Membership Requirements | texastechuniversity

Spanías Didagéi Proágomen

Membership Requirements

There shall be three classes of membership: active, alumnus, and honorary.

Active Membership.
Active membership shall be limited to college students who have demonstrated high scholarship in general and excellence in the academic study of Spanish. Specifically, they must meet the following requirements:

1. Each must have completed three years of study of college-level Spanish (eighteen semester credit hours) or the equivalent thereof, including at least three semester hours of a course in Hispanic literature or Hispanic culture and civilization at the junior (third-year) level. A student may be admitted to active membership while still enrolled in the second junior-level course if all other requirements have been met and if the instructor of the course certifies that the student's work is of "B" or "A" quality.
2. The candidate for active membership must have a minimal grade point average of 3.0 on a 4.0 point scale in all Spanish courses taken and a cumulative GPA of at least 3.2.
3. Graduate students who have been unconditionally admitted to a degree-granting program may be elected to membership upon completion of two graduate courses in Spanish with an average which, if continued, will make them eligible for a graduate degree.
4. Sigma Delta Pi does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin, sex, age, or disability.

Alumnus Membership.
This category shall be composed solely of active members who have been graduated or for other reasons have left college. If alumnus members re-enroll either as undergraduate or as graduate students they shall revert to active membership. Alumnus members are welcome at all chapter meetings, but they shall not have the right to vote on matters brought before the chapter nor can they hold office in the chapter.

Honorary Membership.
Persons who are obviously interested in, and supportive of, things Hispanic may be elected to this category of membership. Members of the college Spanish teaching staff and other faculty members or college administrative officials notably devoted to the goals and ideals of Sigma Delta Pi and who have supported the work of the chapter are generally initiated as honorary members. Outstanding high-school or community-college teachers of Spanish may be granted honorary membership. This class is not open to students, graduate or undergraduate. For honorary and all other types of members, the national initiation fee must be paid and the membership certificate and insignia presented during the initiation ceremony.

Election to Membership.
Once a chapter is installed and has held its first initiation ceremony, the responsibility for the election of candidates to all categories of membership is assumed by the local chapter. Advisers and chapter officers must exercise extreme care in selecting candidates for membership, and they must make sure that candidates meet fully all requirements. Doubtful cases shall be referred to a regional or national officer.

Initiation Ceremony.
A neophyte must be initiated personally, not by proxy, and shall be admitted only if he/she arrives in time for the beginning of the ceremony. The initiation ceremony shall be private but not secret. Other than members and initiates, a few special guests such as spouses and parents of neophytes as well as administrative officers of the college or university may be invited to witness the ceremony with the approval of the Adviser and chapter officers.

Insignia and Membership Certificates.
The insignia shall be the same for all kinds of membership, but the certificates shall indicate the type of membership: "activo(a) or honorario(a)".

Membership Benefits

Association with the only honor society devoted exclusively to students of Spanish in four-year colleges and universities, the largest foreign-language honor society in existence (over 150,000 members) and one of the elite as attested by its membership in the Association of College Honor Societies, the nation's only certifying agency for college and university honor societies.

• Exclusive access to Sigma Delta Pi's growing scholarship program comprising annual undergraduate awards (approximately 30) for summer study in Spain, Mexico and Ecuador (locations subject to change) and research grants for graduate students.

• Active and ambitious student members may apply as a chapter for Chapter Project Grants to help finance their group's activities that complement the mission of Sigma Delta Pi.

• Members are eligible to apply for $500 merit-based scholarships from the Washington Internship Institute (WII) for the ACHS/WII Internship Program.

• Bolstered credentials for any professional field, including business. For example, see the Qualifications Standards for General Schedule Positions at the website of the United States Office of Personnel Management.

• Eligibility for the Gabriela Mistral Award, a signal honor available to one outstanding member per chapter annually.

• Leadership opportunities through election to chapter offices and the direction of various chapter projects (see handbook for ideas) that may lead to such national distinctions as the Honor Chapter award, the Premio Ignacio y Sophie Galbis and the Premio Frida Kahlo.

• An enhanced résumé afforded by serving as an active chapter officer: organizational leadership and initiative are attractive qualities to prospective employers.

• Supportive network of regional and national officers to provide guidance for chapter activities and Society-related issues.

• Possibilities to recognize outstanding faculty of Hispanic Studies or members of one's local community who have made exceptional efforts in furthering Sigma Delta Pi's mission.

• Closer association with students of similar interests and out-of-class interaction with members of faculty.

• Opportunities to participate in Sigma Delta Pi's annual informative session, held in conjunction with the Kentucky Foreign Language Conference, and the triennial convention, held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the AATSP.