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Executive Committee Membership Information Chicagoland Association National ΦBK Society
Phi Beta Kappa
Kappa of Illinois at Loyola University of Chicago

Kappa of Illinois Membership Criteria
for Members in Course

The following items governing membership in course, based on the Phi Beta Kappa Society's Model Chapter Bylaws, were adopted by the chapter members on December 7, 1995, and were last amended in 2013. The foreign language and math requirements are effective Spring 2015 based on June 2011 revisions to the Phi Beta Kappa Society's Membership Eligibility Stipulations

  1. Eligible students must be candidates for a bachelor's degree in the College of Arts and Sciences or the Institute for Environmental Studies. At least three-fourths of the 120 credits required for graduation must be in the liberal arts or sciences, as defined by the Phi Beta Kappa Society's Membership Eligibility Stipulations and our chapter's Classification of Course work as Liberal Arts & Sciences Work. These Stipulations require that certain work of an applied or vocational nature not be counted as liberal arts work, and this is reflected in the chapter's Classification.
  2. Weight shall be given to the breadth and depth of study in liberal arts and sciences, taking into account the number, variety, and level of courses taken outside the requirements of the major, and the proportion of the candidate's overall program those courses constitute. Consideration shall also be given to the number of elective courses taken above the introductory, or general education, level.
  3. Effective Spring 2015: Candidates shall have demonstrated, by successful work in high school or college, or in the two together, a knowledge of a second or non-native language at least minimally appropriate for a liberal education. In no case shall this mean less than the completion of the intermediate college level in a second, or non-native, language, or its equivalent. See details on the Foreign Language Requirement below.
  4. Effective Spring 2015: The candidate's undergraduate record shall include at least one course in college-level mathematics, logic, or statistics, with content appropriate to a liberal arts and sciences curriculum. The course should introduce the student to mathematical ideas, abstract thinking, proofs, and the axiomatic method. Realizing this requirement at LUC will require completing one of the following (or obtaining corresponding AP or transfer credit):
  5. Nominations for membership in course shall be made by the Committee on Members in Course. All eligible students meeting the minimum grade point and credit hour requirements will be selected initially for nomination. The list of potential nominees from the two qualifying Colleges will be forwarded to their respective undergraduate deans and the chairs of the department(s) in which each potential nominee is majoring as well as the Office of Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution in order to ascertain that the potential nominees' files do not contain evidence which suggests that they do not meet the requirement of good character deemed necessary for a member in course. Then the Committee on Members in Course will submit a list of all nominees meeting the academic and character requirements to the members of the chapter. Election shall be by secret ballot and shall require an affirmative vote by three-fourths of the resident members present.
  6. For elections as a junior, the candidate shall have completed at least five semester of college work and be registered for a sixth semester. The candidate shall have earned at least 75 semester hours of course work with a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.90, and at least 60 of these credits must be at Loyola University Chicago. Additionally, the candidate must be registered for sufficient course work to earn at least 90 hours by the end of the sixth semester. Such candidates will then be reviewed for the foreign language, math, and liberal arts requirements (at least 75% of registered credits being in the liberal arts and a grade point average of at least 3.90 in completed liberal arts courses).
  7. For election as a senior, the candidate shall have graduated at the January commencement or be scheduled for graduation at the May commencement during the year of election. The candidate must have earned a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.80 and have earned or be scheduled to earn at least 90 semester hours of course work at Loyola University Chicago. Such candidates will then be reviewed for the foreign language, math, and liberal arts requirements (at least 90 of the registered credits being in the liberal arts and a grade point average of at least 3.80 in completed liberal arts courses).
Foreign Language Requirement

Candidates for election must demonstrate intermediate level proficiency (as defined by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) in at least one language other than English.

Classification of Course work as Liberal Arts & Sciences Work

Both our chapter bylaws and the Phi Beta Kappa Society's Phi Beta Kappa Society's Stipulations Concerning Eligibility for Membership in Course require that three-quarters of the credits required to earn a bachelor's degree be liberal arts work and that work of an "applied or professional" nature not be counted in computing grade point averages for purposes of eligibility. The following rules will determine how these standards will be applied in our chapter.

  1. Students enrolled in a program leading to the awarding of a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree through the College of Arts and Sciences or the Institute for Environmental Studies will be considered for membership.
  2. Credit from the Quinlan School of Business (except Economics BA courses), the School of Continuing and Professional Studies, the School of Education, the Parkinson School of Health Sciences and Public Health, the Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing, and the School of Social Work will not be considered as liberal arts work and will not be counted in the grade point calculations.
  3. Most other undergraduate credit, generally in the College of Arts and Sciences and the Institute for Environmental Studies, will be considered as liberal arts work and counted in grade point calculations, but there are many exceptions, such as courses related to teaching (e.g., ENGL 393 or LATN 373), Physical Education, Military Science, English as a Second Language, most Computer Science and Engineering, and many Communication, and Fine and Performing Arts courses.
  4. A more specific categorization of courses by subject may be viewed below (red for exclusion and green for inclusion); special topics courses marked with an asterisk (*) may be includable based on analysis of the topic. (Transfer credit from other institutions will be evaluated in the same manner as comparable course work at Loyola.) The Committee on Members in Course reserves the right to make adjustments at any time regarding which courses will be counted as liberal arts work.
    SubjectDefaultExceptions
    ACCTExclude
    ACJLExclude
    AFRInclude397
    ANTHInclude314, 396, 399
    ARABInclude250
    ASIAInclude130, 152, 381
    ASLInclude
    BHNRExclude
    BIETInclude
    BIOIInclude398
    BIOLInclude310, 398
    BSADExclude
    CATHInclude
    CHEMInclude100, 300P, 399
    CHINInclude190, 192
    CIEPExclude
    CJCInclude380, 390
    CLSTInclude382
    CLSExclude
    CMANExclude
    COMMExclude101, 175, 200, 201, 203, 206, 212, 215, 220, 227, 230, 271, 272, 273, 274, 279, 280, 281, 282, 300, 301, 304, 307, 324, 340, 341, 360, 361, 365, 366, 367, 368, 371
    COMPExclude111, 122, 125, 150, 163, 170, 215, 271, 272, 309, 317, 328, 331, 341, 356, 363, 376, 381, 383, 386, 392
    CPSTExclude
    CPSYExclude
    DANCExclude250, 370, 398
    ECONInclude
    ELPSExclude
    ENGLInclude100, 102, 103, 206, 210, 211, 220, 303, 393, 394, 396
    ENGRExclude311, 312, 313, 324, 325, 332, 352, 361, 362, 363
    ENTRExclude
    ENVSInclude200, 203, 260, 288, 298*, 298L*, 301, 302, 303, 330, 331, 332, 336, 338, 350A, 350B, 350C, 350F, 351, 352, 353, 354, 363, 364, 380, 381, 383, 385, 387, 388, 389, 395, 395C, 398*, 398L*
    ESLExclude
    EUROInclude
    EXCMExclude
    EXECExclude
    EXEDExclude
    EXPLInclude391
    FINCExclude
    FNARExclude160, 199, 200, 201, 202, 203, 207, 232, 251, 304, 305, 306, 336, 337, 338, 341, 342, 343, 344, 345, 349, 351, 352, 355, 357, 358, 359, 360, 364, 365, 367, 390, 391, 392, 394, 394B
    FONUExclude
    FRENInclude302, 395
    FRSCInclude394
    GERMInclude
    GISTInclude370
    GNURExclude
    GREKInclude
    GRMSInclude
    HEBRInclude
    HEMExclude
    HISTInclude359, 375, 398
    HMSVInclude201, 390
    HNDIInclude
    HONRInclude290, 370
    HRERExclude
    HSMExclude
    IBUSExclude
    INDSInclude300X*
    INFSExclude
    IRIFInclude380
    ISSCMExclude241, 241H
    ITALInclude395
    ITASInclude
    IWSInclude
    JAPNInclude
    LASPInclude
    LATNInclude373
    LINGInclude302
    LITRInclude
    LREBExclude
    MARKExclude
    MATHInclude99, 100, 140L, 141L, 142L, 143L, 147, 148, 149,
    MCNExclude
    MDGKInclude
    MGMTExclude
    MLSCExclude
    MSNExclude
    MSTUInclude
    MUSCExclude101, 122, 144, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157, 158, 161, 244, 246, 247, 248, 250, 252, 253, 255, 256, 344, 345, 353, 354, 371
    NEURInclude
    NRSRExclude
    PAXInclude385, 398
    PHILInclude283
    PHYSInclude
    PLSCInclude202, 203, 367, 370, 398
    PLSTExclude
    POLSInclude201, 202
    PORTInclude
    POSTInclude
    PSCJInclude
    PSYCInclude300, 310, 356, 362, 381, 385, 390, 392
    PUBHExclude
    ROSTInclude370, 381
    RUSSInclude290
    SCMGExclude
    SLGLInclude
    SOCLInclude100, 127, 301, 302, 380, 380I
    SOWKExclude
    SPANInclude190, 191, 195, 302, 395
    SPRTExclude
    STATInclude303, 307, 308, 310, 321, 370, 391, 396, 397
    THEOInclude157, 347, 348
    THTRExclude154, 203, 204, 205, 207, 209, 256, 257, 322, 335, 341, 349, 364, 365, 366, 367, 393
    TLSCExclude
    UCLRInclude
    UCSFInclude
    UCWRInclude109
    UNIVExclude301, 302, 340
    URBInclude
    URDUInclude
    VIETInclude
    WSGSInclude388, 389, 398, 399
Adopted December 7, 1994

Modified March 29, 2000 and March 3, 2006, and March 23, 2020.

 
Loyola logo Last updated on 02-Apr-24 at 09:34 CDT
by Ronald Greenberg (rig at cs.luc.edu)