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Honors Society

Kappa Tau Alpha (KTA)

Since 1977, the USF Chapter of Kappa Tau Alpha has recognized academic excellence among students in The Zimmerman School. Selection for membership in the USF chapter of this national mass communications honor society is a mark of highest distinction. KTA is one of 67 members of the Association of College Honor Societies (ACHS) and is the only such society in journalism and mass communication recognized by ACHS.

Kappa Tau Alpha began in 1910 at the University of Missouri, the world’s first school of journalism, and is the nation’s seventh-oldest honor society. Today, Kappa Tau Alpha chapters are located at more than 100 colleges and universities, and the society continues to play an important role in fostering scholarship. For more information, visit KTA website at https://www.kappataualpha.net.

Eligibility

Undergraduate students are generally eligible to be selected for initiation during their last semester of coursework. 91³Ô¹ÏÍø in both the mass communications and integrated public relations and advertising majors are eligible. Undergraduate students will be invited to join KTA if they rank in the top 10% of their Zimmerman School graduation cohort counting all classes applicable to their degree.

Graduate students are eligible to be selected for initiation once they have completed 18 credit hours of graduate-level coursework. 91³Ô¹ÏÍø in either track of the mass communications master’s degree program and in the advertising master’s degree program are eligible. Graduate students will be invited to join KTA if they rank in the top 10% of all Zimmerman School graduate students who have completed 18 credit hours of graduate-level coursework. If a graduate student was initiated into KTA as an undergraduate, they are not eligible to be initiated again as a graduate student.

The lifetime initiation fee for joining KTA is $35, which includes a certificate and pin.

Initiation

Once eligible students have accepted their invitation to join KTA, they will be invited to a ceremony for their initiation. Family and friends of the initiates are also invited to attend and join Zimmerman School faculty and staff in celebrating the academic achievements of our KTA initiates. In addition to receiving their KTA certificate and pin at this ceremony, initiates will also receive cords and/or medals (if purchased) to be worn with graduation regalia.

Contact

For more information, please contact Dr. Kelli S. Burns, associate professor and Kappa Tau Alpha adviser at kburns@usf.edu.