Completing the Official Membership Report (OMR)

Mortar Board

Importance of the Official Membership Report

The Official Membership Report (OMR) is the most important Mortar Board report of the year. It provides Mortar Board with vital demographic information about new members so their eligibility can be approved by the National Office and the data can be recorded for the permanent records. Although they may have been selected, members can not be tapped or initiated until they have been submitted on the OMR and subsequently approved by the Mortar Board National Office.

Please submit the OMR immediately following the selection process and two weeks prior to tapping. Be sure to spell names correctly, as all membership certificates are issued using the information provided.

Once the OMR is received, candidates can be approved and your chapter will be mailed a package with important materials needed for tapping, initiation and orientation, including:

Overview of completion steps

1. Immediately after selecting members and at least two weeks PRIOR to tapping, complete worksheets labeled Form I and Form II of the OMR.

  • Form I must be completed in its entirety.
  • Form II includes a green column (Column M, "Candidate Status") which does not need to be updated until after initiation. Please leave that column blank at this time.
  • Save the OMR workbook you complete and submit on your local computer or USB drive. The information contained in Forms I and II of this workbook will be used to finalize your chapter's OMR data when Form III is submitted after initiation.
  • If you have difficulty viewing tabbed worksheets in Microsoft Excel 2007, you may need to maximize the interior frame containing the workbook.

2. Submit the workbook containing completed Forms I and II to mortarboard@mortarboard.org at least two weeks prior to your planned tapping.

  • After completing Forms I and II, please submit the entire OMR workbook to the Mortar Board National Office at mortarboard@mortarboard.org. You should save this file and reopen it when the time comes to complete the third worksheet, Form III, within one week following initiation.
  • If a candidate does not meet your chapter's or the national GPA standard, you will need to submit a Petition for Scholarship Exception alongside the OMR.
  • The maximum number of candidates is 1.5% of the student body with junior standing or 50 (whichever is greater).  The minimum is 15, or 10% of the student body with junior standing (whichever is less).  If your selected amount of candidates does not fall in this range, you will need to complete and submit a Petition for Chapter Size Exception along with the OMR.
  • If your chapter has selected one or more honorary members, you should submit a Petition for Honorary Membership for each honorary candidate.

3. Await approval from the Mortar Board National Office.

  • DO NOT TAP OR INITIATE NEW MEMBERS WITHOUT APPROVAL FROM THE NATIONAL OFFICE.
    After your candidates have been approved by the National Office, you may tap your new candidates and finalize your initiation ceremony preparations. Approval will be sent by email. The National Office will send membership certificates, pins and membership booklets to the shipping address listed in Form I.
  • If you have not heard from the Mortar Board National Office within three business days, please call 800-989-6266 ext. 103 to confirm that your Official Membership Report (OMR) was received.

4. Hold tapping, orientation and initiation for new members. Collect all dues prior to initiation.

All new collegiate members must pay a national membership fee of $75 as well as any local membership fees.

5. Submit the final OMR and all necessary fees within one week following initiation.

  • Once initiation is complete, a final OMR must be submitted to the National Office to confirm the paid status of each new member.
  • Column M of Form II and the entirety of Form III should be completed.
  • Along with the final OMR, all fees must be submitted by mail with a printed copy of Form III. Without payment of all national fees, your chapter may be put on probation and will be ineligible to vote at the annual national conference. All payment should be submitted immediately following initiation. There are three types of fees required by Mortar Board:
    1. New member fee - This is the fee to be paid by all newly-initiated Mortar Board members, not including any local dues your chapter may require. The current fee is $75.
    2. Continuing member fee - Members who are not yet graduating and would like to continue their active Mortar Board membership for an additional year should pay a $25 continuing member fee.
    3. Conference fee - Each year, representatives from every Mortar Board chapter attend the annual national conference to vote upon vital issues, select national leadership and prepare for the coming year. Each chapter is required to pay a $250 fee to help offset the cost of attendance for the chapter delegate.

CLICK HERE TO ENTER THE OMR FORM NOW.

Overview of information required in the Official Membership Report (OMR) - reference only

Form I - Chapter information required

Please do not submit the following information in any way other than using the Microsoft Excel OMR. This list is simply for your reference.

  • Name of college/university
  • Planned tapping date
  • Planned initiation date
  • GPA standard (minimum GPA that a candidate must have)
  • Total university enrollment
  • Size of junior class
  • Total number of nominations and/or applications received (total number of candidates reviewed during your selection)
  • Number of Mortar Board pins current on hand with your chapter
  • Chapter advisor name
  • Advisor phone number
  • Advisor email address
  • Name of person completing this form
  • Submitter's phone number
  • Submitter's email address
  • Chapter or advisor shipping address (must be able to receive packages)
  • Total number of new candidates submitted (including honorary)

Form II - Information on selected candidates**

  • First, middle and last name (middle name not required)
  • Gender
  • Permanent address
  • Phone number
  • Email address (primary and secondary)
  • GPA*
  • Graduation date
  • Candidate type**(regular collegiate member or honorary member)
  • Note that the candidate status column in Form II does not need to be completed until Form III

*If a candidate does not meet your chapter's or the national GPA standard, you will need to submit a Petition for Scholarship Exception alongside the OMR.

**The maximum number of candidates is 1.5% of the student body with junior standing or 50 (whichever is greater).  The minimum is 15, or 10% of the student body with junior standing (whichever is less).  If your selected amount of candidates does not fall in this range, you will need to complete and submit a Petition for Chapter Size Exception along with the OMR. If your chapter has selected one or more honorary members, you should submit a Petition for Honorary Membership for each honorary candidate.

DO NOT TAP NEW MEMBERS WITHOUT APPROVAL FROM THE NATIONAL OFFICE.
After completing Forms I and II, please submit the entire OMR workbook to the Mortar Board National Office at mortarboard@mortarboard.org. You should save this file and reopen it when the time comes to complete the third worksheet, Form III, within one week following initiation. After your candidates have been approved by the National Office, you may tap your new candidates and finalize your initiation ceremony preparations. The National Office will send membership certificates, pins and membership booklets to the shipping address listed in Form I.

Form III - Completion and payment information

Form III allows your chapter to finalize the status of each candidate after initiation has been held and to calculate exactly what fees are owed to the National Office. You will need to return to Form II and complete Column M (the candidate status column) with information required to calculate payment options for each candidate.

  • Honorary (should only be used for honorary members, as there is no fee associated with honorary membership)
  • Paid and initiated
  • Refused (chose not to join Mortar Board at this time)
  • Abroad (It is helpful for us to know if a student is abroad. However, please make sure that abroad students arrange to pay their dues prior to your chapter's initiation. For their convenience, abroad students may follow this link to pay national dues online.)

Please also indicate the names of any continuing senior members. The fee to be an active, continuing senior in Mortar Board is $25 and this fee will automatically be added to your balance at the end of Form III if your chapter has continuing seniors.

Finally, on Form III, you may select whether your chapter would like to use the national gift membership. This gift membership can be used for one candidate or divided among several at your chapter's discretion. The candidate for whom the gift membership is used does not need to be indicated in any way. Simply select that you would like to use the gift membership and the dues amount for one member will be deducted from the entire amount due for your chapter. Be sure to mark any students receiving the gift membership as paid.

Form III will automatically calculate the chapter fees required for you. If you feel there is a problem with the calculations, please contact the Mortar Board National Office at 800-989-6266 or mortarboard@mortarboard.org. Otherwise, please email the finalized OMR workbook to mortarboard@mortarboard.org. You should also mail a printed copy of Form III along with your chapter's check for the total amount due to the Mortar Board National Office at 1200 Chambers Road, Suite 201, Columbus, OH 43212.

If you have questions or need help at any time, please contact the Mortar Board National Office at 800-989-6266 or mortarboard@mortarboard.org.

CLICK HERE TO ENTER THE OMR FORM NOW.