Take
Your BGS Chapter to the Next Level
 This
spring, thousands of the world’s top students
will receive an invitation to join Beta Gamma
Sigma. Do they know that accepting this honor
distinguishes them among their peers, and that
they will gain access to an elite, global professional
network that will assist them throughout their
careers? We hope. But hope alone is not enough
– collegiate chapter officers, the BGS
Board of Governors and Central Office, must
work together to promote and communicate Beta
Gamma Sigma’s Mission, programs, benefits
and value so all eligible students will accept
the membership they’ve earned.
Last
year, the average chapter membership acceptance
rate was approximately 60%. In an effort to
move that number closer to 100%, Beta Gamma
Sigma is encouraging all collegiate chapters
to set membership acceptance rate goals for
their upcoming induction periods. To help you
reach those goals, please take note of the best
practices, changes to invitation materials and
membership requirements, and other vital collegiate
chapter news and programs below and within this
issue of the BGS Connection, as
this information will assist you in managing
a successful chapter.
Collegiate
Chapter Best Practices
Promoting
Beta Gamma Sigma at the campus level is essential
to increasing awareness of the Society and the
collegiate chapter. Often times, the reason
eligible students reject membership is because
they simply don’t know what Beta Gamma
Sigma is all about. To make sure this is not
the case for your chapter’s invited students,
consider implementing some of the Best Practices
below. *Many of
these tactics and practices have come directly
from Beta Gamma Sigma’s top chapters.
 Best
Practices for Promoting your Chapter
-
Faculty members and current student members
wear BGS keys, t-shirts or other BGS apparel
during the week the invitations are sent
or delivered. Faculty members display membership
certificates in their offices.
-
Offer
the invitation to Beta Gamma Sigma membership
to the students in their classes in a tapping
ceremony.
-
Include
an article about your Beta Gamma Sigma chapter’s
induction (or other activities) in the School
of Business publication.
-
Promote
BGS on campus during Founders' Week (BGS
Awareness Week) with information and a giveaway
drawing (2006 Silver Chapter)
-
Faculty
members send personal notes/emails to their
students congratulating them on invitation
to BGS (2006 Gold Chapter).
For
more Collegiate Chapter Best Practices, click
here.
 NEW:
Invitation Booklet
To
better communicate the honor and value of Beta
Gamma Sigma to eligible students, the Society
has created a NEW Membership Invitation
booklet. The new invitation booklet
–
which
is available to chapters at no cost –
incorporates
and enhances the contents of the previous folder,
(i.e. letter from BGS President, information
about the Society and its member benefits, and
programs) but is more compelling and student-focused.
While
the booklet contains the most vital information
about BGS, the collegiate chapter must add a
personal letter/invitation with response details.
The new invitation booklet has a front pocket
specifically for this purpose. The pocket is
the place to include a personalized invitation
from the chapter, information on how to accept
the invitation, ceremony details, etc.
The
personalized chapter letter/invitation can be
placed on BGS or university letterhead. If you
would like to still use the 9x12 BGS pocket
folders, they can be found on the BGS Supply
Order Form via the Online Ordering System (OOS)
for
1 USD or
15 USD for quantity of 25.
Please
be sure to distribute the new invitation booklet
to all of your eligible students. The booklet
should be used for the purpose of inviting a
student to membership – not held and distributed
to new members at the time of induction.
If you have any questions about the new BGS
invitation, contact Donna Binek at dbinek@betagammasigma.org.
UDATES: BGS Emergency
Membership Fund and
Doctoral Membership Fee
Waiver
BGS
Emergency Membership Fund
 For students invited to membership who cannot
afford the membership fee and the chapter cannot
cover the fee locally, the Society has established
the Beta Gamma Sigma Emergency Membership Fund
to assist eligible students in obtaining membership.
With contributions from the BGS staff and lifetime
members, BGS was able to provide several memberships
for the first half of the 2009-10 fiscal year
(7/1 – 12/31/09). As we begin the second
half the fiscal year, the Society is pleased
to announce that an increase in contributions
has resulted in 150 available memberships.
For
guidelines on utilizing this fund for your chapter’s
deserving students, visit http://www.betagammasigma.org/emf.htm
Funds
available to chapters for 2010:
Waiver of membership fee for Doctoral Completing Students
Beta Gamma Sigma’s Board of Governors has adopted a policy change to waive the membership fee for students who earn a doctorate in business (degree received on or after January 24, 2009). The Society recognizes many of these new doctorates will become faculty members at BGS chapter schools and could be advocates for the Society on their campuses.
 Since
the new policy has gone in effect, there has
been a 33% increase in doctoral memberships
– a significant jump for this membership
group. We would like to see this number to grow,
so we encourage you to continue or begin inviting
doctoral graduates from your business school’s
program to Beta Gamma Sigma. For doctoral students
who accept the invitation, their 65 USD membership
fee is waived. All doctoral students should
be invited to membership using the special doctoral
invitation packet available to your chapter
through Central Office. Contact Donna Binek
at dbinek@betagammasigma.org
for more details on the process.
We
realize that most doctorates are no longer on
campus, so please consider contacting the doctoral
program director to see if they can offer BGS
membership as part of the final details of degree
completion.
2010 Chapter Training Opportunities
 Whether you are a new chapter representative/officer or simply want to learn how to better manage your BGS chapter, the Society’s interactive Collegiate Chapter Training Seminar and Webinars provide all the tools, practices and knowledge you need to maximize the potential of your chapter.
The BGS Collegiate Chapter Officer Training Seminar
This one-day, interactive program covers everything you need to know to administer a successful BGS chapter. We encourage every chapter representative to attend, as this is the only chapter training experience that allows you to learn firsthand from members of the BGS staff and other chapter officers the best methods and practices for running a chapter of Beta Gamma Sigma.
Spring
2010 Chapter Training Seminar Schedule:
-
-
-
Seminar
for chapters in Europe, Late Spring 2010
-
Seminar
for chapters in Asia & Australia, Location:
Hong Kong, Fall 2010
For
more information, click
here to download the brochure
Interested in attending one of these valuable
events? Contact Mary Wiedman at mwiedman@betagammasigma.org,
or call the Central Office at 314-432-5650.
 The
BGS Chapter Training Webinar Series
In
addition to the one-day training seminar, the
BGS Chapter Training Webinar Series also serves
as a valuable chapter-training tool. The webinars
are informative and interactive and can be conveniently
accessed using the web or phone. Each webinar
session covers an important collegiate chapter
topic and is planned for 45-60 minutes.
Upcoming
Training Webinars
For
more information and to access past webinars,
go to http://www.betagammasigma.org/webinars.htm
The
NEW BGS Store
To
better serve our chapters and members, the BGS
Store has been brought back in-house and all
items - chapter supplies and personal member
orders - can now be ordered through the Central
Office.
 Please
be sure to order honor cords, stoles and medallions
for your BGS graduates to wear at spring commencement. Quantity discounts
are available for chapter orders through the
new BGS Store.
NEW
ITEMS:
Need
an item right away? The Central Office will
work with chapters to ship overnight if needed.
To
access the new BGS Store, go
to http://www.bgsstore.org
B-Mail - Your Link to
the Society
As a chapter representative, the B-Mail
is one of your most vital links to the Society.
The B-Mail is sent weekly or bi-weekly via email
to chapter representatives and contains up-to-date
information on all things concerning collegiate
chapters, including deadlines, programs, tips
and best practices to make your chapter as successful
as possible. To stay informed, be sure to read
all emails with the subject line ‘B-Mail’.
Expect the next B-Mail to be delivered to your
inbox near the end of January.
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