Phi Beta Kappa Alpha of Vermont Graduate Information

Graduate Membership Information

In May 1998, in connection with the sesquicentennial of the Alpha of Vermont, the UVM chapter of Phi Beta Kappa awarded Phi Beta Kappa Awards to seven students who were recipients of advanced degrees. These awards were subsequently redefined as GRADUATE MEMBERSHIPS, by constitutional amendment passed by the chapter in May 1999. Phi Beta Kappa at UVM will henceforth be eager to invite into its membership candidates for advanced degrees in the University.

Election procedures for graduate students differ in some respects from those for undergraduate members in course, in that the chapter's membership committee must rely upon nominations from persons who are best acquainted with the academic accomplishments of the students to be considered.

Nomination and election to Phi Beta Kappa are not intended merely to recognize excellence in the particular discipline of the graduate student's course of study. Phi Beta Kappa differs from the plethora of other honor societies (1) in its age, and (2), more importantly, in its insistence upon excellence in a range of liberal studies rather than closely focused professional training. Phi Beta Kappa at UVM has for 150 years recognized excellence of undergraduate scholars. The specific goal for our chapter at this point is to embrace graduate members of our university family whose educational ideals and achievement are consistent with that long accorded to undergraduates.

By way of example, we have in mind the following:

Persons whose undergraduate work was done at institutions which do not shelter chapters of Phi Beta Kappa and therefore were not eligible for election as undergraduates.
Persons who may have faltered academically in some way as undergraduates and were thus excluded by strict parameters applied (here or elsewhere) in an undergraduate selection process.

Nominees to be considered for election in May 2005 MUST:

Receive master's or doctoral degree in course at UVM in May 2001 (or have received the same in 2004-2005 academic year).
Have completed their graduate course work and examinations (including any requisite thesis or dissertation) with clear distinction.
Show a comprehensive academic record (both undergraduate and graduate) of high scholastic standing including breadth and depth in the range of liberal studies which constitutes a minimum for consideration in the selection process from which UVM undergraduates are chosen.
Undergraduate Membership Information

Brief nomination dossiers should include the following items:

Letter of nomination from an appropriate graduate official within the unit and/or from a faculty mentor (such nominators need not themselves be members of Phi Beta Kappa).
Documentation in support of the student's full academic record.

Deadline For consideration by the chapter's membership committee, we should like to receive these materials no later than 15 April 2005.

Send to:

Professor Robert Rodgers, Phi Beta Kappa Membership Chair,

c/o Classics Department UVM, 481 Main Street, Burlington, VT 05405-0218
e-mail: rrodgers@zoo.uvm.edu

COST: Students invited to membership may be asked to pay a one-time initiation fee of $50, which is forwarded to the national Phi Beta Kappa Society, and provides the member with lifetime privileges associated with membership (the right to wear a PBK key, for instance, and subscription to the quarterly Key Reporter which contains an excellent section of intellectually provocative reviews of books).

INITIATION: Phi Beta Kappa makes one last requirement of ALL its new members. It is not enough to accept the invitation and pay one's fee. Personal participation in a formal initiation is a strict requirement (but one which can be accommodated in a variety of ways).