Tri-Alpha Honor Society

Joining Tri-Alpha is free for a lifetime membership. Why should you consider joining?

Benefits

Outward recognition of personal accomplishment and an incentive for continued high scholarship.
The opportunity to meet other first-generation scholars from all academic disciplines on your campus and to join them in promoting academic excellence and creating a supportive environment for first-generation college students.
Identifies you to employers, professionals, and graduate schools as a person of superior academic ability and commitment.
Opportunity to pay it forward and mentor younger first-generation students.
Opportunity to receive mentoring from more senior first-generation students, as well as faculty, staff, and alumni who were first-generation students.
Local chapter leadership opportunities.

Eligibility Requirements
Undergraduate Students	Graduate Students
First-generation college student, whose neither parent or guardian completed a four-year college degree, and Current degree candidate, and Completed a minimum of 30 credit semester hours toward a bachelor’s degree. Transfer students will have to have completed at least one semester at K-State, and Has a cumulative GPA of 3.2/4.0 in all coursework.	First-generation student, whose neither parent or guardian completed a four-year college degree. Completed at least one term of study (9 or more graduate credits) in a graduate program. Have at minimum cumulative GPA of 3.5/4.0.

Membership

Students who qualify will receive an invitation to join our K-State chapter of Tri-Alpha with intructions to respond by the deadline and attend the annual induction ceremony.

Faculty and staff may be inducted as well. To qualify, they must have met the first-generation student definition listed above at the time they completed their bachelor’s degree., and must be willing to serve as mentors to first-generation students.

A small number of first-generation alumni and honorary inductees will be initiated each year. When inducted, members will receive a certificate of initiation and a pin. Honor cords for graduating seniors and faculty/staff/alumin are available.

Tri-Alpha Officers' Roles

President

The president is the presiding officer at chapter meetings of Alpha Alpha Alpha. As your chapter’s president, you will be planning, organizing, and carrying out responsibilities associated with your role as the chapter’s chief executive officer. Most members will help you succeed if the tasks and expectations are clearly defined, reasonable, and the members share appropriate interest and skill. Remember, planning and preparation count, and enthusiasm is contagious. The duties are generally as follows: 

To open the meeting at the time scheduled by taking the chair and calling the members to order; to 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 your 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.

Vice President

The role of vice president is an important one. Sometimes it happens that the president is prevented from carrying out the duties of his/her office for various reasons. A well organized and properly operating chapter should have a properly trained vice president who is prepared to administer the chapter in the absence of the president. The main duty of the vice president is to assist the president and other chapter officers in completing their duties. It is also the vice president’s job to effectively contribute to the chapter’s operations. Responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following:

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; 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.
You, as vice president, are as responsible as the president in executing the president’s functions and duties properly.

Secretary

The secretary is the recording officer of the chapter and custodian of records except those which are specifically assigned to the treasurer or historian.  The secretary and historian should work closely together to ensure that all records are kept and that both are aware of what the other has maintained. These records are open, however, to inspection by any member at reasonable times, 

In addition to keeping the records of the society and the minutes of the meetings, it is the duty of the secretary to keep a register, or roll, of the members and to call the roll when required; to notify officers of their appointment.  The secretary should also keep one book in which the by-laws, rules of order, and standing rules should all be written, leaving every other page blank; and whenever an amendment is made to any of them, in addition to being recorded in the minutes it should be immediately entered on the page opposite to the article amended  Duties include, but are not limited to, the following:

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
Assist in the preparation of the chapter’s induction ceremony program

Treasurer

The treasurer is in control of the chapter’s money, its collection, and disbursement. The treasurer is responsible for keeping accurate books that will enable him/her to give a full financial report whenever requested. The treasurer should do his/her best to see that everything is done meticulously so that there are no doubts about his/her integrity. It should be noted that the treasurer’s records always should be open to inspection by the chapter’s officers or advisor(s).  Responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following: 

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. 
Inform the chapter of its financial strengths and weaknesses. 
Reconcile bank statements. 
Bill members for unpaid dues. 
Deposit chapter funds. 
Understand school and chapter policies regarding student financial accounts relating to school organizations.

Historian

The historian is the steward of the chapter’s history.  The historian provides support for the secretary in keeping records of the chapter. Responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following:

Compiling a year-end scrapbook, to include chapter advertisements, newsletters, newspaper articles, event programs, ticket stubs, copies of the induction ceremony program, and photos. The scrapbook can be a simple collection of material or a professional-level bound book with high-quality scans.
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.
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.

History

Alpha Alpha Alpha, or Tri-Alpha, was founded March 24, 2018 at Moravian College (now Moravian University) in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Over 100 members of the Alpha Chapter were initiated that day, including undergraduate students, faculty, staff, alumni, and honorary members. Following the successful induction, the College took steps to incorporate Alpha Alpha Alpha so that chapters could be started on other campuses across the country. Tri-Alpha exists as a not-for-profit (501(c)3) organization, for the purposes of supporting the activities of the honors society.

Kansas State University started a chapter in the Fall of 2021.