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Welcome chapter officers and advisors!

Welcome to your first issue of the LeadingLeaders (formerly called INK)
e-newsletter. This monthly email will be a great resource for you throughout the year, offering reminders on upcoming deadlines as well as tips and suggestions for chapter management.

We hope your year is off to a fantastic start. We at the National Office look forward to working with you, and we know that our national leaders as well as the Mortar Board alumni community are excited to see all of the things you will accomplish this year!

If any of your officers did not receive this email, please forward this on to them and ask them to subscribe!

Agathai, Alpha Order and Torch: 2011's award-winning chapters

Mortar Board National President Dan Turner, left, with UCLA representatives Maddie Schwarz and Vince Palladino	Catherine Kenimer, the incoming president of the Alpha Order chapter, accepts Mortar Board's Most Improved Chapter Award	Regina Simmons accepts her award from Mortar Board National President Dan Turner

I think UCLA is the greatest university on the planet. I wanted our chapter to reflect that greatness. That was the vision that 2010-2011 president Vince Palladino had for the Agathai chapter. The entire chapter embraced that vision, and their hard work was rewarded when they were named the 2011 Ruth Weimer Mount Chapter Excellence Award recipient.

Likewise, the Alpha Order chapter at the University of South Carolina worked tremendously hard to make their chapter stand out.

Read more about these outstanding chapters as well as Rhodes College's Regina Simmons, recipient of the Excellence in Advising Award. Gold Torch and Silver Torch award-winning chapters are also listed.

Chapter resources

This is the time of year for planning! There are many resources available to help you plan and to stay organized this year.

Section coordinators – Your section coordinator is a valuable resource for your chapter! These awesome leaders have tons of Mortar Board experience and can help you tackle even your most challenging issues. They will also help you with chapter reports and will help make sure you are meeting the national deadlines for reporting.

Chapter email – Does your chapter change email accounts each year? If so, you may be losing important records. Plus, if an old email account is not regularly checked, you could be missing important messages from your stakeholders!

The solution? Use your chapter’s free Google Apps email. The email account can be handed off to each new class and your chapter will have a central place to keep important email messages. Each chapter already has an email account set up. If you have questions or don’t have your chapter’s username or password, email us for more information.

Your email account also comes with other great tools for your chapter, including:

• Google sites - Quickly create and publish a free website for your Mortar Board chapter
• Gmail - Collect membership applications, distribute reminders, contact potential members and more
• Google docs - Upload and share important documents, minutes and reports
• Calendar - Subscribe to Mortar Board’s national calendar and build your own, all in one easy-to-access location

LeadingLeaders Facebook group – This is a facebook group for chapter officers and advisors and is a place to learn from and share with each other. Ask questions, get feedback on new ideas and tell us about the things you are doing on your campus. Join the group!

P.S. Mortar Board also has an official Facebook page. Like it to keep up with national news and to connect with the Mortar Board community.

Mortar Board website – Forget when a report is due? Need ideas for new projects? From a calendar with all due dates listed, to a complete list of reports, to information about awards and opportunities for chapters and individual members, you can find just about anything you want to know at www.mortarboard.org.

Speaking of deadlines …

Here are the important upcoming deadlines for fall (and remember, you can use our Google calendar to keep track of all national deadlines):

Due immediately
Officer address and information form - If you do not know for sure that your chapter submitted this form, or if you have changed or added new officers, please email a revised form to reports@mortarboard.org immediately.

October 15
Chapter Action Plan (CAP) - This form will help you plan out your year, including the all-important task of selecting the next class.

Chapter project grants - Need funding for a chapter event or project? Apply for a chapter project grant! Projects which reflect the aims and purposes of Mortar Board, engage all of the chapter's membership and have the potential for becoming an annual chapter activity are given priority.

Forum submissions - Share your chapter's success with the national Mortar Board community! Send your news (and pics!) to mbforum@mortarboard.org.

November 15
Alumni award nominations - Honor Mortar Board alumni by nominating them for one of the prestigious alumni awards.

December 15
Chapter visibility grants - If you have plans to increase your campus visibility during Mortar Board Week, apply for this grant. Funding can be used for anything related to visibility.

Are you On Campus?

Spring 2011 issue

Check out the On Campus section of the Mortar Board Forum to see what was written about your chapter! Sending your news to the Forum is a great way to share your chapter's success with the national Mortar Board community.

Don’t forget to send in your chapter report (and include pictures) to mbforum@mortarboard.org on or before October 15.