Chapters May Not Add Service/Attendance Requirements for Membership
9/19/2005
Membership in Psi Chi is open to those who are making the study of psychology one of their major interests and who are students or faculty members in an institution where a chapter is located (if your school does not have a Psi Chi chapter, have you considered starting a chapter?). Both undergraduate and graduate students who have registered for major or minor standing in psychology or for a program psychological in nature may be eligible for membership if other requirements are fulfilled.
Eligibility for undergraduates includes:
- Completion of 3 semesters or 5 quarters of the college course
- Completion of 9 semester hours or 14 quarter hours of psychology courses
- Ranking in the top 35% of their class in general scholarship
- Have a minimum GPA of 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale) in both psychology classes and in cumulative grades
Eligibility for graduate students includes:
- Minimum overall cumulative average of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale in all graduate courses
Students and faculty are elected to membership by the chapter at the institution, according to the provisions of Article III of the national Psi Chi Constitution. Any chapter, at its discretion, may establish higher academic standards for membership eligibility (and should write them into chapter bylaws), but may NOT require service or attendance standards for eligibility. Membership in Psi Chi is open to qualified candidates of any age, sex, sexual orientation, race, handicap or disability, color, religion, and national and ethnic origin.
Psi Chi is an honor society based only on scholarship, with no leadership or service requirements in our constitution. Psi Chi is unlike other general honor societies such as Mortar Board, Omicron Delta Kappa, and Golden Key which do require service and leadership in their membership requirements. Attendance at meetings, pledge journals, and service projects cannot be requirements for membership. The chapter must remember that membership is based solely on GPA. Once a student becomes eligible for Psi Chi by having a GPA in the upper 35% of the class and has completed the 9 psychology hours and 3 semesters, that member is eligible for induction with no further "service" requirements.