back to Rio News

PRESS RELEASE

Rio’s Phi Theta Kappa Chapter Wins BIG in Nashville!!!

At the Phi Theta Kappa International Convention held April 11-14 in Nashville, Rio Salado’s Alpha Theta Omicron chapter earned a remarkable SEVEN top awards and was named one of the leading chapters internationally. There are nearly 1300 chapters with more than two million members in all 50 of the United States, U.S. territories, British Virgin Islands, Canada, Germany, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, United Arab Emirates, and Palau. CONGRATULATIONS to the following participants and winners for their hard work and efforts that culminated in a variety of victories!

Individual Awards and Participation:

Administrator Award of Distinction: Dr. Karen Mills, Vice-President of Academic Affairs—This award will be a permanent addition to Phi Theta Kappa’s Hallmark Awards, and Dr. Mills wins in its inaugural year for her strong level of support for Phi Theta Kappa initiatives. Her photo is online at: http://www.ptk.org/hallmarks/awards/07/administrator/administrator-awards/

Distinguished Advisor Award: Dr. Janine Adkins—This award is for advisors who have served five or more years and have not won the award previously. This is Dr. Adkins’ fifth international award.

Distinguished Chapter Officer Award: Natalie Elliott—Natalie becomes only the second student from Rio Salado to win this award.

Distinguished Chapter Member Award: Dawn Sears—Dawn becomes the only Arizona participant to have won awards in all three categories at the state level (President, Officer, and Member) as well as two awards at the international level (President and Member).

Chapter Officer Academy Graduates: Beth McNally and Victoria Rosales—Beth and Victoria are the first chapter members to complete this program.

Advisor Pre-Conference Graduate: Bruno Rhodes—Bruno is only the second chapter advisor to complete this training.

Chapter/Group Awards: 2007 Distinguished Chapter Award: To be considered for a Distinguished Chapter Award, a chapter must submit required applications for Scholarship, Leadership, and Service Hallmark Awards. The scores in each of these categories are averaged to determine a chapter's overall ranking. Just 25 chapters earn this distinction. Rio Salado’s Alpha Theta Omicron chapter is the only MCCCD college to earn the award in 2007.

Leadership Hallmark Award: This Top 25 designation (the highest ranking) is for the implementation of activities in which the chapter assumes leadership roles on campus, in the community, and within Phi Theta Kappa as well as how the chapter has promoted the development of leadership skills for members and others. This is the chapter’s FIRST Leadership Hallmark win.

Service Hallmark Award: This Top 25 designation (the highest ranking) is for the implementation of the current International Service Program (Operation Green: Improving Our Communities) and secondary service activities (such as Conquering Cancer).

For information contact:

Linda Bird
(480) 517-8462
linda.bird@riomail.maricopa.edu