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The Honor Society of |
Information
about Phi Kappa Phi at
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The
chapter initiated 27
seniors and 36 juniors at
its 2009 initiation ceremony
held April 15th in the Festival Conference and Student Center
at
This year's winner of the chapter's Elizabeth B. Neatrour Memorial Award for the outstanding graduating senior is Alexander Kyle Davis. This award carries a $500 stipend to support graduate study.
The chapter's 2008-2009 Honors Thesis Award goes to Jeffrey Scott Turner, an Integrated Science and Technology major, for his thesis "The Pilot Scale Removal of Manganese from Wastewater by Ozone Treatment".
The primary objective of the national Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi is to encourage academic excellence by recognizing and encouraging superior scholarship in all academic disciplines.
The JMU chapter of Phi Kappa Phi achieves these goals through the following activities:
- Each year, the JMU chapter honors juniors and seniors in all majors with outstanding academic achievements as demonstrated by their high cumulative grade point averages. Phi Kappa Phi is the most selective of all the honor societies on JMU's campus--typically no more than five percent of the junior and senior classes are offered admission to the chapter.
- The JMU chapter, in conjunction with the Shenandoah Association of Phi Beta Kappa, yearly makes an Honors Thesis Award. This award carries a cash prize of $250. Click here to see the list of Phi Kappa Phi thesis award winners.
- The JMU chapter
annually awards the Elizabeth B. Neatrour award to an outstanding
graduating senior. This ward carries a stipend of $500 to support
graduate study.
The national society publishes a quarterly journal for distribution to its active members. Each issue of the Phi Kappa Phi Forum is devoted to a significant theme and addresses prominent issues of the day from an interdisciplinary perspective. The journal features articles by scholars inside and outside the academic community. In addition to timely articles, each issue of Phi Kappa Phi Forum contains selected poetry and reviews of current books and periodical literature.
The Forum also includes a newsletter, Phi Kappa Phi Focus, detailing the societies national and regional programs and news about chapters and members.
Junior and senior students in good standing are eligible for election to membership in Phi Kappa Phi. Each Spring semester a committee of faculty from the JMU chapter obtains a listing of juniors in all majors at JMU with sufficiently high cumulative GPAs. The chapter membership votes on the list of nominees to certify them worthy of membership. Those students selected are invited to join the chapter. New members are initiated in a ceremony in April.
Faculty are also eligible for nomination to Phi Kappa Phi. Each Spring the chapter solicits nominees from its membership. The vita of nominated faculty are considered by the chapter members using stated criteria of selection. New members are initiated in the ceremony in April.
Because Phi Kappa Phi is a nationally recognized and academically prestigious organization, students who can claim membership in Phi Kappa Phi show employers and graduate school admissions committees evidence of their academic achievements and their commitment to scholarly pursuits. Membership in Phi Kappa Phi is thus a means for students to signal their superior performance and achievements in higher education.
Upon initiation into the organization, students receive a year's subscription to the Phi Kappa Phi Forum, a Phi Kappa Phi pin, charm, or tie tack, a medallion to wear at graduation, and a certificate of membership.
Juniors will have an opportunity to compete the year following their initiation for an $8000 fellowship or a $2000 award of excellence granted by the national organization, and for smaller scholarships granted by the JMU chapter.
Phi Kappa Phi members may use the national organization's Career Connection Service to help search for a job. Furthermore, members are eligible for a discount of $75 off The Princeton Review GMAT, GRE, LSAT or MCAT preparation courses. More details are available at the national website.
Fellowships and Awards of Excellence
The Phi Kappa Phi Foundation was incorporated in 1969 to promote academic excellence and achievement by means of scholarships and fellowships. To support first-year graduate work, the society offers annually through the Foundation 50 Fellowships and 30 Awards of Excellence, on a competitive basis, to graduating students who have been initiated into the society and who have also been nominated by their chapters for the competition.
Several members of the JMU chapter of have received national Phi Kappa Phi fellowships and awards of excellence since the chapter's founding in 1974. Recent award recipients include the following chapter members:
Takara C. Shourot: Phi Kappa Phi Award of Excellence ($2000 scholarship), 2005
Kelly J. Baker: Phi Kappa Phi Award of Excellence ($2000 scholarship), 2004
Vera G. Dianova: Phi Kappa Phi Graduate Fellowship ($8000 scholarship), 2003
The chapter annually gives the Elizabeth B. Neatrour Memorial Award to an outstanding graduating senior. This award carries a $500 stipend to support graduate study. The following students are recent award recipients:
Scott J. Pober (2008)
Erica H. Bonnano (2007)
Current Membership of Phi Kappa Phi at JMU
Officers:
| President | Dr. Susan Palocsay |
| Vice-President | Dr. J. Christopher Arndt |
| Secretary | Dr. Roger A. Soenksen |
| Treasurer | Dr. Kay M. Knickrehm |
| Chapter Relations | Dr. Christopher Fox |
| Past President | Dr. Andrew I. Kohen |
Faculty and Staff:
| Dr. Elizabeth Adams | Dr. J. Christopher Arndt | Dr. James L. Barnes |
| Dr. Steven H. Fairchild | Dr. Barry Falk | Dr. T. Windsor Fields |
| Dr. Christopher Fox | Dr. Joan Frederick | Dr. Norman Garrison |
| Dr. Roger Hall | Dr. David K. Jeffrey | Dr. Marilou M. Johnson |
| Dr. Kay M. Knickrehm | Dr. Andrew I. Kohen | Dr. Susan W. Palocsay |
| Dr. Alvin M. Pettus | Dr. Linwood H. Rose | Dr. J. Barkley Rosser |
| Dr. Maureen G. Shanahan | Dr. B. Douglas Skelley | Dr. Roger A. Soenksen |
| Dr. Jon Mase Thompson | Dr. Anna Umbreit | Dr. Chong Kun Yoong |
Students:
| Seniors Inducted in 2009 | Juniors Inducted in 2009 |
| Seniors Inducted in 2008 | Juniors Inducted in 2008 |
| Seniors Inducted in 2007 | Juniors Inducted in 2007 |
| Seniors Inducted in 2006 | Juniors Inducted in 2006 |