Honor Societies

• Develop leadership and organizational skills through activities, events, and projects
• Support for your high educational standards and values
• Receive personal and public recognition of your outstanding academic achievement
• Participate in extra-curricular social activities, fundraising, and community service
• Improve your potential for transfer to competitive four-year universities and programs
• Compete for additional scholarships
• Attend local, regional, and national conferences
• Receive special notations on official OCC transcripts
• Earn distinction at graduation ceremonies and the privilege of wearing honors regalia with your cap and gown
• Make new friends and acquaintances
• Take advantage of exclusive offers (e.g., PTK: discounts on the purchase of computers and books, insurance, and exam preparation classes)

Honor society membership is NOT automatic. You must apply separately to each honor society for which you qualify and wish to join. Some societies require a one-time application; others may require renewals each semester until permanent membership is achieved. 

You must be currently enrolled in classes at OCC to be eligible for honor society membership at OCC.

Honor societies are NOT fraternities or sororities. Membership in honor societies is not limited by gender. Furthermore, honor societies focus on academic as well as social and community-service goals.

You may apply for membership in one or more honor societies. There is no limit to the number of societies that you are permitted to join, provided you meet the enrollment requirements of each.

Honor society membership generally requires the payment of dues. Currently, dues range from as little as $20 to as much as $140. Some dues are payable each semester, others are collected on a one-time basis. All are pre-paid with the application. 

Certain honor society memberships may be available to first-semester OCC students based on high school performance. OCC students with GPA's of at least 3.0 and completion of at least 12 units of OCC letter-graded coursework also qualify for some honor society memberships. Find out the specific additional requirements for membership in each of the OCC honor society chapters by following the links to the left or by opening any of the applications above.

Start by researching the existence of established statewide, national or international honor societies available to two-year colleges in your particular field of interest (we'll refer to this as a "parent" organization).

• If a potential parent organization IS found, find out about their chartering process, including the cost of starting a new chapter.
• If NO potential parent organization is found, consider starting an OCC campus-wide honor society. 
  In either instance (parent organization exists or none exists), you'll need the support of students, a prospective faculty advisor, and the appropriate academic division. Provide prospective faculty advisors with a copy of the ASOCC Club Handbook to use as a general guide for the kinds of support on behalf of the campus and district that advisors will be expected to provide.
• Draft a proposal for a chapter or society start-up and a constitution and bylaws; enlist the help of the prospective faculty advisor or honors office staff for this step; these will need to fall in line with existing policies of a parent organization, if any, and the campus; some considerations to include will be:
  • Name of organization (if new) or chapter name as assigned by the parent organization
  • Purpose/mission/goals of organization
  • Membership eligibility requirements (GPA, coursework, dues, etc.),
  • Term of membership (semester, year, permanent, temporary/ provisional, etc.),
  • Structure of governance and responsibilities of each officer/board members
  • Meeting and service requirements, if any
  • Honors recognition policies 
  • Good-standing/not-in-good standing criteria
  • Consequences of losing good standing, etc.
  • Ceremonial issues – colors, motto, induction ritual, regalia to be worn at graduation, etc.
  • Design applications and brochures, flyers, etc.
• Obtain a letter of support from the prospective advisor and dean of the academic division most closely associated with the organization
• Submit the proposal, draft bylaws, letters of support to the Dean of the Library and Learning Support and then to the Dean of Student Services (who may share it with the VP of Student Services and college President)
• If approved at the campus level, promote the new chapter/society through various means available at OCC: Place MyCoast targeted announcements, email invitations to join society, participate at Club Rush/Student Services Fairs, honors events, put up flyers, posters, ads in student newspaper, press releases, etc.)
• Establish a meeting schedule and reserve facilities. The Honors Office can help you with facility reservations.