ACHS State of the Association

1. 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

2. 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 ACHS Ends …

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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) ?

9. Statistics from annual reports … • Classification • 25% General • 75% Specialized • Revenue • 12% 1 million or more • 27% 250-750 thousand • 61% <250 thousand

10. Statistics … • Chapters • Conferences • 0-99 – 35% - 54% - Annual • 100-199 – 22% - 24% - Biennial • 200-399 – 26% - 22% - Other • 400-699 – 13% • 700-1099 – 4%

11. Statistics … Membership Trends • Significant increase 6% • Increase 43% • Flat 38% • Decrease 11% • Significant decrease 2% Total New Members 2005-06 367,000

12. 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%

13. 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%

14. 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?

15. Statistics … 2005-06 Scholarship Expenditures $2,500,000

16. 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.)

17. 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

18. 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

19. 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?

20. 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.