Chapter advisers can provide valuable assistance to Phi Eta Sigma members seeking scholarships. A
portion of the national membership fee of $20 goes to the Founders Fund, a trust set up in honor
of the founders and distinguished members of the Society. Income from this fund is used to grant
one or more endowed scholarships of up to $10,000 for the first year of graduate or professional
study, thirty-five undergraduate endowed scholarships of up to $7,500, and up to thirty undergraduate
$1,000 awards.
The $10,000 Scholar-Leader Award named in honor of the founder and First Grand President of Phi Eta
Sigma, Thomas Arkle Clark, was approved by delegates attending the 2004 National Convention and
Leadership Workshops and was awarded for the first time for use in the 2006-07 academic year.
This award will be presented to the member who, in the judgment of our Scholarship Committee, best
exemplifies the ideals of Phi Eta Sigma and will be chosen from those scholarship applicants, both
graduate and undergraduate, who indicate that they would like to be considered for this recognition.
This being another major Phi Eta Sigma award initiative and in keeping with our tradition, Society
chapter leadership is a major requirement.
Scholarship applications for students seeking undergraduate scholarships are made available only
through chapter advisers. Applicants must be members of Phi Eta Sigma; those applying for undergraduate
scholarships or awards must be nominated by their chapters.
In order for each chapter to take maximum advantage of the scholarship opportunities provided by Phi
Eta Sigma, chapter advisers should follow the suggestions listed below:
In the annual January mailing from the national office, each chapter adviser will find a copy of the
Phi Eta Sigma scholarship application form with instructions printed on the back. Notify student
members of the availability of Phi Eta Sigma scholarships and encourage active members with excellent
academic records to apply.
Make a copy of the application form with instructions for each student member who wishes to apply.
Inform each applicant of the local chapter deadline (allowing enough time for review and selection of
the best application). Please note that space is provided for the local deadline to be added in the
upper left-hand corner of the form.
Each issue of the Forum magazine contains an overview of the
Phi Eta Sigma scholarship program, including photos and biographical sketches of the recipients from
the previous year. Chapter advisers should encourage applicants to review this material to help them
in preparing their own scholarship applications.
As members turn in their scholarship applications, review each application packet for completeness
of all pertinent information requested on the form (student's signature, permanent home address,
etc.), and ensure that all questions have been answered completely. Additional pages for responses
may be attached if necessary. A complete application packet consists of:
Each chapter adviser and/or chapter scholarship evaluation committee should review the scholarship
applications that have been submitted. Evaluation criteria are set forth in Statute VII of the
Constitution and Laws of Phi Eta Sigma (also provided on the "Scholarships"
page of this web site and printed in the Forum magazine).
Other criteria may be added if necessary to assist in the chapter's evaluation process.
Each chapter may submit to the national office one undergraduate scholarship application; in addition,
chapters that inducted 150 or more members in the previous academic year may submit two undergraduate
applications, and chapters that inducted 300 or more members in the previous year may submit a total of
three undergraduate scholarship applications. There is no limit on the number of graduate scholarship
applications submitted to the national office from each chapter. The adviser should verify the student's
grade point average and sign the first page of each application. The chapter
adviser's signature is required on all undergraduate applications. The adviser should then
forward to the scholarship committee secretary (at the Phi Eta Sigma national office) the applications
and supporting documents of those selected to represent the chapter in the national scholarship competition.
The package must be postmarked no later than March 1.
The evaluation process requires approximately six to eight weeks after the March 1 deadline (usually
completed in late April). When evaluation of the applications is complete and recipients are selected,
the national office will mail a letter of notice to each chapter adviser whose chapter nominee(s) was/were
selected for a national scholarship or award. Each recipient will be mailed a letter of notice at his/her
home address as provided on the scholarship application. Alternates and non-recipients will also be
notified of their status by mail.
Chapter advisers who receive notice of scholarships or awards for their chapter members should notify the
student recipients locally. Please follow up by making sure that the student received his/her letter
from the national office and that the student responds with a letter of acceptance to the national
office by the deadline date given in the notification letter. The national office will acknowledge receipt
of the student's acceptance letter by e-mail if the student provides an address in the letter. If the
student did not receive his/her notification letter or if there are any other questions about the scholarship
or award, please call or e-mail the national office right away.
Publicize the scholarship or award wherever possible to bring recognition to your Phi Eta Sigma chapter
and to the student recipient. Prepare a news release for campus publications, for local community news
from the university, and for the student's hometown newspaper. Recognize the student at a chapter meeting,
using this opportunity to promote academic excellence in other members and to encourage them to apply for
a Phi Eta Sigma scholarship in the future. If possible, have the student featured at other university
functions where scholarship recipients are honored before their peers and the faculty.
If the scholarship recipient from your chapter informs you of a change of address, remind the recipient
to advise the Phi Eta Sigma national office of the correct address for receiving his/her scholarship check,
which will be mailed on or about August 15. The checks for all scholarship and award recipients, along
with a letter and a certificate of recognition, are sent by U.S. mail. Please remind the recipient to
watch for this mailing and check with the student sometime in late August to make sure that the check was
received. If there is a problem, be sure to contact the national office promptly.
Finally, enjoy the satisfaction that you, as a Phi Eta Sigma chapter adviser, have helped bring
recognition and financial reward to a hard-working, highly deserving student from your university
and chapter. Watch for the recipient to be featured in the scholarship section of the next issue
of the Forum magazine and share copies of the magazine with
the active and incoming members of your chapter; then get ready to do it all over again the next
spring so that some other outstanding member of your chapter may benefit from the Phi Eta Sigma
Founders Fund Scholarship Program.
Phi Eta Sigma National Honor Society, Inc.
Grise Hall 525
Western Kentucky University
1906 College Heights Boulevard #11062
Bowling Green, Kentucky 42101-1062
270-745-6540