The National Society of Collegiate Scholars (NSCS) awarded Cal Poly’s chapter the Silver Star Award at a conference in Puerto Rico last June.
The Silver Star Award, which is the third highest status that can be given to an NSCS chapter, is awarded to NSCS chapters that demonstrate high on-campus success through community service acts, recruitment and involvement.
“It’s a pretty high achievement,” NSCS treasurer and kinesiology senior Julie Schaffer said. “Definitely less than half of the schools nationwide got that award.”
NSCS is an honor society made up of more than 750,000 members that recognizes top first and second year students who are in the top 20 percent of their class, according to its website. Each year, it sends out exclusive invitations to first and second year students on over 270 college campuses throughout the United States and Puerto Rico.
The Cal Poly chapter of NSCS was founded in 2000.
“It builds confidence in the students who are invited to be part of the honor society,” NSCS adviser and business administration professor Sharon Dobson said.
Throughout the year, the chapter did outreach in the community, as well as on-campus membership recruitment with the hopes of earning an award from the national organization.
Members volunteered at places such as the Boys and Girls Club, where they organized the facility to make it more attractive to the youth who used it. They also helped produce a ballroom dancing event at The Villages retirement home in San Luis Obispo, which was open to all residents of the home.
“It was rewarding to see the people enjoy themselves even if they couldn’t dance,” Schaffer said. “They still enjoyed the music and seeing people our age, because they don’t normally get to do that.”
The chapter also volunteered at food banks, service days, the Wildflower triathlon and at a local elementary school.
“Besides going to class and working jobs, these are students who put out a conscious effort to help their community,” Dobson said.
As part of the process of earning the Silver Star Award, Cal Poly’s chapter kept track of all their community service throughout the year. It then sent that data to the national organization, which chose the schools that received awards.
The awards, which include bronze, silver, gold and platinum, are awarded to schools based on the different degrees of member participation and community service required for each one.
Previously, Cal Poly was a recipient of the gold award. Dobson said she is not disappointed about receiving the lower silver award last year.
“With 300 organizations, just being recognized for us is a big deal,” she said.
Earning the Silver Star Award was the result of the chapter’s work throughout the year, said interim chapter president and business administration junior Trent Diamantine. He said the chapter tried to spread the NSCS principles throughout San Luis Obispo and the award was given because of that.
“It was a real honor to be recognized with the Silver Star award,” he said. “We tried to do as much as we could in the NSCS name, and the fact we got recognized was a real honor.”
Dobson said the members in the chapter were proud of themselves for earning the award, and she too was proud of those in the chapter that participated in community outreach and engaging members on campus.
“When Lindsey (Sutton) called me, who was treasurer at the time, I could hear in her voice that she was ecstatic,” Dobson said. “I felt proud being their adviser when I got the official letter from the national society.”
Part of the award includes a $100 scholarship that goes to the Cal Poly chapter. The $100 is intended to be used for funding of programs and events for the upcoming school year. The award also gives all members of Cal Poly NSCS a five percent discount at the national NSCS store.
The Cal Poly chapter is now entering its 11th year as an affiliated branch of NSCS. Each fall, new members are inducted into the society at a ceremony in the San Luis Obispo city library. The cost of membership is $75.