Section V - Working with the Central Office

To help you better understand the relationship between the collegiate chapters, faculty advisors and Central Office, the following list of “Frequently Asked Questions” was included. If you have any other questions about how to make your chapter more successful, please contact the Central Office.

Q) Why would an invited student fail to accept membership in Beta Gamma Sigma?
A) The primary cause for non-response may be that the student does not thoroughly understand the honor being bestowed or the value of membership. The Chapter Advisor should make sure all eligible students are fully aware of the meaning and value of lifetime membership in Beta Gamma Sigma.

Q) What should a chapter do when students do not respond to the membership invitations?
A) There are several things a chapter can do to get responses from potential members:

A) A membership data profile form records all the information for each member. Following payment of the membership fee, the new member is directed to the link to complete the MDP on-line.

Q) How does a chapter submit orders for supplies and memberships?
A) Beta Gamma Sigma has recently developed an Online Ordering System (OOS) to expedite and simplify the chapter ordering process. This system allows chapters to order chapter supplies (including membership invitation packets) and complete an online process for inviting, accepting and processing memberships. This interactive system is also utilized by the Central Office to receive, process and ship membership orders. To begin this process, go to www.bgschapterservices.org.

Q) Who should order supplies and memberships from the Central Office?
A) Any chapter officer or a designated chapter representative may order chapter supplies or process the chapter’s online order. Chapters should update Chapter Contact information for every chapter officer/contact whenever there is new information.

Q) What shipping charges are the responsibility of the collegiate chapter?
A) The Central Office covers the following shipping costs sent via standard delivery service: 1) one chapter supply order per semester; 2) two scheduled shipments of membership materials 5 and 10 days prior to the induction ceremony; 3) one shipment of membership materials (if necessary) two weeks following the induction ceremony.

The chapter is charged shipping as follows: 1) requests for additional shipments of supply or membership materials to any chapter worldwide; or 2) shipments sent by expedited delivery methods within the U.S. and

Canada

. The Central Office ships outside the U.S. and

Canada

via DHL.
Chapters should keep in mind that the printed materials in the invitation packet add considerable weight to a shipment. To avoid additional shipping charges, chapters are encouraged to order supplies early in the semester so they can be sent via regular ground service.

Q) What is the BGS Connection and how often is it mailed to the chapters?
A) The BGS Connection is the electronic newsletter for BGS collegiate chapter advisors, officers and administrative contacts. This electronic newsletter is provided twice per year at the beginning of each semester (in January and September). It is important that Faculty Advisors review the BGS Connection when it is received so they are informed about updated chapter information and Central Office procedural changes. The newsletter should be forwarded to any other designated chapter representative working with the chapter who doesn’t receive it directly.

Q) What is the purpose of the BGS Information Card?
A) The undergraduate information card is used to inform students about BGS early in their academic careers before they qualify for membership. The card encourages business students early in their academic careers to set Beta Gamma Sigma membership as a goal. Many chapters include the information card with letters sent to underclassmen named to the Dean’s List. The information cards may be ordered from the Central Office through the Chapter Supply Order Form on the Online Ordering System. These cards are provided free of charge.

Q) Who can be a chapter officer?
A) The President and Secretary-Treasurer/Faculty Advisor positions must be filled by members of the Society who are members of the business school faculty or the Dean. Ideally, the Dean or another senior faculty member would hold the position of president and a faculty member would fill the positions of Faculty Advisor and Secretary-Treasurer. However, the office of Secretary-Treasurer and the Faculty Advisor may be either the same person or two separate people.

Q) What is a tapping ceremony?
A) A tapping ceremony is the most successful method of inviting students to membership. Tapping is not mandatory for a chapter, but it is a very effective way to invite and recognize members and potential members among their peers. Typically, faculty members and often the Dean will visit selected business classes and formally present invitations to those eligible for membership. They will also recognize those that are already members of BGS. In some cases, faculty members choose to wear academic regalia for the tapping in class.

(Note: While not required of chapters, it has been verified that those chapters that distribute invitations through a tapping ceremony are most successful in obtaining memberships.)

Q) May a chapter order honor cords and graduation stoles to wear at commencement?
A) The Central Office recommends that a chapter decide between offering either the honor cord OR the graduation stole for its members to wear at commencement. The rationale behind this is that it appears more uniform for members at the ceremony. Honor cords, graduation stoles and medallions should be ordered through the BGS Store.

Beta Gamma Sigma has been working for the past year to develop a new, more efficient way to handle New Member Orders – memberships, certificates and keys - as well as Supply Orders. As you know, the old New Member system required faculty advisors to download the order form from BetaNet, fill out and attach the list of eligible student names, and return the information (by email) to the BGS Central Office. The old Supply Order system was similar, requiring faculty advisors to download, fill out and return the Collection Supply Order Form.

We’re now very excited to announce the development of the new BGS Online Ordering System, which will be rolled out and used by chapters as they submit Supply and Membership orders this spring. This new system should prove to be much simpler and efficient to use, as all the chapter functions can be managed from a single, password-protected website.

In addition, those invited will fill out MDPs (Membership Data Profiles) online as well. This will eliminate the paperwork involved for chapter representatives as they encourage those invited to accept the invitation. Instead of providing them a paper form to fill out and return, which then had to be sent on to the Central Office, new members can fill out an online form after they have paid the lifetime membership fee. All the chapter representative must do is provide the proper web address to those who have paid the fee, and the student takes care of the rest.

The development of this new system was initiated by the many requests we have received over the last few years from collegiate chapter representatives. At chapter workshops and in everyday phone and email communications, our staff members have fielded repeated questions from chapter representatives regarding our lack of an on-line system for chapter orders. This roll-out is our first, initial step in making our processes easier for chapter representatives by getting them online.

Beta Gamma Sigma is sensitive to the fact that this development will cause chapters to significantly alter some of their invitation and membership processes. However, we believe these changes will (eventually) lead to reduced time spent on the paperwork of running the chapter, and free up time to communicate the value of membership to your top students.

Additionally, we look forward to working with the chapters to increase membership acceptance rates and significantly reduce the time it currently takes for us to enter members’ data into our database. With this new system, your members will often have access to BGS benefits and the BGS On-Line Membership Directory BEFORE they go through the induction ceremony. In the past, it could take up to four months before new members, who had paid their lifetime membership dues, entered the system. We believe this will provide a more lasting relationship between the student member, the business school and Beta Gamma Sigma.

Beta Gamma Sigma thanks you in advance for your patience and assistance as we implement this new system. We look forward to helping you do an even better job of recognizing your top students with lifetime membership in the Society. Members of our staff are trained and ready to assist you as you utilize this new system. Don’t hesitate to call our office at 314-432-5650 or email Donna Binek at dbinek@betagammasigma.org if you have questions or need assistance with our new ordering system, or to get assistance with any other chapter related inquiry.

Shipping Charges
The chapter is not charged for shipping of the first two standard delivery membership orders of each semester. Also, there are no shipping charges for replacement certificate orders sent through the Central Office. Actual expedited shipping costs by UPS (Next Day, 2nd Day, and 3 Day Select; when the chapter chooses one of these methods) within the

U.S.

and DSL elsewhere will be billed to the chapter at the end of each month.

Second Recognition Certificates
Chapters may recognize students who qualify for a second time with a Second Recognition Certificate. This special certificate is available for Master’s and Doctoral students who became members at a previous degree level and now have qualified again for BGS membership. The charge for the Second Recognition Certificate is $10 (

U.S.

). The Second Recognition Certificate can be ordered using the Induction Ceremony Management page on the Online Ordering System. Additional information regarding previous membership is required at the time the order is placed with the Central Office.

Replacement Certificates
Replacement certificates can be purchased by collegiate chapters through the Central Office using the Supply Order Form on the Online Ordering System. If there was an error to the original certificate that was the fault of the Central Office, there will be no charge for the replacement certificate. There is a $10 (

U.S.

) charge for other circumstances, including but not limited to: chapter error, member wants an additional certificate, and member name change.

Replacement/Additional Charter
Each collegiate chapter is issued a charter at the time of the chapter’s installation. Some chapters request additional or replacement charters for various reasons (college/university or school of business changes its name, chapter wants to display a charter in additional locations, etc.) The cost for each additional or replacement charter is $10 (

U.S.

). Contact the Central Office direct for details on purchasing charters.

The Beta Gamma Sigma Bronze Key can be a symbol of academic excellence on your campus. Cast from a high-quality bronze alloy, the key is over 52 inches tall, not counting the base.

The Board of Governors of Beta Gamma Sigma encourages chapters to consider adding this symbol of academic excellence to their physical plant. The key can be mounted either indoors or outdoors. The base should be obtained or built locally. Plans for a cast concrete base are available from the Central Office, but native stone or other materials may be used.

The cost of the Key is $7,000 (U.S.) delivered. The Board of Governors is willing to support this project by allowing chapters to pay $2,000 (U.S.) at the time of the order, with the balance to be paid in equal installments at the beginning of the institution’s next two fiscal years.

To order your Key, please contact James Viehland, Executive Director, in the Central Office at bgshonors@betagammasigma.org, or 1-800-337-4677.

Click here to see photos of BGS Bronze Keys on various campuses.