September 13 2016

Chapter Spotlight

Smeal Alumni Career Services and the Beta Gamma Sigma Chapter at The Pennsylvania State University held an online networking event (through a chat software platform called Brazen) on April 6, 2016. This event included the entire Smeal community—faculty, staff, students and alumni were all invited to attend. It was the third-largest online event they have held to date, with 64 people registered and 39 in attendance.

This online networking event enabled attendees to speed-network no matter where they were in the world. Attendees had the ability to sign in from their home, office, local library, smart phone, or tablet. Chats were text-based and timed for 10 minutes, allowing attendees to make connections, exchange contact information, and end the hour with several new connections. A transcript of all conversations was saved after each event so attendees could access the notes and follow-up after the event. 

We encourage your chapter to host BGS events similar to this that will not only benefit your members but also your alumni, faculty, and students. Please share your creative event details and pictures with the BGS Global Headquarters!

Register Your Students for the Second Annual Global Leadership Summit!

Have you registered your students for the Global Leadership Summit yet? If not, there’s still time to do so! Our second annual GLS will take place November 3-6, 2016 in Dallas, TX at the Sheraton Downtown Dallas. By attending the Summit, students will learn to refine their leadership skills and more. Read on to learn why you should send your students to the GLS:

• StrengthsFinder assessment and programming — Students will learn how to capitalize on their strengths throughout their career.
• Hands-on learning — Students will gain insights and then put them directly to work with various exercises, including a team case competition, throughout the weekend.
• World-class speakers — Your students will learn from today’s thought leaders in global business, academic and nonprofit sectors. Dmitri Stockton, Special Advisor to the Chairman and Senior Vice President of GE Company, will be the keynote speaker on opening night.
• Engagement — Students will have the opportunity to share their views as part of presentations and panel discussions that cover critical topics such as business ethics, social consciousness, effective communication, and more.
• Unparalleled networking opportunities – Attendees will connect with 400 other high-achieving fellow BGS students from around the world, talent recruiters from top brands and MBA programs, and expert presenters from numerous industries.

Registration closes at midnight CST on Friday, October 7, 2016.

You can find more details about the event by visiting https://betagammasigma.org/gls. We are looking forward to meeting your students in Dallas!

Reminder: Global Leadership Scholarships Deadline Fast Approaching—Encourage Your Students to Apply Today!

Through the generosity of sponsors and donors, Beta Gamma Sigma is able to provide our collegiate chapter members the opportunity to apply for scholarships to help fund their trip to the GLS. Scholarships are available for both US and international students. Details about scholarship criteria, how to apply, and further information can be found here: https://betagammasigma.org/gls-scholarships.

Scholarship applications are due September 16 at midnight CST, so encourage your students to complete the application today!

Register for an Upcoming Collegiate Chapter Training Seminar

Would you like the opportunity to interact with colleagues from other chapters and share your ideas? Have you ever wondered if your chapter is taking full advantage of all Beta Gamma Sigma opportunities? Does learning how to do a better job recognizing and rewarding your school’s top students pique your interest? If you answered yes to any of these questions, we highly recommend that you join us for one of our upcoming Collegiate Chapter Training Seminars! 

Over the last few years, Beta Gamma Sigma has made several changes, and you can expect many more exciting developments in the future. To stay up to date, we first encourage you to open and read all chapter emails, including Chapter Notes. We also encourage you to attend and be actively engaged in our training seminars. Training seminars allow anyone involved in running the chapter to find out about time-tested best practices, gain insight into chapter operation procedures, learn new processes, hear about society events, programs and initiatives, express questions and concerns, and learn from chapter officers at other business schools. New chapters can discover how others have succeeded while older chapters can offer their advice on what works for their chapter. Material covered in the training will help you work on improving the overall effectiveness of your chapter.

Some of the material we cover in the training seminars includes the below:

• Global Leadership Summit
• Leadership scholarship program
• Chapter Management System (CMS)
• Chapter best practices
• Member benefits and discounts 

We encourage representatives from your chapter to attend a training seminar every two to three years to stay updated on material and Society information. If someone from your chapter has attended a seminar in the last three years, and if your Chapter Year in Review Survey is completed and submitted by the deadline, your chapter will earn five Collegiate Chapter Honor Roll points for each attendee!

Click here to learn more about the training seminars and register today!

Membership Fee Change Reminder

As a reminder, effective September 1, 2016, our standard membership fee is now a flat $75 USD. We will continue to charge masters second recognition students $10 USD for their membership. The membership fees for doctoral and doctoral second recognition students will continue to be waived ($0 USD). All students who accept membership will be charged $75 USD unless otherwise specified in the system. You are still able to add an additional fee amount to our standard fee should your chapter decide to do so. If your chapter subsidizes a portion or covers the full cost of BGS membership for your students, we will invoice your chapter for $75 USD per member. 

Please be sure to update your invitation letters as you invite your eligible students to membership. If you need assistance with adjusting your fee amounts, please reach out to your chapter manager.

Hosting Information Sessions & Tables

Hosting an information session or operating an information table is a great way to promote your BGS chapter on campus. Sessions can be customized to what works best for your school. You can involve various speakers, student officers, alumni, etc. During these sessions, you should cover the benefits of joining BGS, eligibility requirements, BGS opportunities, success stories of alumni, upcoming events, etc. If possible, ask your student officers to plan and host this event. It is a great opportunity for them to both share their BGS experience with other students and encourage other students to get involved. 

Information tables are similar to the information sessions. The tables can be staffed or un-staffed and located in the student union, school of business, campus career fairs, and freshman orientation. This is another great opportunity for your student officers to share some your responsibilities and assist with promoting your BGS chapter. We have promotional materials available to chapters free of charge and other items to order for your table, such as pens, Post-It notes, and balloons. Materials can be ordered using the supply order tab of the Chapter Management System. 

Having an information session and information table will also earn you points toward your Collegiate Chapter Honor Roll total for 2016-17. Here are a few tips to make sure your table or session is a success:

• Involve your BGS chapter alumni and faculty members
• Ask your student officers to get involved and share their experiences with BGS
• Use BGS promotional materials such as information cards, free BGS posters, and Professor Elwell stuffed owls
• Encourage students in all years to attend info sessions
• Include information about BGS programs, the benefits of BGS membership, and successful BGS alumni members

Student Officer Onboarding Webinar

Does your chapter have active student officers to assist in promoting your chapter and engaging members? If not, you should elect/select student officers for your chapter as soon as possible. One main reason it is important to have student officers is to help foster leadership in our student members while affording them with them the opportunity to cultivate their skills and be an asset to the chapter. If you have student officers, please make sure you send their names, email addresses, and position titles to your chapter manager. It is important that we have this information so they can be included in all student officer communications. 

Our first student officer onboarding webinar of the academic year will take place on Tuesday, September 27 at 10 AM CST. We will discuss best practices, goals to reach, the LinkedIn forum, and networking. Please share this link with your student officers to register for the webinar or view other available sessions. If your student officer is unavailable at this time, or for any other session, they will be able to view the recording on our website. We are looking forward to having another successful year with and continuing to grow our student officer program.

Fall 2016 CMS Webinars

The Chapter Management System (CMS) training webinars are essential for chapter advisors and admins to understand the functions of the CMS. We have continued to make updates and improvements to the functionality of the CMS and the webinar will serve as a great refresher for some and provide a more in-depth view for others. We will provide a through explanation of the system, demonstrating how to log in, how to check chapter funds and request payout, and more! 

The first CMS webinar will take place on Wednesday, October 12at 11 AM CST. Register for this or any of the other available fall sessions. We look forward to chatting with you at the first fall CMS webinar!

TOP TIER: The New BGS Virtual Graduate School Fair

BGS’s fall 2016 virtual graduate school fair, TOP TIER, is taking place from October 9 through October 23. TOP TIER can help your graduate school connect with highly sought-after BGS members through the following methods:

• Exclusive webinars (presented by only one school at a given time)
• 90-minute “meetings” with students
• Q&A session via voice or text to individuals or groups of students 

The webinars provide the following functionality options:

• Multiple presenter options
• Shared screen capability
• Tracking functionality
• Ability to share documents with students prior to the beginning of the session
• Recordings of your sessions for additional student outreach
• Polling technology

To make TOP TIER a convenient experience, you can select the timing of your presentation and conduct your webinar from virtually any location. The cost for recruiting graduate schools is just $150 USD. For more information, contact Lakshmi Sanjay at lsanjay@betagammasigma.org. Hurry! Space is limited.

BGS Benefit Spotlight

Are you in need of a new computer? Well, look no further. Lenovo provides a variety of offers for BGS members in the US and Canada. Visit our BGS Lenovo page for more details.

Graduate School Resources

ZHAW School of Management and Law, Centrum Graduate Business School, and the University of St. Thomas have joined with BGS to offer special scholarships and waivers to members. Several other institutions, such as the University of Missouri-Columbia, have partnered with BGS for many years and also offer tuition fee waivers to BGS members.