Golden Key International
What is an Honour Society?
Honour societies have been functioning for more than 100 years at universities in the United States and for more than a decade in Australia. Their roles include providing academic recognition to high achieving students and establishing professional and social contacts for these students in a network of universities. They also bring together students from diverse faculties and degree programs within each university, and reinforce students interaction with university staff.
What is the Golden Key International Honour Society?
Golden Key is an international academic honours organisation dedicated to excellence. The Society is interdisciplinary and unites the talents of the brightest undergraduate and honours students in Australia and around the world. Outstanding academic staff and university administrators, selected by students to receive honorary membership, support the student members through active participation in Golden Key Chapter activities.
What are the purposes of Golden Key?
Golden Key provides recognition, career assistance, scholarships and networking. The purposes of the Society are to recognise and encourage scholastic achievement in all undergraduate fields of study, to unite with academic staff and administrators in developing and maintaining high standards of education, to provide economic assistance to outstanding members by means of annual scholarships, to provide career employment opportunities to members and to promote scholastic achievement and altruistic conduct through community service programs.
Who qualifies for membership in Golden Key?
Students qualify on the basis of objective academic criteria. The top 15 percent of bachelors degree students enrolled at a university may be eligible for membership (which is by invitation only) after completing at least one year of study. Part-time as well as full-time students may qualify. The Society's constitution strictly prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, colour, sex, religion, national origin, handicap, age, sexual orientation and financial or social status.
Where did Golden Key start and where is it going?
The Golden Key International Honour Society was founded at Georgia State University on 29th November 1977 by a group of highly motivated undergraduate students.
Since its foundation, Golden Key has established itself as a positive force in higher eductation. The Society has developed more than 225 active Chapters throughout the United States, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands (and Australia! - editor's note), recognised more than 600,000 lifetime members and 7,000 honorary members and has awarded more than $1,300,000 in scholarships.
The Society's international development begin in 1993 when Golden Key established Chapters ar four Australian universities - namely Macquarie University, the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, the University of Sydney and the University of Queensland. The response from students and university staff has been tremendous, as more than 8,000 students have since become lifetime members. The Society will continue expanding this network of high achieving students by establishing additional Chapters at other Australian universities. The Society also plans to develop Chapters at universtities in Canada, Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand and Singapore.
Golden Key is governed by a board of directors, council and delegates attending the annual international convention. A trained, professional staff provides service to the Chapters throughout the year. The Society maintains a permanent headquarters so that members an alumni may stay in contact reagardless of their location.
Golden Key is a dynamic organisation committed to meeting the needs of scholastic achievers and universities.