Columbia Gorge Community College is one of 17 minority-serving institutions across the United States partnering in a national college honors program.
The three-year initiative, organized through Phi Theta Kappa (PTK), the national student honors society, expands access to honors coursework among minority students. It’s expected to benefit more than 11,000 students.
“Phi Theta Kappa’s work around improving completion outcomes for minority students is one of the things I am most proud of,” said Dr. Lynn Tincher-Ladner, PTK’s president. “This will allow us to scale and further that work by embedding honors programming in minority-serving community colleges.”
Because PTK has established campus-level partnerships and co-curricular programming, it’s well-positioned to work with college leaders to establish an honors program that will challenge students, while also providing individual guidance and support, Tincher-Ladner added.
The program will be open to high-achieving minority students who earn at least a 3.5 GPA after completing 12 hours of college credit. Students will receive leadership opportunities, access to
competitive scholarships, and one-on-one transfer and career coaching.
Meanwhile, faculty and staff will be offered professional development opportunities, including capacity building in institutional effectiveness, institutional research, and fundraising.
Phi Theta Kappa is the premier honor society recognizing the academic achievement of students at associate degree-granting colleges, helping them grow as scholars and leaders. The society is recognized by the American Association of Community Colleges as the official honor society for associate degree-granting institutions. It represents more than 3.8 million members and nearly 1,300 chapters in 11 countries, with approximately 240,000 active members in the nation’s colleges. Learn more at ptk.org.