Honor Societies
Phi Sigma Iota
Qualifications for Membership
Phi Sigma Iota is a membership society with Active Members and Honorary Members as set forth below. Membership in the Society is open to qualified candidates including persons with disability, without regard to age, color, gender, national origin, race, religion, and/or sexual orientation. New members are recruited by invitation only from established Phi Sigma Iota chapters.
Members shall meet the following minimum criteria for membership. Any chapter, at its discretion, may establish higher, more rigorous academic criteria.
- Active Members.Collegiate or professional members who pay annual national dues shall be active members of the Society.
- Collegiate Members.At the time of initiation, Collegiate members shall be students enrolled in undergraduate or graduate programs and pursuing a curriculum with a major/minor in:
- Foreign languages, including Classics and ESL
- Comparative Literature
- Foreign language Education
- Linguistics
- Second language Acquisition
- Other interdisciplinary programs with a significant foreign language component.
- Undergraduate students shall be enrolled in the institution represented by the chapter, have completed at least one course in a foreign language at the third-year level or its equivalent (fifth semester or seventh quarter), have completed 45 semester hours or its equivalent, have a minimum grade point average of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale, and rank in the top 35% of their class. If the institution does not calculate class rank, advisors must either make the calculations, or use a minimum GPA of 3.3 on an 4.0 scale as eligibility criteria.
- Graduate students shall be enrolled in a graduate program in one of the aforementioned programs, have attained a high degree of competence in at least one foreign language, have completed 12 semester hours of graduate work or equivalent, and have a minimum grade point average of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale.
- Professional Members. Alumni of collegiate chapters shall be professional members. Others meeting the following criteria may be elected to professional membership: have made a distinctive contribution to the profession and (a) earned one or more degrees in foreign language and ranked within the top 35% of the class as undergraduates or 3.5 as graduate students and not been previously initiated into the Society, (b) earned one or more degrees qualifying them to work in the field and rank in the top 35% as undergraduates or 3.5 as graduate students, or (c) faculty of the university, after one academic year of teaching in that institution and having shown remarkable ability in their field as well as demonstrating support of the ideals of the Society.
- Honorary Members.Honorary members shall be persons outside the field, excluding those who are employed in the field, who have made distinctive scholarly and research contributions to the study, use, or promotion of foreign languages and the ideals of the Society. Visit website for membership benefits and scholarship opportunities.
Pi Delta Phi-French National
Honor Society
Regular members include graduate and undergraduate students at the sponsoring institution who are nominated in recognition of their academic achievement in French. Undergraduate or graduate candidates do not need to be French or French Studies majors or minors to be nominated for membership. The eligibility requirements for all undergraduate students are:
- completion of at least one course of upper-division French (i.e. beyond the intermediate-level series of courses)
- 0 GPA in French, 3.0 GPA overall, AND rank in the top 35% of their class; If a school does not use class rank, ACHS recommends a 3.3 overall G.P.A. equivalent
- sophomore standing (i.e. students have attended at least one year of college and are in at least their second year of university study)
- degree seeking student at the host institution
Graduate students who are not already members of Pi Delta Phi are eligible for regular membership. Students who were inducted into Pi Delta Phi as undergraduates are already lifetime members of the Society regardless of the chapter into which they were inducted. Graduate students who are pursuing advanced degrees in fields other than French are also eligible for membership. The eligibility requirements for all graduate students are:
- completion of 2 graduate courses in French, and
- minimum 3.5 GPA in graduate coursework
Students from neighboring institutions who take French courses at the sponsoring institution, and domestic and foreign non-degree seeking students are not eligible for regular membership, but may be nominated for honorary membership.
Honorary
Honorary members include: the French faculty of the sponsoring institution who are not already members of Pi Delta Phi; members of the faculty at large who are not already members of the Society; undergraduate and graduate students who do not meet the above requirements for regular membership; college or university alumni who did not become members while attending the sponsoring institution; and diplomats, community and business leaders, and others who have demonstrated support of French language, and/or of the cultures and literatures of the French-speaking world.
For more information about membership benefits and scholarships please go to:
Gamma Kappa Alpha
Italian National Honor Society
Gamma Kappa Alpha, the national Italian Honor Society, is a society formed to acknowledge superior scholastic performance in the field of Italian language, literature and culture, and is open to membership at institutions of higher learning in the United States and Canada.
The society encourages college students to acquire a greater interest in, and a deeper understanding of, Italian culture, art and history. The organization recognizes outstanding undergraduate scholarship in the field of Italian by awarding annually the Gamma Kappa Alpha Award for Scholarship.
Membership eligibility requirements for juniors and seniors:
- Student must be actively engaged in the study or research in the field of Italian language and literature.
- Student must have at least a B average in Italian and be at least in the upper 35% of his class.
- No student may be considered who has less than two courses in Italian at the college level, nor may a student be considered who has not taken advanced courses beyond the intermediate level at those institutions offering such courses.
Students are invited to submit their credentials for membership through this form.
See the Gamma Kappa Alpha website for more information and to learn about scholarships available to its members.