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LEADing the leaders As an advisor, you are a vital part of your students' Mortar Board experience! With your guidance, new Mortar Boards learn the history and traditions of our Society and fulfill the high expectations of being Mortar Board members. To help you coach your students, Mortar Board offers the Leadership Excellence and Advisor Development (LEAD) certification program for advisors. The LEAD program will give you the tools to strengthen and build your chapter. Whether you are a first-time or seasoned Mortar Board advisor, this program will offer you insights and ideas. You will learn:
LEAD will be held Friday, July 29 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. before the Mortar Board National Conference in Chicago. The LEAD registration fee is only $245. Join your students at the National Conference and learn alongside them. As their “guide on the side,” you can be right there in Chicago to help them process the information that they are taking in. If you have friends or colleagues that advise other student groups on campus, invite them to attend as well--the LEAD program will benefit advisors of any student group on campus! Don't miss out on this opportunity! Register now. Wrap up the Mortar Board year successfully New member selection, tapping and initiation, new officer elections and chapter transitions, and year-end reporting--this is a busy time of year for Mortar Board chapters! And, with graduation on the horizon for outgoing members, it can be challenging to keep everything on schedule. Here are a few things to keep in mind as you bring the year to a close:
Officers may come to you for help in completing their year-end reports and award nominations. The National Office encourages you to support your chapter, but it is not your responsibility to finish the chapter officers' work for them. Feel free to lend a hand where necessary. During the transition the outgoing and incoming officers should coordinate and divide the work that needs to be done, instead of letting it fall to you. You can help and guide them as they plan how to accomplish this.
Transition and train new officers - A proper transition should include a group and one-on-one meeting, often a retreat, at which officer binders and records are passed from one officer to the next. Show new officers where files are located on your chapter's Google Docs page. Complete reports -It is the responsibility of the outgoing chapter to complete all chapter reports before graduation. Here is a list of due dates and the officers responsible for completing the reports:
*Optional, strongly encouraged
Elect new officers - Before leaving campus for the summer, elect officers and report them to the National Office. Register for the conference - Though all members are encouraged to attend, each chapter must send one official delegate to the annual Mortar Board National Conference. The official delegate registration is provided at no cost to the member*. This delegate should be the new chapter president, but if he or she cannot attend, the delegate may be another officer. More information about the conference is available online. Get acquainted - The new chapter should set up at least one meeting before the end of the academic year to get to know each other and start planning for next year. Each edition of the Mortar Board INK features an icebreaker idea that you can use to help engage the members. Plan to keep in touch - Members may be scattered during the summer, so please encourage them to stay in touch via e-mail or phone. *The chapter conference fee and funding from Mortar Board, Inc. cover transportation, lodging, meals and registration materials for one delegate per chapter. A chapter delegate choosing additional options, such as single rooms or optional entertainment activities, must pay for those fees personally, or through his or her chapter. National Conference opportunities for students The Mortar Board National Conference is a wonderful opportunity for any Mortar Board member! Your chapter president attends as an official delegate. The conference offers other officers and members an opportunity to get leadership development training, to learn the history and traditions of Mortar Board, and to become better equipped to lead your chapter. Encourage your students to attend! Chapter Solutions Workshop Many of our chapters have found great success and have specific ideas to share about fundraising, campus programming and building chapter stature. Come and learn from your peers and from Mortar Board national leadership--it will be time well-spent for you and for your chapter's conference participants. You can find more information on the registration forms. Pay-It-Forward Fund You can help share the conference experience with a Mortar Board from another chapter with a donation to our Pay-It-Forward Fund. With a gift of any size, you can help to cover the registration fee and help a chapter leader have the leadership experience of a lifetime. Your donation can be mailed to the Mortar Board National Office with a check written out to Mortar Board, Inc. with the Pay-It-Forward Fund written in the memo line. Contributions are tax-deductible. If you represent an underfunded chapter and are interested in taking advantage of Mortar's Board Pay-It-Forward Fund, please e-mail conference@mortarboard.org. Advisor spotlight
Jeff Wright is a professor of economics and the MBA coordinator at Lenoir-Rhyne University in Hickory, North Carolina. Read more about his experiences in advising the Arktos chapter on our blog.
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Connect with Mortar Board
Advisor Annual Report due May 15 Let us know how your year went! Annual reports help the National Office keep connected to each chapter--which ultimately helps us better serve you. Please submit your advisor annual report on or before May 15.
IRS notice If your chapter receives a letter or postcard from the IRS indicating that you need to file a tax return (form 990), please forward it to the National Office. The National Office files group returns on behalf of all chapters. You can scan and email the letter or postcard to mortarboard@mortarboard.org. Please do not contact the IRS yourself.
Check out the Mortar Board store! The Mortar Board store has a variety of merchandise to meet your chapter's needs. Honor your graduating seniors with stoles, honor cords or medallions. Or, check out great gifts for new members and giveaway ideas for your Mortar Board meetings or retreat.
Your online sources for Mortar Board news www.mortarboard.org/news You can also stay informed by signing up for our e-newsletters:
Encourage your graduates to keep their Mortar Board connections Mortar Board is a lifelong honor! The distinction and benefits of being a Mortar Board do not end at graduation. Encourage your graduating seniors to keep their Mortar Board connections--we all know the importance of networking! Resources for new graduates and other alumni can be found online.
Resources for advisors Officer & Advisor Handbook
Membership Selection Handbook
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Having problems viewing this e-mail? View it as a Web site or download a printer-friendly PDF. You are being sent this e-newsletter because you have been reported as an officer or advisor for your chapter of Mortar Board. If you are no longer a chapter officer or advisor and have already reported this to your local chapter, you may unsubscribe from this newsletter. Mortar Board National Office | 1200 Chambers Road, Suite 201 | Columbus, OH 43212 | 800-989-6266 |
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Advisor tips
