10.06.2009

Recap of Belmar Beach Cleanup

by Charis Chambers, Chapter President
September 26, 2009

On September 26, 2009, Tau Iota helped out with an Adopt a Beach cleanup at Belmar Beach, hosted by Hudson County College’s chapter of Phi Theta Kappa. The event was coordinated with Coastal Cleanup, supported by the EPA. There were 6 members/officers and 1 advisor from Tau Iota in attendance. Thank you to: Kevin Rutz, Karen Marcotullio, Rachel Ryan, Michael Ryan, Matt Buenvenito and myself (Charis Chambers), with a special thanks to our advisor, Dr. Mirashi.

As a chapter, we’ve collected: 1 paper bag, 14 plastic bags, 67 plastic bottles, 1 glass bottle, 25 beverage cans, 58 caps;lids, 1 article of clothing, 48 various paper products, 49 cups plates and utensils, 15 food wrappers, 35 straws, 9 hair clips, 2 cleaner bottles, 2 PVC pipes, 3 plastic tarps, 2 pieces of electrical tape, 1 piece of boardwalk, 4 cigar tips, 1 piece of gum, 4 Band-Aids, 3 pieces of broken glass, 9 rusty screws, and 109 cigarette butts!

Along with Tau Iota, 9 other Phi Theta Kappa chapters were involved from the following schools: (consisting of 53 volunteers)

Beta Alpha Phi, Hudson County Community College

Beta Alpha Phi Alumni Association, Hudson County Community College

Alpha Theta Theta, Essex County College

Alpha Epsilon Pi, Raritan Valley Community College

Tau Iota, Ocean County College

Iota Xi, Union County College

Alpha Pi Theta, Brookdale Community College

Alpha Theta Gamma, Mercer County Community College

Tau Gamma, Northampton Community College

Rutgers University


As a chapter, Tau Iota was able to college 30 pounds of garbage! As a state, New Jersey Phi Theta Kappa was able to college over 260 pounds of trash!


09.21.2009

Harvest Party Volunteer Form

by Charis Chambers, Chapter President
October 16, 2009 6:00 PMtoOctober 17, 2009 4:00 AM

     
   
Harvest Party Volunteers Needed!

The 13th Annual Harvest Party for children with cancer and their families will be held on the Ocean County College campus on Saturday, October 17, 2009. This annual event is held for children with who have suffered the devastating effect of cancer and their families.


The fun-filled afternoon features live entertainment, games, refreshments, and, one of the most popular features of the party, the Craft Tent, which is located on the lot next to the College Center.


The Craft Tent provides many hands-on activities for the children. With the assistance of volunteers, each child can create a craft, play a game, or enjoy a snack. Many groups are needed to staff the tent. Each group designs their own activity and provides the supplies. Tau Iota is asking every group interested to come up with a “Going-Green” Craft.


Phi Theta Kappa has traditionally taken a leadership role in staffing the tent with OCC clubs and community organizations. We hope you will assist us in continuing this tradition by joining us in the Craft Tent this year.


 

   
     

07.31.2009

Blog Workshop Evaluation

by Charis Chambers, Chapter President

Click Here for a Workshop Evaluation!

07.19.2009

Program for the New Jersey State Presidents and Officers Lucheon

by Joseph Eulo, 2009-10 New Jersey State President

Below you will find a link to the program for the 2009 Phi Theta Kappa New Jersey State Presidents and Officers Luncheon, hosted by Alpha Pi Theta at Brookdale Community College on Monday July 20. The 40+ attendees representing 11 chapters from around the state will receive a lot more than just lunch! These 40+ Phi Theta Kappans will have an opportunity to cultivate new relationships and form alliances.

The NJ State President’s Five-Star Chapter Challenge will encourage chapters to reach for the stars! It will provide them with a roadmap to accomplish Five-Star program requirements. The challenge will inspire state unity and encourage chapters to collaborate with each other on events and projects.The PhiThetaKappaNJ.org Project will demonstrate how chapters can set-up, maintain, and run their very own member’s blog. The project outlines chapter benefits and explains how having one will help them reach out to potential members, engage new ones, and communicate more effectively with officers, advisors, and alumni.

The Phi Theta Kappa 2009 New Jersey State Presidents and Officers Luncheon

Hello, Thank you for coming to the 2009 New Jersey State Presidents and Officers Luncheon. Your presence here is not only a testament to your dedication to your own chapter but to the chapters of the State of New Jersey and the Middle States Region. Take advantage of this opportunity to become acquainted with the Phi Theta Kappan next to you. Ask them how they plan to make a difference within their college communities and in the lives of others. Share your chapter’s plans for the year and let them know how they can participate. Create alliances, make new friends, and most of all have fun! You are going to receive a lot more than just lunch today; you will learn about the Five-Star Chapter Challenge and how your chapter can satisfy program requirements. You will learn about state, regional, and international resources and how your chapter can help others in the State of New Jersey. Does your chapter need a website? The PhiThetaKappaNJ.org Project will help your chapter start one. Tau Iota Chapter will host a Blogging Workshop at Ocean County College on July 31. Tau Iota’s Chapter President, Charis Chambers, is ready to sign you up! You will learn everything you need to know to get your chapter website online and ready for your members. A member’s blog is a great way to reach out to potential members, engage new ones, and communicate with officers, advisors, and alumni. Plus it will help your chapter meet the Five-Star Chapter Challenge and fulfill Five-Star program requirements. I know this is the year, more than ever, our state and our region will come together, join in fellowship, and make a difference in the lives in our community. Let us show the people of the State of New Jersey, the Middle States Region, and the world how Phi Theta Kappa’s guiding principles of Scholarship, Leadership, Service, and Fellowship all guide us through our daily lives. Let us demonstrate what true servant leadership is and make a difference in our world. I have come to understand that as individuals we can make an impact but together we can make a difference. Sincerely, Joseph Eulo 2009-2010 New Jersey State President, Phi Theta Kappa, Middle States Region http://www.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org Mobile: (609) 385-8452 Joe@PhiThetaKappaNJ.org The 2009 New Jersey State Presidents & Officers Luncheon at Brookdale Community College www.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org 10:30 Registration Meet & Greet Introductions What We Have in Common! NJ President’s Five Star Chapter Challenge: Five Star Program Defined Lunch Group Photo How are we Unique? Intro to the PhiThetaKappaNJ.org Project Questions & Answers Blogging Workshop Signup, July 31 Hosted by Tau Iota at Ocean County Community College Chapter Roundup: What Chapters are Doing Around New Jersey Open Mic: Chapters share their plans and events for the 2009-2010 year Regional Service Project – a Preview Fulfilling Hallmarks & Transitioning into Honors in Action Using the Honors in Action planner: a How to Exit Survey One-on-One Video Interviews: “The Phi Theta Kappa Experience” Depart 11:15 11:30 12:00 12:30 1:00 1:30 2:15 3:00 3:45 4:00 4:30 The 2009 New Jersey State Presidents & Officers Luncheon at Brookdale Community College www.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org This activity is a team-building exercise in which people identify things that everyone in the group has in common and compile a list. In order for it to make the list, it must apply to everyone in your group. Avoid listing things that people can see (e.g. “everyone has hair,” or “we are all wearing clothes”). Choose a spokesperson from your group to read your list. The 2009 New Jersey State Presidents & Officers Luncheon at Brookdale Community College www.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org The purpose of the Five Star chapter challenge is to promote five-star program participation within the state, to increase the number of stars each chapter achieves, and to support each other in reaching the ultimate goal of having every chapter in New Jersey reach five stars for the 2009-2010 year. To meet theses challenges, New Jersey chapters will work together and help one another. Collaboration among chapters will be key to our success. Below is a list of requirements for each level of the five-star program. Place a check in the box next to the items that your chapter has already accomplished. Circle the requirements in which you have a plan to accomplish and place a question mark next to the items your chapter may need help with.  Chapter officers and advisor(s) review the Five Star Program requirements, determine a goal, and submit the Chapter Update Form online. Chapter meets at least once each month. Chapter advisor and chapter president each have the 2008-2010 Honors Program Guide (available online www.ptk.org/honors/guide). Chapter gains greater public awareness on campus by one or more of the following strategies (please select the strategy that is most effective for your chapter):  Membership invitations are sent from a college administrator, preferably the college president, to prospective members. Chapter conducts an informational meeting for prospective members prior to induction. Chapter promotes membership acceptance by employing one or more of the following strategies:             Distributing Faculty Awareness Flyers Posting Membership Benefits Brochures or Posters around campus Participating in “Phi Theta Kappa Week” in November Sending a press release on new inductees    Calling eligible students Sending them a reminder email with link to Phi Theta Kappa Member Benefits Brochure at http://www.ptk.org/campaign/campaign/broch ures/ Allowing online membership acceptance Holding more than one informational meeting Chapter holds at least one induction ceremony each year, and members’ names and fees are submitted to Headquarters. Chapter submits new officer names and addresses in PAM. Chapter provides a structured orientation for new officers, advisors and committee chairs at the beginning of each semester or quarter Advisor submits the Chapter Annual Report to Headquarters. Chapter submits Five Star Chapter Update Forms online by May 31, September 30, and December 31 www.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org Chapter sets a goal for membership recruitment and develops strategies to meet this goal. For Membership recruitment resources, visit www.ptk.org/campaign. At the beginning of each membership recruitment campaign, the chapter advisor opens an enrollment period in PAM, at www.ptk.org/PAM, and designates plans for orientations, inductions, methods of accepting applications/fees. Chapter’s bylaws have been approved by Headquarters and are on file.       The 2009 New Jersey State Presidents & Officers Luncheon at Brookdale Community College  Chapter advisor and officers meet with college president or campus CEO to develop and discuss goals of the chapter. Chapter and/or chapter officers meet twice each month. At least two chapter members research one issue/study question of the Honors Program Guide, “The Paradox of Affluence: Choices, Challenges and Consequences.” Chapter conducts a second membership recruitment campaign during the year and opens a separate enrollment period in PAM at the beginning of each membership campaign.  Chapter implements a College Project which is determined by the chapter and college president or other administrator.        Mentoring incoming freshmen Hosting Honors Seminar Series for the campus and community Helping with college graduation Serving as college ambassadors  Based on chapter’s research, plan an Honors in Action project that includes leadership and service components. Map out the specific leadership roles and actions the project requires. Also determine leadership development opportunities that would benefit the participants. Determine the expert resources (individuals and/or organizations, businesses, etc.) for the chapter to coordinate with for the greatest impact. Work with another campus or community organization to implement the Honors in Action project. Chapter publishes news about the chapter in at least one of the following ways:        Membership invitations are sent from a college administrator to prospective members. Chapter conducts an informational meeting for prospective members prior to induction. Chapter promotes membership acceptance. Chapter holds a second induction ceremony. Members’ names and fees are promptly submitted to Headquarters.    Chapter submits Five Star Chapter Update Forms online by May 31, September 30, and December 31     a newsletter Maintains a website Submits chapter news to a publication. Chapter chronicles its activities for historical purposes. Examples include keeping an Honors in Action journal, maintaining a notebook of chapter meeting minutes and/or newsletters, saving copies of Hallmark Awards entries, etc  Chapter submits Five Star Chapter Update Forms online by May 31, September 30, and December 31 The 2009 New Jersey State Presidents & Officers Luncheon at Brookdale Community College www.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org   Chapter representative attends at least one official regional meeting. Chapter enters at least one category in their regional awards program. Chapters submitting entries in the International Hallmark Awards Program are automatically entered in their regional awards program. Visit www.ptk.org/hallmarks. Chapter shares their Honors in Action research with the campus or community (e.g., hosts an event that includes a formal presentation, writes an article for a publication, creates a display in the library or other resource center, etc.)  Chapter representative(s) participates in at least one of the following:  International Convention    International Honors Institute Entire Honors Seminar Series  Chapter enters all chapter categories and one individual category in the 2010 International Hallmark Awards Program. Visit www.ptk.org/hallmarks for a full list of categories and requirements. Chapter submits Five Star Chapter Update Forms online by May 31, September 30, and December 31   Chapter participates in at least one of the following activities:     Campaigns for regional office. Hosts/assumes a leadership role at a regional meeting. Participates in a Regional Honors in Action project. Collaborates with at least two other chapters for an activity or event that is conducted online or in person.  Chapter submits Five Star Chapter Update Forms online by May 31, September 30, and December 31 The 2009 New Jersey State Presidents & Officers Luncheon at Brookdale Community College www.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org On this page list the things that are unique to each member in your group. Try to find at least 2 things for each person. (Go beyond the superficial, avoiding those things that people can readily see). Choose a spokesperson from you group to present your list. The 2009 New Jersey State Presidents & Officers Luncheon at Brookdale Community College www.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org The PhiThetaKappaNJ.org Project is the product of a promise that I made to the state of New Jersey and to the Middle States Region. The goal of the project is to enhance inter/intra chapter communication, promote five-star participation, and aid chapters in making a difference within their communities, state, and region. The Project consists of two parts. The first is PhiThetaKappaNJ.org, a “blog1” built on the free open source blogging platform called WordPress. Its purpose is to serve as a central meeting place for New Jersey chapters, members, officers, and advisors and provide us with the capability to communicate easily with each other. It will link us to local, state, and regional Phi Theta Kappa resources and make available the means to communicate with members on popular social networking sites such as Facebook. The second part of the Phi Theta KappaNJ.org project is to provide each chapter in New Jersey with its own blog using Wordpress. Your chapter will have two active web addresses on the PhiThetaKappaNJ.org domain that will point to the same place on the internet: your chapter blog. This will make finding your chapter on the internet easy. For example, Union County College’s chapter of Phi Theta Kappa is Iota Xi. Their web addresses (URLs) would be http://Union.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org and http://IotaXI.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org (see list of chapter domains on page 22). A blog will expand your chapter’s ability to reach out to your members, keep them informed, and foster member involvement. It will provide your chapter with the means to expand communication and advance relationships among your membership. Your chapter members and officers will have permission to publish, edit, moderate, and/ or administer articles, photos, videos, and commentary related to chapter and state related events not only on the PhiThetaKappaNJ.org website but on your own website as well. Not only will your website be easy to use, it will help you to establish and enhance your chapter presence online and make your chapter accessible to the college community and beyond. PhiThetaKappaNJ.org will bridge the gap between members who are already active, those just starting out, and members who wish to become more involved. This will allow us to contribute content to the website, take part in our state’s success, and fulfill our mission. 1 “Blog” is an abbreviated version of “weblog,” which is a term used to describe web sites that maintain an ongoing chronicle of information. A blog is a frequently updated website featuring diary-type commentary and links to articles on other Web sites. The 2009 New Jersey State Presidents & Officers Luncheon at Brookdale Community College www.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org A blog (nickname of the term “weblog”) is a type of website, usually maintained by an individual or group with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. “Blog” can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog. Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, Web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs. Most blogs are primarily textual, although some focus on art, photographs, sketches, videos, music, and audio. Micro-blogging, (twitter) is another type of blogging, featuring very short posts. Generally speaking, blogs tend to have a few things in common:  A main content area with articles listed chronologically, newest on top. Often, the articles are     organized into categories. An archive of older articles. A way for people to leave comments about the articles. A list of links to other related sites, sometimes called a “blogroll”. One or more “feeds” like RSS, Atom or RDF files. Content is the reason for the existence of any web site. Retail sites feature a catalog of products. University sites contain information about their campuses, curriculum, and faculty. News sites show the latest news stories. For a personal blog, you might have a bunch of observations, or reviews. Without some sort of updated content, there is little reason to visit a web site more than once. On a blog, the content consists of articles (also sometimes called “posts” or “entries”) that the author(s) writes. Yes, some blogs have multiple authors, each writing her/his own articles. Typically, blog authors compose their articles in a web-based interface, built into the blogging system itself. Want an interactive website? Wouldn’t it be nice if the readers of a website could leave comments, tips or impressions about the site or a specific article? With blogs, they can! Posting comments is one of the most exciting features of blogs and most blogs have a method to allow visitors to leave comments. The 2009 New Jersey State Presidents & Officers Luncheon at Brookdale Community College www.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org In addition to understanding how your specific blogging software works, such as WordPress, there are some terms and concepts you need to know. Archives A blog is also a good way to keep track of articles on a site. A lot of blogs feature an archive based on dates (like a monthly or yearly archive). The front page of a blog may feature a calendar of dates linked to daily archives. Archives can also be based on categories featuring all the articles related to a specific category. It does not stop there; you can also archive your posts by author or alphabetically. The possibilities are endless. This ability to organize and present articles in a composed fashion is much of what makes blogging a popular personal publishing tool. Feeds A Feed is a function of special software that allows “Feedreaders” to access a site automatically looking for new content and then post updates about that new content to another site. This provides a way for users to keep up with the latest and hottest information posted on different blogging sites. Some Feeds include RSS (alternately defined as “Rich Site Summary” or “Really Simple Syndication”), Atom or RDF files. Blogrolls A blogroll is a list, sometimes categorized, of links to webpages the author of a blog finds worthwhile or interesting. The links in a blogroll are usually to other blogs with similar interests. The blogroll is often in a “sidebar” on the page or featured as a dedicated separate web page. Chapters could link to Middle States web site http://www.ptkms.org or the international website http://www.ptk.org Syndication A feed is a machine readable (usually XML) content publication that is updated regularly. Many weblogs publish a feed (usually RSS, but also possibly Atom and RDF and so on, as described above). There are tools out there that call themselves “feedreaders”. What they do is they keep checking specified blogs to see if they have been updated, and when the blogs are updated, they display the new post, and a link to it, with an excerpt (or the whole contents) of the post. Each feed contains items that are published over time. When checking a feed, the feedreader is actually looking for new items. New items are automatically discovered and downloaded for you to read. Just so you don’t have to visit all the blogs you are interested in. Managing Comments One of the most exciting features of blogging tools are the comments. This highly interactive feature allows users to comment upon article posts and link to your posts and comment on and recommend them. The 2009 New Jersey State Presidents & Officers Luncheon at Brookdale Community College www.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org The identity a particular user assumes in a blog is called their Role. A Role essentially describes the set of tasks, called “Capabilities”; a person is allowed to perform. For instance, the role of Administrator encompasses every possible task that can be performed within a WordPress blog. On the other hand, the Author role allows the execution of just a small subset of tasks The WordPress Roles feature is designed to give your chapter the ability to control and assign what your users can and cannot do in the blog. A chapter must manage and allow access to such functions as writing and editing Posts, creating Pages, defining Links, creating Categories, moderating Comments, managing Plugins, managing Themes, and managing other users. The tool that gives the you the control is the ability to assign a Role to a user. WordPress comes with five pre-defined Roles: Administrator, Editor, Author, Contributor, and Subscriber. Each Role is allowed to perform a set of tasks called capabilities. The Administrator Role is allowed to perform all possible capabilities. Each of the other Roles has a decreasing number of allowed capabilities. For instance, the Subscriber Role is allowed to post comments, read articles and pages, and receive newsletters. One particular Role should not be considered as ’senior to’ another Role. Rather, consider that Roles define the user’s responsibilities within the blog. Summary of Roles  Subscriber: someone who can read published post and pages, comment on articles, read other comments and receive newsletters.  Contributor: someone who has all Subscriber capabilities, plus the ability to write, manage, and edit their posts before publication, but must also submit their post to an editor for moderation.  Author: someone who has all Contributor capabilities, plus the ability to publish and manage their own posts and moderate its comments.  Editor: someone who has all Author capabilities, plus the ability to contribute/publish/unpublish/edit any user’s post, contribute or edit any page, manage all categories and moderate any comment, and read posts and pages which are marked “private”  Administrator: someone who has all Editor capabilities, plus the ability to define users and assign them roles, and configure all site options. The 2009 New Jersey State Presidents & Officers Luncheon at Brookdale Community College www.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org 1. Navigate to your blog, and click login. 2. Type in your username and password, then click login. The 2009 New Jersey State Presidents & Officers Luncheon at Brookdale Community College www.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org 3. Click the Posts tab. 4. Click Add New The 2009 New Jersey State Presidents & Officers Luncheon at Brookdale Community College www.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org 5. Start filling in the blanks. As needed, select a category, add tags, and make other selections from the sections below the post. To see what your post will look like click Preview. 6. To see what your post will look like click Preview. When you post is ready , click Publish. The 2009 New Jersey State Presidents & Officers Luncheon at Brookdale Community College www.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org Atlantic Cape Community College, Alpha Delta Mu http://AtlanticCape.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org http://AlphaDeltaMu.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org  Bergen Community College, Alpha Epsilon Phi http://Bergen.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org http://AlphaEpsilonPhi.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org Berkeley College, Alpha Upsilon Epsilon http://Berkeley.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org http://AlphaUpsilonEpsilon.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org Brookdale Community College, Alpha Pi Theta http://Brookdale.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org http://AlphaPiTheta.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org Burlington County College, Chi Iota http://Burlington.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org http://ChiIota.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org Camden County College, Alpha Nu Mu http://Camden.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org http://AlphaNuMu.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org Centenary College, Delta Phi http://Centenary.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org http://Delta Phi.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org County College of Morris, Alpha Kappa Kappa http://Morris.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org http://AlphaKappaKappa.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org Cumberland County College, Rho Gamma http://Cumberland.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org http://RhoGamma.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org DeVry University, Beta Delta Theta http://DeVry.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org http://BetaDeltaTheta.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org  Essex County College, Alpha Theta Theta http://Essex.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org http://AlphaThetaTheta.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org  Gloucester County College, Alpha Psi Pi http://Gloucester.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org http://AlphaPsiPi.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org Hudson County Community College, Beta Alpha Phi http://Hudson.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org http://BetaAlphaPhi.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org Mercer County Community College, Alpha Theta Gamma http://Mercer.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org http://AlphaThetaGamma.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org Middlesex County College, Upsilon Gamma http://Middlesex.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org http://UpsilonGamma.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org  Ocean County College, Tau Iota http://Ocean.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org http://TauIota.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org Passaic County Community College, Alpha Eta Chi http://Passaic.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org http://AlphaEtaChi.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org Raritan Valley Community College, Alpha Epsilon Pi http://RaritanValley.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org http://AlphaEpsilonPi.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org Salem Community College, Alpha Pi Omega http://Salem.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org http://AlphaPiOmega.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org Sussex County Community College, Alpha Upsilon Pi http://Sussex.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org http://AlphaUpsilonPi.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org  Union County College, Iota Xi http://Union.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org http://IotaXi.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org Warren County Community College, Alpha Upsilon Rho http://Warren.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org http://AlphaUpsilonRho.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org The 2009 New Jersey State Presidents & Officers Luncheon at Brookdale Community College www.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org Benefits of the PhiThetaKappaNJ.org Project:  Fulfill five star program requirements by providing a means to publish chapter news, chronicle activities, and keep an Honors in Action journal.  Maintain records of meeting minutes, online newsletters, and allow for online membership acceptance.  Help bridge the gap between members and chapters who are already active, with those just starting out and with those who wish to be more involved within New Jersey and the Middle States Region.     Serve as a central meeting place for New Jersey chapters, members, officers, and advisors. Provide us with a means to communicate more easily with one another. Link us to local, state, and regional Phi Theta Kappa resources. Provide us with the ability to communicate with members on popular social networking sites such as Facebook.  First: direct members, officers, advisors, potential members to your blog for chapter related information on events, signups, and meeting times.  Second: each officer should post to the blog twice a month; this keeps the site fresh and the visitors coming. A few sentences on what is going on within the chapter, and/or a video or a photo or two. The blog is a great place to post meeting minutes and maintain your Honors in Action Journal. WordPress automatically creates an Archive for you each month.  Third: you must advertise! Let everyone know where to find your website, place the website address on every flyer, business card, and poster that you print. When someone asks you about an event or for chapter information direct them to the blog and give them something with the address on it. If your chapter would like to have its own member’s blog, you just “gotta” attend the Blogging Workshop hosted by the Tau Iota Chapter at Ocean County College on July 31, 2009. By the end of the workshop you will have a blog online and ready for your chapter members to use. You will learn everything you need to know about blogging with WordPress and how you can bridge the gap between active members, new members, and members who wish to be more involved. You will not only learn how to manage and maintain your chapter blog, but also find out how having one will help your chapter accomplish its goals and fulfill five-star program requirements. You can RSVP for the Blogging Workshop by visiting http://www.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org/Blogging101 The 2009 New Jersey State Presidents & Officers Luncheon at Brookdale Community College www.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org HONORS IN ACTION PROJECT PLANNING MODEL Prepared by:_____________________________ ISSUE What issue and/or study question of the Honors Study Topic will this project address? ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ Describe the specific Leadership roles and actions the project requires. ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ Does the project address the International Service Program? If so, explain its connection. ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ RESEARCH SOURCES What academic publications and experts will you consult? ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ________________________________________________ RESOURCES Estimated Chapter funds required for the completion of this project: ________________________________________________ Itemized Budget: THE BASICS What is the title of the project?______________________ Where will the project take Place?___________________ When will the project be held?______________________ Who will participate?_____________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ What resources are needed? How will they be acquired? ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ How will appropriate permissions be attained?_________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ The 2009 New Jersey State Presidents & Officers Luncheon at Brookdale Community College www.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org Will you form committees? Describe them. _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ List the specific project goals. _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ List Chapter goals which the project is intended to meet and describe how the project fulfills each goal. _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ Which Five Star Chapter Development Program requirements does this project satisfy? _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ What will you do to develop the leadership skills and capacity of chapter members and others? _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ Will you reward your members for participating in this project? If so, how? _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ How will the chapter publicize the project? _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ IMPACT Chapter: _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ College: _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ Community: _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ Region: _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ Don’t forget to report your success to Headquarters at www.ptk.org/chapters/success.htm The 2009 New Jersey State Presidents & Officers Luncheon at Brookdale Community College www.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org The 2009 New Jersey State Presidents & Officers Luncheon at Brookdale Community College www.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org The 2009 New Jersey State Presidents & Officers Luncheon at Brookdale Community College www.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org The 2009 New Jersey State Presidents & Officers Luncheon at Brookdale Community College www.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org The 2009 New Jersey State Presidents & Officers Luncheon at Brookdale Community College www.PhiThetaKappaNJ.org