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Welcome to the 2009-2010 INK: Important monthly news for chapter officers and advisors The Mortar Board INK, distributed September through May from e-mail address enews@mortarboard.org, serves as a resource for officers and advisors of Mortar Board. This important newsletter includes:
Officers and advisors reported in the Officer Address Information Form receive this newsletter. Please forward this to others who you believe would benefit or ask them to subscribe. The Mortar Board model year Being a Mortar Board officer or advisor is a great responsibility that will be both fun and challenging. Below are things that will help to guide your chapter throughout the year. Getting started
First half of the year (August - December)
Second half of the year (January - graduation)
Mortar Board launches second annual Virtual Book Drive
For the second year, the Virtual Book Drive held in conjunction with First Book will kick of the year's "Reading is Leading" initiatives. With a donation of just $2, a child from a low-income family can be provided with their very first brand-new book. Nationally, Mortar Board hopes to raise $30,000 to give children across the country access to books. Detailed information can be found in the Virtual Book Drive packet. Why does literacy matter? Illiteracy is linked to nearly every major socioeconomic crisis today. Children who cannot read are statistically more likely as adults to suffer poor health, struggle in the job market, rely on government assistance, and find themselves in the criminal justice system.
Please help to uphold the Mortar Board ideals of scholarship, leadership and service by making a difference today through First Book! How your chapter can participate
For complete details, please download the Virtual Book Drive packet. Top donor chapters are eligible for monthly and overall prizes Monthly prizes will be distributed to the top fundraisers for August, September, October and November. The chapters with the highest amount of donations in the given month will receive a $100 Borders gift card*. Click here to see the current amount of donations. Overall, the top three chapters, plus five “honorable mention” chapters, will receive bonus Marketplace credits for their recipient group at the end of the drive. *This gift card should be given to a qualified recipient group (a program that serves low-income families or children). It may be the same group the chapter is using as their recipient group for the drive, or it may be an additional group Ways to donate
Mortar Board announces "10 in '10" initiative For the 2009-2010 academic year, chapters are being presented with a “10 in ‘10” challenge to make a goal that will increase the number of applicants for each chapter by 10 percent. While this goal is related to membership, it is also closely affiliated to campus visibility. By utilizing various publicity tactics, from holding more campus events to publicizing the chapter on Facebook, campus visibility can be attained in a number of ways. For visibility tips, please review the Officer & Advisor Handbook or view this help page. Based on the numbers reported by your chapter in 2009, Mortar Board hopes that your chapter will make it a local goal to increase campus visibility and membership recruitment, and therefore receive 10 percent more applications. If you do not know the number of applications received in 2009, please contact your section coordinator or the National Office.
According to Article VI, Section 1.2 of the Mortar Board Bylaws, "the maximum membership of a collegiate chapter shall be 50 members or 1.5 percent of the student body with junior standing, whichever is greater." Your chapter is encouraged to calculate its maximum number to use as a goal. You may also decide to petition to exceed that membership goal**. ** If receiving more applications means that your chapter feels comfortable selecting a larger class, please be sure to submit the Petition for Chapter Size Exception. Chapter spotlight: University of Washington
The Tolo chapter at the University of Washington is the 2009 Ruth Weimer Mount Chapter Excellence Award recipient. The group truly embodies a tradition of chapter excellence and is consistently devoted to Mortar Board's ideals of scholarship, leadership and service. To support scholarship on campus, the chapter established the “Mortar Board Excellence in Teaching Award” in 2002 to recognize and engage faculty. This tradition is incorporated with Mortar Board Week each year to heighten the awareness of Mortar Board on campus. Additionally, the chapter fundraises to contribute to a scholarship endowment used to provide scholarships to students at their university. The chapter provides leadership by supporting many highly visible projects on campus and awarding students and faculty for their achievements. They consistently collaborate with their local alumni chapter for brunch events, educational forums and service projects. They even had the university president establish an additional Mortar Board Week on campus to coincide with their new member tapping. The group's service is outstanding. Members support the community by cleaning up university district areas, volunteering at shelters and food banks, and supporting national literacy initiatives by partnering with First Book and the Mortar Board Virtual Book Drive, as well as Better World Books. With strong historical roots, the chapter has been in existence even longer than national Mortar Board. The Tolo chapter was first established as an honor club for women in 1909, making this year the chapter's centennial. Your chapter can be in the spotlight too! Nominate your group by sending your chapter name, university, e-mail address and what makes your chapter unique to enews@mortarboard.org. |
Deadlines & Reminders Check your files and with the National Office to see that all reports from last year have been submitted to reports@mortarboard.org! October 15 November 16
December 15
January 31
March 15
May 15
Icebreaker of the month Autograph Bingo Let your chapter members get to know each other by learning interesting (and humorous) facts about other members. First, create a table with 5 rows and 5 columns and fill it in with interesting facts or statements like those on this sample card. These facts can be easy such as “has blond hair” or more out of the ordinary such as “knows a martial art.” Remember, you want someone to actually win, so mix and match easy statements with more difficult ones. Distribute writing utensils and the bingo cards you created to members. Be sure to let the group know that they should mingle and find other members to sign squares with facts that apply to them. Members can only sign each card once, and cannot sign their own card. The first member to get a complete row of 5 autographs (horizontal, vertical or diagonal) and shout “BINGO!” wins! For an extra get-to-know you benefit, you can ask everyone to introduce themselves after the game. They can stand and say their name, major(s) or minor(s), chapter office (if they hold one) and one square they were able to sign on the bingo cards. Consider giving a prize to the winner, such as a Mortar Board gift item or gift certificate to a local restaurant. Recruitment tip of the month Get campus visibility early Being highly visible on campus can supplement recruitment efforts greatly. A few great ways to gain early campus visibility are to design chapter T-shirts for members to wear throughout the academic year, print chapter business cards and participate in campuswide events with a chapter booth. Often, many colleges and universities have student organization and activity fairs at the beginning of the academic year or term. By creating and staffing a booth for your Mortar Board chapter, you can share information about your chapter with prospective members of all ages. Mortar Board can provide complimentary national brochures for you to distribute. To request these brochures, please call 800-989-6266 or e-mail your name, chapter, shipping address (not a P.O. Box) and desired quantity to mortarboard@mortarboard.org.
Advisors: ACHS offers advising grants ACHS has announced a grant program that will offer six $500 grants to pilot projects that achieve one of the following objectives:
This project must also:
Advisors interested in submitting a proposal should download this information packet provided by ACHS. Proposals must be received by October 15, 2009. Projects and advisors awarded in 2008-2009 are not eligible. All questions should be directed to ACHS Executive Director Dr. Dorothy I. Mitstifer at dmitstifer@achsnatl.org. Connect with
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