South Georgia State College’s Amy Hancock received the Distinguished Advisor Award at the Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) Annual Convention held in Kansas City, Missouri April 18 – 21, 2018. The Distinguished Advisor Award is presented to select Phi Theta Kappa chapter advisors with at least four years or more of service. Advisors are recognized for significant contributions to the growth of individual members, serving as the chapter’s advocate on campus, and encouraging the chapter to be involved on the local, regional and international level of the organization.
Hancock has served as the South Georgia State College (SGSC) Phi Theta Kappa advisor for the Kappa Sigma chapter, which includes Douglas campus, entry program, Dual Enrollment and online students since 2011 and the Alpha Rho Omega chapter on the Waycross campus since 2013. Each year under her leadership, the chapters have earned 5-star status in the chapter development plan which is the highest designation a chapter can receive.
In addition to leading the students in numerous projects and activities throughout the year, she is active on the regional and national level for Phi Theta Kappa. She has served as the Associate Regional Coordinator for the past four years for Georgia and was selected as a Faculty Scholar at a past Honors Institute in Denver, Colorado. She is certified in the Phi Theta Kappa Leadership Development Studies program and has been an Academy Facilitator and Educational Forum presenter at several national conventions.
She feels it is important for the honor students to be involved as well. Each year she encourages them to run as a chapter for a regional officer position. Since 2012, one of the SGSC chapters has run and been elected. Most recently, the Alpha Rho Omega chapter was selected to serve as the presidential chapter for Georgia for the upcoming year and will host the Spring Regional Conference next year. This involvement gives the students opportunities to travel to national conferences in the spring and the Honors Institute in the summer in various places around the country.
“We know the mission of Phi Theta Kappa is to recognize academic achievement of college students and to provide opportunities for them to grow as scholars and leaders. Ms. Hancock does just that for our exceptional group of students,” says Dr. Ingrid Thompson-Sellers, president of SGSC. “She is steadfast in her commitment to the Phi Theta Kappa organization and passionate about the work she does with our students. I believe she is well deserving of this recognition and I commend her Phi Theta Kappa students on nominating her for this award.”
Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, headquartered in Jackson, Mississippi, is the largest honor society in higher education with 1,285 chapters on college campuses in all 50 of the United States, plus Canada, Germany, the Republic of Palau, Peru, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the British Virgin Islands, the United Arab Emirates and U.S. territorial possessions. More than 3 million students have been inducted since its founding in 1918, with approximately 134,000 students inducted annually.