Lone Star College-Tomball English professor Dr. Rebecca Tate has been named one of only 30 chapter advisors to serve as a Phi Theta Kappa 2016-2017 Faculty Scholar. Phi Theta Kappa is the international honor society for two-year colleges and Dr. Tate was selected among the advisors of its nearly 3,000 chapter advisors globally.
The scholars were selected through a rigorous application process through which they demonstrated excellence in teaching and knowledge of the 2016-2017 Honors Topic, How the World Works: Global Perspectives. Dr. Tate’s current tenure as advisor of Alpha Rho Mu, the LSC-Tomball chapter of PTK, began in 2014 when she stepped back into a role she had previously occupied from 2000-2004. Under her recent leadership, Alpha Rho Mu was named the highest ranking chapter out of 1285 chapters in the world when it received the 2015 Most Distinguished Chapter, a monumental achievement.
In addition to her recognition as PTK Faculty Scholar, Dr. Tate was also recognized as the 2016-2017 Mayfield Scholar. This scholarship goes to the Faculty Scholar whose application was judged to be the most outstanding among the applicants who have not been certified to teach Phi Theta Kappa’s Leadership Development Program. Through this scholarship, Dr. Tate will be certified to teach the humanities-driven PTK Leadership Development Program which is recognized by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation as one of only eight Exemplary Leadership Development Programs in higher education.
Susan Edwards, the Dean of Academic Affairs and Honors Programs at Phi Theta Kappa headquarters, told Dr. Tate in her acceptance letter, “Your Faculty Scholar application was outstanding, and it is thrilling for us that you will not only serve as a Faculty Scholar over the next two years, but will also become a certified leadership instructor. You model excellence in all you do, and your students will be fortunate to have you as their leadership development program instructor.”
Dr. Tate recently returned from the annual Faculty Scholar Conference at Phi Theta Kappa’s Center for Excellence in Jackson, Mississippi, where the Faculty Scholars prepared to serve as discussion facilitators for the 2016 Honors Institute at Wake Forest University. During the conference, she and her fellow scholars enjoyed stimulating plenary sessions, such as on the topic how the world works through myth and reality in Euripides’ Helen, and they studied the Civil Rights Movement by visiting the Medgar Evers Home and Museum in Jackson.
“It is a great honor to be selected as a Faculty Scholar, but, more importantly, being a Faculty Scholar gives me the opportunity to work with, and learn from, a group of highly experienced, dedicated advisors, and to coach some of PTK’s best and brightest students at Honors Institute,” Dr. Tate said. “And to be selected as the Mayfield Scholar provides me another avenue to pursue my desire to mentor students to become leaders and to enrich my teaching.”
Also chosen as a 2016 Faculty Scholar was LSC-CyFair’s Dr. Blake Ellis, who teaches History.