By Jennifer Balmforth
The invitations have been sent, but some of BYU”s top academic students may not choose to join a honor society because they are not aware of the benefits.
Allen Palmer, an associate professor of communications and the advisor for Kappa Tau Alpha, the national communications honor society, said besides being an honor, there are tangible benefits found in joining an honor society.
“One of the benefits is high achieving students go on to graduate schools where this kind of information is meaningful,” Palmer said.
Donovan Fleming, a professor of Psychology and Neuroscience and the President of the BYU Chapter of Phi Kappa Phi, said having life membership in an internationally-recognized society can benefit students in numerous ways.
“It can open doors for students seeking graduate study, employment, promotion within employment and recognition of career achievement,” Fleming said.
A membership in an honor society is also one of the qualifying items for government employment at the GS-7 level, which is around $30,000.
Not many undergraduate students understand the distinctive meaning of being a member of an honor society, Palmer said.
Most departmental honor societies recognizing and inviting the top 10 percent of seniors and top 5 percent of juniors trying to introduce them into the benefits before they apply to graduate or professional schools, Palmer said.
BYU affiliates with over 20 national honor societies that have chapters on campus.
According to the Associations of College Honor Societies certain societies like Phi Eta Sigma, induct first-year students and include all academic fields while others like Kappa Tau Alpha elect only upper-class and focus on a specialized area like communications.
When a university wishes to establish a chapter, they must apply to the specific national society, Palmer said. The national society then evaluates the university and their program to determine if they are qualified to join.
If a university qualifies to establish a chapter it becomes an honor to the university, Palmer said.
“Having an honor society is a kind of accreditation that your programs is nationally recognized because not every university program that applies is accepted,” Palmer said.
The Kappa Tau Alpha chapter at BYU was established in 1922.
No matter which honor society students join, the Association of College Honor Societies said they all give honor, recognition, and a lifetime of distinction to students who have displayed exceptional academic achievement.
“It is a way of formalizing the honor of being a good student,” Palmer said.
