A National Honor Society for First-Generation College Students
Mission
The mission of the Tri-Alpha chapter, Gamma Upsilon, is to assist in the academic, social, and professional growth of first-generation college students at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Benefits
- Opportunities to meet other first-generation scholars and join them in promoting academic excellence and creating a welcoming and supportive environment for all first-generation students
- Leadership opportunities with the Tri-Alpha chapter at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville
- Outward recognition of personal accomplishments and a symbol of your hard work
- Communicates to future employers, professionals, and graduate schools that you possess superior academic ability and commitment
- Members receive a certificate and pin signifying membership. Membership is for life.
- Actively enrolled as a full-time student in a program of study leading to a bachelor’s degree;
- Completed at least three full terms of study and at least 30 credit hours;
- Identify as a first-generation student as defined as “Neither parent(s) nor guardian(s) earned a bachelor’s degree or higher prior to the student beginning their program
- GPA of at least 3.2 in all coursework.
Faculty and staff may also be inducted into the Tri-Alpha honor society. To qualify, they must have met the definition of a first-generation student at the time they completed their bachelor’s degree. Faculty and staff must be willing to serve as mentors for first-generation students. Graduate students who are first-generation students may also be admitted if they have completed the equivalent of at least one term of study (9 or more graduate credits) and have a GPA in their graduate program of at least 3.5. A small number of alumni and honorary inductees may be initiated each year. To qualify, these inductees must have been first-generation students, as defined by the University of Tennessee, when they completed their bachelor’s degree. They must remain connected in some way to the institution which is inducting them— a member of the board or alumni association; the sibling of a current student; a volunteer; a donor; etc.. They must have established themselves in their post-college lives in a manner that can be held up to first-generation students as something to aspire to and must be willing to mentor first-generation students if asked..
Fee waivers may be available to eligible students.
Chapter Officers
Students can run for several different leadership positions with the Tri-Alpha chapter. Officers serve for the academic year and are traditionally announced at each year’s induction ceremony. See below to learn more about the officer positions and responsibilities.
- To open the meetings and announce the business before those assembled in the order in which it is to be acted upon; to recognize members entitled to the floor; to state and to put to vote all questions which are regularly moved, or necessarily arise in the course of the proceedings, and to announce the result of the vote;
- To prepare the vice president to preside in their absence;
- To meet with the advisor(s) to set goals for the year and to plan induction ceremonies;
- To appoint persons and delegate tasks for the success of your chapter, then to monitor and ensure that the tasks are successfully completed;
- To assist in the recruitment of new members;
- To assist in recruitment of new officers and in the training of the new officers;
- To work with the chapter advisor(s) and officers on annual reports for the National Office.
- Preside over meetings in the absence of the president;
- Gather material for and help edit a chapter newsletter, on a schedule determined by the officers and advisor(s);
- Attend all chapter meetings and take attendance if the secretary is not available;
- Attend the chapter’s officers’ directors meetings;
- Become thoroughly acquainted with the president’s duties so you can assist the president;
- Work with chapter secretary and treasurer to ensure member roster and dues are mailed by the appropriate dates; and,
- The vice president is as responsible as the president in executing the president’s functions and duties properly.
- Send out proper notices of all called meetings, and of other meetings when necessary;
- Conduct the correspondence of the society, except as otherwise provided;
- Make an agenda for meetings, which the president/chairperson will use as a guide;
- Collate and write the annual report, working with the other officers;
- Circulate approved minutes;
- Keep a record of past and upcoming activities; and,
- Assist in the preparation of the chapter’s induction ceremony program
- Collect member dues;
- In coordination with the secretary, forward dues, the invoice, and your chapter’s Membership Roster to the National Office;
- Prepare the chapter’s budget, present it to the board for approval, and ensure that chapter activities adhere to the budget;
- Maintain accurate financial records throughout the year to be reviewed at any time by members, other officers, or administration;
- Transact business through a bank or institutional account;
- Reconcile bank statements;
- Deposit chapter funds; and,
- Understand school and chapter policies regarding student financial accounts relating to school organizations.
- Compiling a year-end scrapbook, to include chapter advertisements, newsletters, newspaper articles, event programs, ticket stubs, copies of the induction ceremony program, and photos;
- Take pictures at events, except for the induction ceremony, where the historian will be participating. In this case, the historian works with the advisor(s) to secure a photographer for the event. It all depends on the historian’s imagination, technological knowledge and budget; and,
- The historian creates and maintains the chapter’s record book, into which the historian writes all pertinent information in the book, such as the year’s officers, programs, and award winners. All information should be double-checked for accuracy. If ever the record book is lost or misplaced, the historian starts a new one.
- Applications for Tri-Alpha leadership positions are now open.
Tri-Alpha FAQs
Officers
Click here to learn more about Tri-Alpha’s inaugural executive board.
Advisory Board Members
Dr. Talisha Adams, Director, First-Generation Initiatives
Olivia Grabowski, Coordinator, First-Generation Initiatives
Contact Information
We hope that you will consider joining Tri-Alpha Honors Society! To learn more about the Tri-Alpha Honor society, visit their official website or contact us.