In 1997, the TTU/HHMI Scholars created on their own initiative an officially recognized student organization, the TTU/HHMI Scholar Service Organization (SSO), to serve as the organizing entity for their social and service activities. The group meets monthly to plan events, which includes involvement with K-12 schools, tutoring their fellow students in introductory biology courses for majors and non-majors, and opportunities for research presentations. The major service activity of the organization is TTU/HHMI Student Research Days.
SSO continues to serve as a social and service focus for the TTU/HHMI undergraduate students. The SSO meetings provide an opportunity for scholars to discuss their research projects, educational experiences, and other issues related to undergraduate research and science education. The members can choose to take a leadership role by running for one of six offices. Officers are elected every semester except for the offices of president and vice president, which are held for a year. Another area of leadership is in serving on the scholarship competition selection committee, to interview the Scholar applicants.
There are 12 to 20 meetings/events a year and the scholars are required to attend at least six events. Some SSO events are organized by the program, and some by the scholars themselves. Some are informational, some are to meet with visiting scientists, and some are purely recreational with the purpose of building camaraderie between scholars. Scholars also provide leadership for Tri Beta (Biology Honor Society), various pre-professional organizations, fraternities and sororities, and other organizations.