Greetings to each of you. The School of Nursing and Honor Society Board Members have
been hard at work preparing for the visit from the representative for Sigma Theta Tau International (STTI). We are honored to have Dr. Linda Perkel who is Associate Dean for the Undergraduate Nursing Program at Barry University in Miami Shores, FL. She is an active member of Lambda Chi Chapter at Barry University and has been a site evaluator for Sigma Theta Tau International for several years. During her visit to the School of Nursing she will meet with faculty, students, administrators, community nurse leaders and board members to validate active interest and support of a chapter. Additionally, she will  review all Honor Society documents and financial records to determine feasibility and potential viability for establishing a chapter at Florida Gulf Coast University. The evaluation visit will take place on May 13 and 14, 2003. Please link over to the Calendar at (link removed) for the time and place for meeting Dr. Perkel during her visit. We'd love to see you there!

We are indeed very fortunate here in Southwest Florida! The School of Nursing and the Honor Society has had many individuals who have, since the opening of the University, worked very diligently to meet the stringent program and financial requirements required to apply for membership in the International Nursing Honor Society. As many of you remember, we submitted the application for membership in fall 2003 and received approval from the STTI Board of Directors in February for an evaluation site visit. At the completion of the visit Dr. Perkel will prepare a report of her visit, which is submitted to the Board of Directors for consideration of chapter status. If the Board of STTI accepts the report and approves the School of Nursing, chartering for the new chapter at the School of Nursing will take place during the 37^th Biennial International Conference in Toronto, Canada in November 2003. We'd love to see as many of you who can, join the group that will be traveling to Toronto. This is an excellent opportunity to see Sigma Theta Tau International's commitment to fostering excellence, scholarship and leadership in action!

For our new student members who have recently been inducted into the Honor Society, I invite you to become engaged in the work of the your Honor Society. The personal and professional benefits are many and what's even better, they stay with you as you grow and develop in your nursing career! Remember, it was six nursing students, much like yourselves, who in 1922 entered the Indiana University Training School for Nurses. They had a dream and dared to follow it: to start a group...“to recognize and encourage professional excellence, leadership, and creative work; to build, share, and use knowledge for the well-being and betterment of people’s lives throughout the world.” Today Sigma Theta Tau International is a major force in professional nursing and to be committed to fostering excellence, scholarship and leadership in nursing to improve health care worldwide. Today, the STTI Honor Society continues their dream by promoting the use of nursing research in health care delivery and making its resources available to all people and institutions interested in the latest knowledge in nursing care. Currently, there are more than 120,000 active members in more than 90 countries. There are chapters at 523 college and university schools of nursing worldwide. Forty-five percent of the Society's members are clinicians, 20% are administrators or supervisors, and 19% are educators. Sixty percent of its members hold master's and/or doctoral degrees.

Lastly, many in our Honor Society have been very busy engaged in scholarly work and each are commended for their work in creating a positive and lasting contribution of nursing excellence! In the next President's Letter
some of these efforts will be recognized.

Marydelle Polk, Ph.D., ARNP-BC
President, FGCU Honor Society