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Mortar Board chapter FAQ

Click the question mark to see the answer.

What are the Chapter Minimum Standards?

Chapter Minimum Standards were established as part of the Bylaws by the delegates at the 1982 National Conference (Bylaws, Article III, Section 9). These standards are considered to be essential for chapter operations and to ensure the strength and success of the individual chapters. Each chapter shall:

1. Select new members on the basis of distinguished ability and achievement in scholarship, leadership and service.
2. Prior to tapping, send the names and qualifications of candidates to the National Office for verification.
3. Tap new members before the end of the school year.
4. Hold an orientation program for those tapped prior to initiation.
5. Collect the national fees from new members prior to initiation, as well as fees from continuing members. Submit these fees together with the conference fee, the honorary membership petition and fee(s) and the Official Membership Report (available online at www.mortarboard.org) to the National Office.
6. Elect new chapter officers before the end of the school year and fully orient them to Mortar Board with help from the outgoing chapter president, in cooperation with the advisor(s). All officers are to receive, maintain and pass on a manual of pertinent information for that office.
7. Hold regular and frequent meetings (at least once a month during the school year).
8. Establish a participation policy.
9. Have at least one advisor. (It is recommended that a chapter have more than one and that they serve for a minimum of two years to aid in continuity of chapter operations.)
10. Submit a financial report (and appropriate IRS forms, if necessary) to the National Office each year.
11. Send a chapter representative to the national conference.
12. Include alumni programming

Successful chapters will go beyond the minimum list above. The Officer & Advisor Handbook includes recommendations for chapter development. Bylaws, Article V, Sections 3 and 4 outline the procedure that will be followed when chapters fail to adhere to the list of standards.

Can I have a sample of ____?
The National Office provides templates and examples of many different documents that might be useful for your chapter. Samples and templates for topics related to the membership selections process are located here.

Visit the handbooks and guides page to see all of Mortar Board’s publications, many of which contain sample documents, or request templates by e-mailing mbforum@mortarboard.org.

How can I know when our chapter’s forms are due?
For a complete calendar of due dates for all pertinent chapter forms (including required forms and some optional forms), please click here or view the list.

We have a chapter member who never shows up or is not pulling their weight, and we feel it is unfair to our other chapter members who work very hard.  What can we do?
It is unfortunate when any member of an organization chooses to not participate fully.  First, try to talk with the person about why they are not participating; perhaps they have a class or work conflict.  If your chapter cannot establish contact with the person or the person does not have a valid excuse for not participating, and your chapter feels strongly enough about taking action, you have two options.  First, you could ask the person to resign their membership in Mortar Board.  Or, you could go through the process of removing them from the chapter.  Both of these policies are outlined in our Bylaws.

What is a Chapter Citation?
Chapter Citations are given to individuals whom a chapter wishes to honor for one reason or another.  Oftentimes these individuals have given generously to the Mortar Board chapter in some way.  If you would like to present someone with a chapter citation, please contact Megan at the National Office.

I am having problems with the OMR or another online form.  HELP!
While making forms electronic often makes them easier to submit and process, there are sometimes glitches.  If you encounter a problem while submitting your Official Membership Report, Chapter Financial Report, or other online form, please call the National Office at 1-800-989-6266 so that we may assist you.  We also recommend using Internet Explorer as sometimes our forms have functionality problems with Firefox and Netscape.

We are having trouble finding out the upper 35 percent GPA of our junior class/ establishing our chapter’s GPA standard.  What should we do?
In order to obtain the upper 35th percentile GPA of your junior class (the cut-off number your chapter should be using for membership), you need to contact the registrar at your college or university.  This person is in charge of keeping all student records and should be able to release this number to you.  While some schools will also assist you by giving you the names of all students who meet that GPA or even sending out e-mails on behalf of your chapter, some will not due to privacy laws.  If you are having difficulty with your school releasing this number to you, please contact Megan at the National Office.  Please note that our Constitution and Bylaws require that you use the GPA figure that represents the upper 35th percentile of your junior class or a 3.0 for your chapter GPA standard, whichever figure is HIGHER.

Where can I get a list of alumni from my chapter or alums that live in my area?
The National Office is able to do zip code searches and provide you with the contact information of alumni either from your chapter or who live in your area (or both).  Please e-mail mortarboard@mortarboard.org with the zip codes you would like lists for, or phone in your request by calling the National Office.

I am trying to access my chapter’s information and forms online, and I am being asked for a chapter passcode.  What is that?
If you do not know your chapter’s passcode to access our secure online forms, please contact the National Office at 1-800-989-6266.

My chapter is looking for programming ideas for fundraising, community service, or other events.  Do you have any suggestions?
Visit the chapter resources section of this Web site to see extensive listings of programming information for a variety of chapter activities including service and fundraising.

I have heard that our chapter is tax exempt.  What does this mean for us and how do I get proof of our status?
All Mortar Board chapters are exempt from federal taxes.  Most states accept this status and exempt chapters from state tax as well.  If you need specific proof of your chapter’s tax exempt status, including your federal tax ID ("EIN") number, please contact the National Office.

Having an EIN number and affiliation with national Mortar Board comes with responsibilities.  Your chapter must file the annual Chapter Finance Report each spring to maintain non-profit status with the IRS.  Additionally, if your chapter has more than $25,000 of income during the year, you must file additional paperwork with the IRS.  Assistance for this specialized reporting is available from the National Office.

If your chapter is not yet tax-exempt, be sure to file with the IRS and record your EIN number with the National Office. 

How do I set up my nationally-provided chapter e-mail address? What is it?

Each Mortar Board chapter is given its own mortarboard.org e-mail address. To see a list of these e-mail addresses, click here. Your e-mail password is the same as the chapter passcode used for online report forms. However, if the chapter’s passcode is only three characters, the e-mail password will be different. Please add a zero at the beginning of the three-digit passcode for it to work as your e-mail password. If you do not know your chapter passcode, contact the National Office.

There are three options for checking your mortarboard.org e-mail:

1. Set up forwarding by sending an e-mail to mbforum@mortarboard.org with your chapter e-mail address, the password and the address you would like to have it forwarded to.
2. Check it via Mortar Board Webmail at webmail.mortarboard.org. Your username will be the full e-mail address, for example: chapter@mortarboard.org. Your password will be your full chapter passcode or, in the case that it is three characters, your passcode beginning with an added zero.
3. Check it in Outlook, Gmail or your preferred e-mail program using POP3 or IMAP settings. Your username is the full e-mail address, for example: chapter@mortarboard.org. View an instructional video on using Gmail to check your mortarboard.org e-mail address.

   Your password is your chapter passcode or, in the case that it is three characters, your passcode beginning with an added zero. Your incoming server, such as a POP3 or IMAP server, is mail.mortarboard.org. You use your own outgoing mail server, or SMTP server. For example: smtp.aol.com
   Please contact the Mortar Board National Office at 800-989-6266 ext. 106 or mbforum@mortarboard.org with questions regarding chapter e-mail addresses.

What award opportunities exist for chapters?

View a complete list of award opportunities here.

Don't see your answer here? Try the membership FAQ page or contact the Mortar Board National Office by phone at 1-800-989-6266 or by e-mail at mortarboard@mortarboard.org for further assistance.