The Department of Sociology at FSU sponsors the Alpha of Florida chapter of Alpha Kappa Delta Honors society. This organization is comprised of undergraduate and graduate students and offers opportunities for participating in leadership positions and allows sociology majors to engage with a network of students who share your professional interests.
1) AKD’S Mission:
AKD seeks to acknowledge and promote excellence in scholarship in the study of sociology, the research of social problems, and such other social and intellectual activities as will lead to improvement in the human condition.
2) Benefits of Alpha Kappa Delta. AKD provides a variety of services to its members:
- Every new initiate receives a certificate of membership, membership card, and a membership activation form.
- Members who submit completed activation forms receive a free one-year subscription to Sociological Inquiry, the official journal of AKD.
- Members have access to the AKD Newsletter, election materials, and other services on our website.
- AKD sponsors student paper contests for members with cash prizes and travel money to participate in the American Sociological Association Honors Program.
- AKD provides honoraria for initiation speakers, funds student travel to regional sociological meetings, and funds research symposia.
- AKD sponsors a Distinguished Lecture series at the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, and contributes annually to the ASA Minority Scholarship Fund.
- Members may purchase honor cords for graduation ceremonies, AKD pins, and other memorabilia.
- AKD Chapters are important in the academic, professional, and social lives of student and faculty members. They provide opportunities for initiating and sharing activities in keeping with the purposes of the Society.
- AKD members who become Civil Service employees meet one of the requirements for entrance at the GS-7 level (an increase in pay-grade) if they list AKD membership on their applications (providing they enter at the GS-5 level).
- Great fellowship with motivated, engaging, and sociologically-minded students at FSU.
3) Eligibility:
Undergraduate Students:
- Must be an officially declared sociology major or demonstrate a serious interest in sociology within an official program of the host institution.
- Must be at least a junior (third year) by standards of the host institution.
- Shall rank in the top 35% of their class in general scholarship. If class rank is not readily available to a chapter representative, in lieu of class rank, students shall have accumulated the equivalent of an overall grade point average of at least 3.3 by a four point scale where: A=4, B=3, C=2, D=1, F=0.
- Must have maintained the equivalent of a 3.0 GPA in sociology courses taken at the host institution prior to initiation.
- Must have completed at least four regular courses in sociology prior to initiation at the host institution (exclusive of extension or courses graded pass/fail).
Graduate Students:
- For students classified as graduate students (those officially admitted to graduate study in sociology at the host institution), the following specific requirements must have been met prior to the time of initiation: completion of one half year of graduate study in sociology (i.e., one semester or two quarters or the equivalent academic unit) with a graduate GPA of B or better and continued matriculation in a program of study leading toward a graduate degree in sociology at the host institution.
4) Dues:
- International: $50 lifetime – if paid as an undergraduate and now wish to be a grad student member, can fill out a membership renewal form on AKD’s website.
- Chapter: $25 (subject to change)
Local Alpha of Florida Chapter:
Our Alpha of Florida chapter of AKD also has a companion Recognized Student Organization (RSO) at FSU and if one is a member of AKD they will also be a member of the RSO. Student sociology majors who meet the requirements for AKD but have not had 4 or more sociology courses at FSU may join the RSO while awaiting eligibility for AKD.
For information regarding AKD membership and FSU chapter activities, contact:
AKD Faculty Representative of Alpha of Florida Chapter, Dr. John Reynolds jrreynolds@fsu.edu or Administrator of Alpha of Florida Chapter, Kimberly McClellan kmcclellan@fsu.edu.
Visit AKD webpage for further and detailed information on purpose, history, bylaws, requirements, benefits, publication, and more
http://alphakappadelta.org/