Section II - Establishing a New Alumni Chapter
A. Board of Governors Decisions
At a Strategic Planning session in 1998, the Beta Gamma Sigma Board of Governors addressed the matter of lifetime membership in the Society and how to actively support this concept. As part of this discussion, the Board proposed a change to the mission and objectives of the Society to more readily address the focus on the lifetime membership of alumni members. At this meeting, the Board also approved the development and implementation of an Alumni Chapter program with the plan to establish new Alumni Chapters each year so that an Alumni Chapter Network could encompass the entire United States, as well as begin to develop non-U.S. Alumni Chapters. As part of this plan, the Board approved allocating financial and staff resources to accomplish the plan.
B. What an Alumni Chapter Can Provide
To Beta Gamma Sigma
The meaning of lifetime membership takes on a whole new, tangible meaning when Alumni Chapters are in place. All Beta Gamma Sigma members residing in geographic areas where Alumni Chapters are in place can tap into these chapters. This opportunity provides Beta Gamma Sigma with a tangible way to show that lifetime membership is real. Not only do the Alumni Chapters offer BGS the ability to promote lifetime membership but also provide a way to more actively promote the value of membership to students invited to join the Society. Because Alumni Chapters provide a reason to remember BGS, the Alumni Chapter can assist the Society in promoting registration on the Member Directory section of BetaNet and obtaining updates of membership information, and in turn can share this information with the Central Office. Beta Gamma Sigma also looks to members of the Alumni Chapters, and especially their officers and committee members, to serve as a sounding board or resource for ideas that are important to alumni membership.
As the Alumni Network continues to expand, the Society will benefit from the existence of alumni chapters in ways that have not yet been discovered.
To Alumni Members
BGS provides new inductees international recognition of their academic achievements in the business program during their collegiate career. For many years, the value of membership in BGS stopped there. With the addition of an active Alumni Chapter Network, members can be involved in BGS and realize benefits from their membership throughout their lifetime. The Alumni Chapters provide professional contacts in the local area, networking opportunities, professional development opportunities through programs of the chapter, the opportunity to give back through interaction with current student members and new graduates and an opportunity to develop new relationships with other business people.
The Alumni Chapter helps fill a need and answer the question, “What can you do for me after I graduate?”
To Collegiate Chapters
Through the Alumni Chapter program, new Beta Gamma Sigma members have a ready-made connection with business professionals in the business community. The Alumni Chapters can also provide mentoring programs to these new graduates and possibly internships and scholarship programs for student members through the collegiate chapters in the area. The existence of an Alumni Chapter in a community could be an asset to the local business school programs, as members could be potential students for MBA or EMBA programs. And members of Alumni Chapters could individually look to the collegiate chapters as a place to find valuable new employees. Alumni Chapters can provide assistance to the collegiate chapters in increasing the value of membership in the Society – thus increasing the membership acceptance rates at the collegiate chapter level.
C. Name of Chapter
The official name of the Alumni Chapter is established by Beta Gamma Sigma and is conferred on the chapter at the time of chartering. The standard Alumni Chapter name is (City/Cities) Area Alumni Chapter of Beta Gamma Sigma. This official name is to be used in all correspondence and on all publications of the chapter.
D. Selection of Alumni Chapter Areas
The Board of Governors takes several criteria into consideration when deciding where to establish additional Alumni Chapters. Thus far in the development of Alumni Chapters, the total number of BGS members in each selected area has approached or exceeded 5,000. Additionally, the Board looks for interest expressed from members regarding the establishment of a chapter in a given area.
E. Petition Process
The governing documents of Beta Gamma Sigma require that at least ten (10) members of the Society residing in the local geographic area of the potential Alumni Chapter must sign a letter of intentthe Board of Governors for an Alumni Chapter to be established. Upon request, a model petition is provided to BGS members to sign and return to the Central Office.
F. Chartering Reception
The first scheduled event when establishing a new Alumni Chapter is usually the chartering reception. For this event, all BGS members who reside in the given geographic area according to the Society’s database are invited to attend the reception to meet with members from their local area. The invitation to this reception also asks any interested members to contact the Society if they are willing to be a petitioner for the new chapter.
At this reception, members in attendance are provided information about Beta Gamma Sigma and its programs, including the status of the Alumni Chapter Network. Members are given the opportunity to ask questions about the Society and then are provided details about how the establishment of their Alumni Chapter will proceed. Interested members are given an opportunity at this reception to volunteer to serve on the Steering Committee.
G. Steering Committee
Those persons who express interest and volunteer to serve on the Steering Committee at the chartering reception or by email to the Central Office begin a several-month process of making plans for their chapter’s establishment. Staff will help guide and support the committee through the entire process
An initial meeting of the Steering Committee is planned.. At this meeting, committee members are provided information about the program, the standard procedure for establishing their chapter, a list of decisions that must be made by the committee, and an opportunity to volunteer to fill interim officer and committee positions.
Topics of discussion by the Steering Committee include, but are not limited to, the following:
Who is the audience – Those eligible for membership in the Alumni Chapter are all the lifetime members of Beta Gamma Sigma who reside in the targeted geographic area.
How to get members – Since the number of potential members is a set group - BGS members - the method to contact them is different than would be for a chapter open to the public. The best way to communicate with this group initially, which can numbers in the thousands, is through an email sent out by the Central Office of Beta Gamma Sigma.
As the number of email addresses in our file increases, broadcast emails will become a more important method of communicating with potential alumni chapter members. Alumni Chapters are encouraged to collect email addresses from all members that attend chapter events and pass them along to the Central Office.
Timeframe necessary to establish chapter – Based on details to be accomplished and the experiences of current Alumni Chapters, a new chapter should expect the amount of time between the chartering and kickoff receptions to be about six months.
Schedule for actions – Initially, Steering Committee members are encouraged to focus on actions necessary for the chapter’s kickoff event. The Central Office staff will serve in an administrative role until after the kickoff.
Prioritize decisions and committee activity – Again, the Steering Committee should focus their efforts initially to those that ready the chapter for the kickoff event, i.e. lining up the facility, date and speaker/program. The more focused the entire committee can be on the immediate program needs, the better.
Interim Officers/Chairs – One important set of decisions that should be made at the first or second meeting of the Steering Committee is the decision on interim officers and committee chairs. Since the chapter is not yet established, the best method found to date for selecting persons to fill these interim positions is through volunteers. Beta Gamma Sigma staff encourage members of the Steering Committee to volunteer so the committee can begin to make plans for its development as soon as possible. The persons filling these interim positions are encouraged to maintain their roles in these positions until usually the second meeting of the entire chapter where elections may be held.
Structure of Chapter – The chapter can set its own structure (i.e. officer responsibilities). At a minimum, each chapter should elect a president, vice president and secretary-treasurer. However, Beta Gamma Sigma does provide a sample set of chapter governing documents with suggestions for officer and chairmanships to be filled. A set of these sample documents is provided to each chapter. Chapters are required to maintain a current set of governing documents with the Central Office of the Society, which serves as the official archives.
Chapter Dues, Membership Levels, Dues Year – The Steering Committee is responsible for establishing chapter dues along with their categories of membership. The Central Office staff provides suggestions as well as input on dues categories adopted by other chapters. Chapters are encouraged to set their dues year for July 1 – June 30. This corresponds with the annual dues mailing the Central Office sends out for all chapters during the summer months.
Identification of volunteers for variety of issues – As the Steering Committee begins its efforts, one area that needs to be addressed is the ability to identify and enlist volunteers for a variety of chapter needs. Some typical areas include: meeting space, assistance with bank account set up, copying access, administrative assistance, program ideas, chapter sponsorships. Steering Committee members are encouraged to volunteer to fill these needs. Additionally, the Central Office often obtains and then relays offers of assistance obtained at the chartering reception or later.
Set chapter goals to support Beta Gamma Sigma mission and objectives – The mission and objectives of Beta Gamma Sigma apply to both the collegiate and Alumni Chapters. Click here to read the Mission. Additionally, each Alumni Chapter is encouraged to set chapter goals to support the Society’s mission and objectives. The Central Office staff maintains a set of each chapter’s goals and can share goals set by other chapters with new chapters in the process of establishing their own set of goals.
Chapters are required to maintain the overall concept of the Alumni Chapter efforts by maintaining the educational component of Beta Gamma Sigma through their chapter’s programming. While individual chapters sometimes provide social opportunities for their members, an overriding purpose of the Alumni Chapter is to maintain this educational component.
Formal chapter programs include both the planned meetings of the chapter and any additional programs adopted by the chapter for emphasis. Some ideas include: scholarship, mentoring and/or internship programs.
Thus far, the Alumni Chapters have reported that the most valuable meeting program activities are those that address networking and managing one’s career.
Chapter Schedule – Most chapters schedule 2-4 formal chapter meetings per year. Several of the chapters also hold informal events such as an “After Hours Networking Opportunity” on a more frequent basis. Some chapters hold a social activity, usually on an annual basis.
H. Kickoff Event
The Steering Committee will determine who is responsible for planning and implementing the kickoff event. Decisions that must be made include, but are not limited to: speaker, location, any corporate sponsorships, cost of event, charge to attendees, food and beverage, assignments for committee members and deadline for decisions to meet mailing requirements.
The Kickoff Event should showcase the chapter to prospective members, both in the printed invitation materials and at the event. Potential Alumni Chapter members are going to be evaluating the offer according to their personal and professional needs. While a named speaker is one way to draw a group to the event, the committee should also consider other ways to draw the targeted audience to this event. Is it through the event location, event cost, guests/dignitaries named on the invitation or the event’s program or chapter’s program plan?
Location of Kickoff Event – The Steering Committee should look for a location that meets several criteria: a facility that people in the area would be interested in having access to, a room that is well suited to the type of event being held, easily accessible (probably on or near interstate and centrally located), if private club, access through someone’s membership, parking available nearby, and cost is not prohibitive.
Food and Beverage – Consideration should be given to cost as well as an appealing presentation. Most chapters choose to do a reception with hors d’oeuvres rather than a dinner. Most facilities don’t charge a room rental fee (or make it very minimal) based on food and beverage sales. If liquor is being served, it is suggested that it be a cash bar, with the possibility of one drink provided. Chapters should consider liability issues as they make a decision on how long liquor will be served during a chapter event. Beta Gamma Sigma can provide a certificate of insurance for certain chapter events, if required. See Section VI. D. 10. for details.
Supplies from Central Office – The Central Office provides the chapters with printed Program Covers at no charge. The agenda for the kickoff can be printed in these covers by the chapter. For a small charge, chapters may purchase nametags with the BGS logo and stationery created by the Central Office with the chapter’s approved logo that meets the Society’s graphic standards. Additionally, chapters often purchase BGS logo items as door prizes. The Central Office also makes available plaques and paperweights that can be engraved for speaker gifts. Committee members are encouraged to check out the BGS Store. Alumni Chapters must log in using the information provided byt he Central Office to access the Alumni Chapter section of the site.
The Kickoff should be well structured so that those attending feel that their time was well spent. In addition to the planned program (speaker or panel, etc.), the event should include a few minutes to introduce the chapter, the Steering Committee, any members of the Board of Governors or Central Office staff who are in attendance, and a chance for members to ask questions, provide input and be given the opportunity to offer assistance to the chapter for future committees or activities.
Chapters are encouraged to keep the cost to attend the kickoff event minimal so as not to deter members from attending an unknown event/chapter. Several chapters have obtained sponsorships, full or partial, to help defray costs for this event.
I. Election of Officers
While interim officers are named during the chapter establishment process, the chapter should hold official elections at the second or third event of the chapter. Each chapter should elect a President, Vice President and Secretary/Treasurer at the minimum. Additional officer positions as well as chairmanships can be added as needed to fulfill the chapter’s needs. See the Sample Constitution for information on officer elections.
J. Membership in Chapter
Chapter membership is limited to members of Beta Gamma Sigma who reside in the local geographic area. The chapter leadership can coordinate with the Central Office to identify the targeted geography that should be included in developing a database of potential chapter members.
The leadership of the chapter is responsible for setting the requirements for ongoing membership in the chapter; i.e. deadlines for payment of chapter dues.
K. Establishing Chapter Bank Account
The Central Office of Beta Gamma Sigma will maintain the funds of the chapter during the chapter’s establishment phase. Placing the funds in the hands of the Central Office while the chapter is in the development stage will allow a greater comfort to the new members at the onset as well as free up the chapter to deal with priority matters such as chapter programming and setting the structure.
Once the chapter has held its kickoff event and has a set of members and chapter funds, the Central Office will begin the process of transferring funds to the chapter’s bank account. To set up the bank account, the chapter will need the FEI (Federal Employer Identification) number, which is obtained through the Internal Revenue Service by the parent organization, Beta Gamma Sigma. The Chapter must provide the Central Office with bank name and address where the checking account is located, account number, names of 2 chapter local signers, and bank contact information. A Member of the central office will also need to be listed as signer on the account. Once this informaton is received, funds will be transfered.
|
