PTK Missouri Regional Coordinators Jo and Steve Fritts presented the 2021 Missouri Regional Awards hardware to the award recipients in the Chi Delta Chapter.

Typically, an in-person awards ceremony is held in March to recognize the recipients.

However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There was not an in-person ceremony this year, said Dr. Wendy Pecka, contact advisor for the Chi Delta Chapter.

“We are very proud of the hard work you put into these submissions,” she told the PTK members. “I only wish you all could have participated in the convention in person to understand how exciting it is for your work to be honored with these awards. Not every chapter gets to experience this.”

Chi Delta Awards

Listed below are awards the Chi Delta Chapter received:

• Distinguished Chapter Award — one of six awards for Missouri.
• Honors in Action Award — one of six awards for Missouri.
• Honors in Action Distinguished Theme Award (theme of Perceptions of Progress) — one of three awards for Missouri.
• College Project Award —one of six awards for Missouri.

Following are individual awards that members of the Chi Delta Chapter received:

• Distinguished Chapter Officer – Lucille Vanek, chapter president — one of six awards for Missouri.
• Distinguished Chapter Member – Sarah Murphy — one of two awards for Missouri.
• Continued Excellence in Advising Award – Wendy Pecka —one of three given for Missouri.

Dixon explained that the Honors in Action projects involve scholarly research that lead to a service project for the community.

The Union chapter’s 2020 project was “Slicing the Stigma on Community College,” and the students prepared a PowerPoint that was sent to local high schools on the benefits of starting at a community college.

The College Project is focused on providing a service to the campus or college, and last year’s program began a project of revamping the look of trash receptacles on campus to make them more “visible” in hopes campus littering will decrease. That project will be continued into this fall, Dixon added.

PTK membership is by invitation only. Students must have a 3.4 GPA as a full-time student for a semester to join PTK. Once they are inducted into the honor society, students must maintain an overall GPA of 3.2.

Membership is open to all majors throughout the college, including anyone working toward a degree or certificate.