Phi Theta Kappa Plans Ambitious Future at HVCC

By Nolan Cleary, Managing Editor

A club with one of the highest standards on campus for a student to join, Phi Theta Kappa Honors Society (PTK) is a club that attempts to introduce programs and assignments for students in two-year colleges all over the country, including at Hudson Valley Community College.

Each chapter of PTK throughout the country attempts to gain more stars based on quality. Lamyaa Hassib is a chemistry professor at Hudson Valley Community College, and the Advisor for the PTK chapter at HVCC. Hassib says that getting HVCC’s PTK chapter to four stars is one of the club’s top priorities this semester. 

“Our goal is to obtain a four star status, and I’m very happy to report that based on the work that our chapter is doing, we are going to attain that four star status.” Hassib said. 

Hassib says the club has achieved those goals through volunteering at the food bank, among other initiatives. One big project the PTK Club helped work on was raising awareness for the MyHVCC app at Hudson Valley. 

Pravin Persaud is the Chapter President for PTK Club at Hudson Valley Community College. He says that word of mouth, accessibility, and strong communication lead to a successful marketing campaign for the app. 

“In terms of promotion, we’re responsible for promoting the app. We put up flyers and distributed cards. We also reached out to students and had meaningful conversations about the app.” Persaud said. 

With the COVID-19 pandemic however, communication has become tougher, connection and communication largely lost. Hassib says that PTK’s assignments help bring the club together. 

“We do some initiatives like volunteering at the food bank, and there we get to see each other in person.” Hassib said. She also admitted that interaction has changed because of the pandemic. 

COVID-19 has also led to lower enrollment at HVCC, as well as less recruitment for multiple clubs as well. Vice President of Public Relations Madison Austin says she’s gotten the word out about the club through online promotion. 

“We’ve definitely seen a bit of growth on our Instagram page in the last couple months.” Austin said. “We’ve definitely seen more interest, it seems like, with it being online.”

One of PTK’s goals is to prepare its members for the real world, including by setting new courses that prepare students for potential jobs in the future.

“There are four courses you can take as a PTK member: there’s competitive, research, transfer and employment.” Austin said.  “They each have sort of a different goal.” Austin says the goals are generally aimed toward transfer, but all courses aim to present students with real world skills. 

“Whether it’s taking a course that’s through the website, or working on an initiative that’s a part of your chapter or working on your initiative that’s through the region, you know you start to learn how to connect with others.” Hassib said. 

Ultimately however, PTK says their number one purpose is giving to the community. “One of the things we set as a goal was to give back to the community.” Hassib said.