ACHS State of the Association
Mission
To build a visibly cohesive
community of national and
international honor societies,
individually and collaboratively
exhibiting excellence in
scholarship, service, programs,
and governance
ACHS Ends …
• The association acts as the
coordinating agency for
collegiate honor societies;
• Provides facilities for
consideration of matters of
mutual interest;
• Defines types of honor
societies;
• Cooperates with college and
university faculties and
administrative officers in
developing & maintaining high
standards and useful
functions;
• Collects, publishes, and
distributes information and
data
Benefits of ACHS Membership …
• Nation’s only certifying agency for collegiate honor
societies
• Sets standards for organizational excellence and
scholastic eligibility – assures that interests of individual
members are advanced
• Government employment GS7 level merit
• Internship scholarships available through Washington
Internship Institute, The Fund for American Studies, and
the Washington Center of Internships and Academic
Seminars
• Partnerships with professional associations
– Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher
Education (CAS)
– National Association of Student Personnel
Administrators (NASPA)
– The Center for Academic Integrity
– The Center for Ethics
– The National Collegiate Honors Council
– The College Parents of America
• ACHS Website promotes each society as well as article on “How to
Judge the Credibility of an Honor Society.”
• Joint national project “A Matter of Ethics”
• Annual Meeting for mutually beneficial communication, sharing of
best practices of each organization, answering operational
questions, performing the governance of ACHS, and for challenging
each other to be the standard bearer and “Do Honor”
• Collect a body of knowledge that will be of value to honors
community
Accomplishments this year …
• Long Range Planning all inclusive and incorporating financial
planning to implement goals
• Web site template on line for use
• Scholarship Search Engine in place
• Management Best practices shared
• Links with affiliated organization and all societies on Web site
• Standards of Legitimacy on Web site
• Created a community for ready response to operational questions
• Provide resources for use with chapters – A Matter of Ethics – suggested
bylaws needed for suspending chapter officers
• Streamlined annual report on line and increased use of Web site for
appropriate purposes
• Special resources regarding chapter advisors
• Representation at significant professional meetings and associations
• Annual meeting directly addressing stated needs of member societies
Issues facing ACHS …
• Are honor societies relevant?
• How to find and keep campus advisors?
• Changes in institutions and lives of student (lack of time, costs,
benefits received)
• How to take action on values – ethics?
• How to improve the administration of societies (technology,
marketing, services, financial concerns, membership growth) ?
Statistics from annual reports …
• Classification
– 25% General
– 75% Specialized
• Revenue
– 12% 1 million or more
– 27% 250-750 thousand
– 61% <250 thousand
Statistics …
• Chapters
– 0-99 – 35%
– 100-199 – 22%
– 200-399 – 26%
– 400-699 – 13%
– 700-1099 – 4%
• Conferences
- 54% - Annual
- 24% - Biennial
- 22% - Other
Statistics … Membership Trends
– Significant increase
– Increase
– Flat
– Decrease
– Significant decrease
6%
43%
38%
11%
2%
Total New Members 2005-06
367,000
Statistics … Member Benefits
• Job Board/Resume Listing: 16%
• Internship/Career Information: 44%
• Leadership Training: 64%
• Service: Chapter - 78%
• Service: National – 36%
• Discounted Commercial Products: 15%
Statistics … Scholarships
• 0-10% - 19 societies
• 15-25% - 21 societies
• 30-40% - 8 societies
• 45-70% - 4 societies
• 26% of the societies budget 5%
• 26% of the societies budget 15%
Statistics … Scholarships
• Average budget for 1+ million budgets - 10%
• Average budget for $250-750M budgets – 20%
• Average budget for <$250M budgets – 20%
Is there a minimum goal here?
Or a benchmark goal?
Statistics …
2005-06
Scholarship Expenditures
$2,500,000
Planning for the future
• What motivates our prospective members?
Fame and Fortune
81% say most 1st or 2nd most important goal is getting rich
• Average budget for $250-750M budgets – 20%
51% say it is becoming famous
74.5% want to be very well off financially
(In 1967 only 41.9% thought that important and
their top goal was to develop a meaningful philosophy of
life.)
Future …
• What are the concerns of our prospective
members:
1. 30% cited financial concerns
2.
18% said college and education
3.
16% claimed careers and jobs
Future …
• What are the views of 18-29 year olds who will lead us into the
future?
-54% use Facebook or MySpace for social interaction
-32% attend church once a week
(20% have no religious affiliation)
-48% Democrates - 35% Republicans
-36% have a tattoo
-30% have body piercing other than
ear lobe
-25% have dyed their hair a non-traditional
color
-84% are content with their lives and optimistic about
the future
Where does ACHS need to go?
• Realizing the top goal of prospective members is fame or
distinction – honor society membership should be very
appealing!
• Knowing that becoming rich is a top priority – can honor
society membership show a correlation to future
financial success?
• What about the traditions and standards each society
values – can these translate to current students in a
meaningful way?
Long Range Plan
• Each of the four small break out groups
offers an opportunity for Council members
to be part of the future plans.
• Your ideas will be recorded and reported
back before the end of this annual
meeting and will be a focus for the next
Board.