APSU history honor society wins fifth "Best Chapter of the Year" award
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. 鈥 Earlier this month, Dr. Minoa Uffelman was feeling a bit nervous. The Austin Peay State University associate professor of history was eager to find out if APSU鈥檚 Phi Alpha Theta (PAT) History Honor Society had won 鈥淏est Chapter of the Year鈥 for an unprecedented fifth year in a row.
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. 鈥 Earlier this month, Dr. Minoa Uffelman was feeling a bit nervous. The Austin Peay State University associate professor of history was eager to find out if APSU鈥檚 Phi Alpha Theta (PAT) History Honor Society had won 鈥淏est Chapter of the Year鈥 for an unprecedented fifth year in a row.
The National PAT headquarters usually sent her a congratulatory letter in August, but the month passed without any notification.
鈥淚 was checking my mailbox every day,鈥 Uffelman, the chapter鈥檚 advisor, said. 鈥淚 was beginning to get very nervous.鈥
But on the morning of Sept. 5, she checked her mail again and discovered a familiar looking letter waiting for her. The University鈥檚 PAT chapter had in fact won 鈥淏est Chapter of the Year鈥 for 2013.
鈥淚鈥檓 thrilled to have been at the helm of this organization and have its excellence recognized five times,鈥 Uffelman said. 鈥淲e have not slacked off in any way.鈥
Dr. John W. Steinberg, the new chair of the APSU Department of History and Philosophy, was equally impressed by the club鈥檚 award. He previously served as a PAT faculty advisor for 10 years at Georgia Southern University.
鈥淚 came out of a department that had an active chapter, but we were not nearly as active as this chapter,鈥 he said. 鈥淲e did, maybe, a quarter of the activities of this chapter.鈥
Dr. David Rands, APSU assistant professor of history, took over advising duties for the club last spring when Uffelman was awarded a Faculty Professional Development Assignment for that semester. He knew he had some large shoes to fill.
鈥淭here was a fair amount of pressure there, but the benefit is, I had a lot of support from the rest of the department,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 think there is a fairly high standard for these students, and it鈥檚 a testament to how everyone in the department supports it that we鈥檙e able to keep winning this award.鈥
The award recognized another exemplary year for the club, which hosted or attended more than 50 events in the fall and spring semesters, including academic conferences and volunteer opportunities. In May, the group also published the third volume of Theta-Delta, a scholarly journal featuring academic papers by APSU students who had presented at conferences in recent years. Patrick Toth, incoming PAT chapter president, plans to build on that success in order to win a sixth award next year.
鈥淲e have a lot of work to do,鈥 he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e doing many more new things this year. We鈥檙e involved in other conferences. And we鈥檙e going to stay busy. If we can stay busy, we can win six in a row. We are passionate about history and we are passionate about what the honor society is and does.鈥
The PAT chapter received a $250 check for winning the award. Each year, the club uses that money to purchase books for the APSU Woodward Library. In the last five years, the organization has donated $1,250 to the library for new books.
Earlier this week, Uffelman received another bit of good news. The National PAT organization awarded the APSU chapter the Nels A. Cleven Award. Chapters that are awarded 鈥淏est Chapter鈥 five times receive this distinguished honor. Cleven began Phi Alpha Theta in 1921 at the University of Arkansas.
鈥淭his is a major accomplishment and we are very proud to have achieved the honor,鈥 Uffelman said.
For more information on the APSU PAT chapter, contact Uffelman at uffelmanm@apsu.edu.
Photo cutline: APSU President Tim Hall (center) joins members of APSU鈥檚 Phi Alpha Theta History Honor Society in celebrating the club鈥檚 fifth 鈥淏est Chapter of the Year鈥 award. (Photo by Beth Liggett/APSU).