Above is a photo the 2014 Sigma Delta Pi, an honor society focused on the Spanish language studies, initiation ceremony. The society is one of the many organizations that has a charter at the University of Nevada, Reno.

Above is a photo the 2014 Sigma Delta Pi, an honor society focused on the Spanish language studies, initiation ceremony. The society is one of the many organizations that has a charter at the University of Nevada, Reno.

By Rocío Hernández

Along with the final exams, the end of the spring semester also brings the induction ceremonies of many honor society chapters at the University of Nevada, Reno. Students who receive invitations from the prestigious organization find themselves skeptical after they are asked for membership fees.

Currently, the UNR honors program sponsors two honor societies, Phi Kappa Phi and the Golden Key International Honour Society. Other honor societies that have active established chapters at the university include: two journalism societies, Kappa Tau Alpha and Sigma Delta Chi, one communication society Lambda Pi Eta, a nursing society Sigma Theta Tau and business society Beta Gamma Sigma.

The honors program advises that students who receive invitations from any honor society turn to the Association of College Honor Societies. Organizations that are members of the ACHS have been certified to hold academic and professional value for students.

UNR junior Jordan Bauzon became a member of a multiple honor societies after encouragement from his parents to decorate his resume.

He currently serves as the vice president for the Golden Key International Honour Society and is a member of the Society of Leadership and Success and the National Residence Hall Honorary.

Bauzon said that since joining the organization, his involvement in the organizations has varied.

As a member of Golden Key, Bauzon was approached to be a part of the society’s leadership board. In that capacity, Bauzon has strategized ways to increase memberships and promote engagement among its current members. He considers it a rewarding experience because it has forced him to be responsible and stay on his feet.

Bauzon joined NRHH while he was a resident advisor at Argenta Hall and since he was inducted, he hasn’t heard much from them.

After the initiation process for the Society for Leadership and Success, Bauzon went through a leadership training day and was a part of a success networking team where he was connected to fellow university students. Together they brainstormed goals that they felt they need to accomplish to ensure for their success.

“I got a lot of it in the sense that I got thinking about my future and work with like-minded students who also seek success in the future, but there wasn’t really any follow up either when I was able to get inducted into the society officially,” Bauzon said.

On the other hand, journalism professor Todd Felts, who serves as the faculty advisor for the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, has seen students who don’t get involved in the society after getting inducted. The three-year old UNR chapter is still in a “growing mode” and Felts said that it has not been easy to get students engaged.

Felts stated that the UNR chapter works to show their members the value of being involved with their organizations.

“We go beyond just saying I’m an honor student, but showing the community what it really means to be an honor student,” Felts said. “The organization’s leadership is working hard to find ways to get and keep students involved.”

Bauzon considers some of the problems that honor societies face with membership to be generational. In his experience, many students consider the societies to be nothing more than a name on a resume after they have already been inducted.

For the students who are interested in playing a part in a honor society in the near future, Bauzon advises them to extensively research the organization that have invited them and evaluated whether it will be benefit to their academia and career.

Rocío Hernández can be reached at rhernandez@sagebrush.unr.edu and on Twitter @rociohdz19.