When Meredith McNaughton, a second-year communication studies student, was invited to join the Alpha Lambda Delta honor society, she wasn’t sure what the purpose of an honor society was.
Now president of Alpha Lambda Delta, McNaughton says she was motivated to apply for a leadership position at the induction ceremony by Brian Carlisle, associate dean of students and the advisor for the UCLA chapters of Alpha Lambda Delta and Phi Eta Sigma.
“It’s taught me a lot about leadership, and it’s been a learning experience,” McNaughton said. “These students are the top of the top, and that motivates me to do well, too.”
Honor societies on campus invite students to be members based on their GPAs and offer a place to socialize for those who keep academic excellence at the top of their priority lists.
The main purpose of honor societies on campus is to recognize students for outstanding academic accomplishments, Carlisle said. Each honor society focuses on helping a specific group of students to enrich their college experience. Alpha Lambda Delta and Phi Eta Sigma specifically invite first- and second-year students, while Golden Key and Mortar Board focus on students of junior standing or higher.
UCLA also has department-specific honor societies that encourage academic excellence in a particular field of study. There are 16 such organizations at UCLA recognized by the Association of College Honor Societies.
Carlisle said honor societies give students the chance to have much closer contact with faculty and administration than the average student.
“If you take on leadership roles within (a honor society), you get to hang out with a dean,” said Carlisle. “How often do you get to sit and have a conversation with a dean on a weekly basis?”
Carlisle says this relationship with the honor society students allows him to write more meaningful letters of recommendation for them.
Once members are inducted into the society, there are no requirements for them to complete, said McNaughton. She acknowledged that this results in some members who pay their induction fee and do not show up to any events.
“We’re OK with that,” she said. “We use the induction fees to help fund scholarships.”
But McNaughton said that honor societies are far from groups that “don’t do anything. … There’s a misconception that in honor societies you just pay a fee and it’s just a resume filler. But there are actually many things you can participate in,” McNaughton said.
Opportunities for members to do community service, socialize and take leadership positions allow members to “get (their) money’s worth, if (they) show up,” McNaughton said.
Despite similarities to activities offered by groups such as Greek organizations and service clubs, honor societies have a minimum GPA requirement members must meet in order to qualify to join, said McNaughton.
Nahuel Costilla, co-vice president of Golden Key, also listed activities and benefits that members of Golden Key and other honor societies have access to. Some of these include study abroad programs, free membership on the job listing Web site Vault, up to $400,000 in scholarships, yearly conferences throughout the U.S. and even a Facebook-esque site designed exclusively for the approximate 1.7 million Golden Key members worldwide.
Costilla says that nonparticipatory members in honor societies are part of a larger “common problem” that affects all organizations. “These members are hurting themselves. You pay your membership fees but don’t benefit. You plant your seed but don’t harvest your crop, so to speak,” Costilla said.
Associate Dean of Students Joan Nelson, who advises Golden Key, said honor societies in general have similar goals of leadership development as well as developing students as a whole and helping them realize their gifts.
Both Nelson and Carlisle caution parents and students against joining so-called honor society “mills,” which are often scams. One major warning sign is when applicants are able to self-report their GPAs; honor societies at UCLA use registrar-approved lists to determine which students are eligible to join.
Students can also check to see if the honor societies in question are accredited by the Association of College Honor Societies.
In the end, students may be joining honor societies to find another home on campus.
“UCLA’s a really big place, and being in an honor society helps to narrow it down,” McNaughton said.