Volume 7 - Issue 13 September, 2011

WHAT's in this issue?

News:

Question of the Month

October Consultant Call Times Announced

New Resources posted in the Collegiate Resource Center

2011 Awards Applications Posted

Support:

Fall 2012 - Billing Implementation Update and Timeline

Officer Elections - Recommended Timeline

Nominating Committee 101

Join your Regional Support Group on Sigma Connect!

Member Development:

Live Help Lines and October Webinars

Accreditation Mentor Applications

Foundation:

Look for bold e-mail from the foundation

Spotlight on Alpha Mu for foundation fundraising efforts

Merchandise benefitting the foundation

Foundation Visits

News

Question of the Month

What does you chapter do to hand out your membership certificates and badges for new members? Do you have a special chapter ceremony that you'd be willing to share with others? Email Lorin Phillips (directorofchapterservices@gmail.com) with your ideas and practices!

October Consultant Call Times Announced

October call times were announced on September 26th in your RCs' Monday Update. Please refer to those times to sign-up. Attendance is recommended but optional. As an officer team, you should discuss the topics and then determine who is best to attend. Also, it is helpful if you come prepared with YOUR questions. Monthly calls are a conversation - time to get to know your RC and vice versa, share things which have been happening in the chapter, verify points awarded for reports, discuss any updates to the Accreditation tracking spreadsheet, and problem-solve with your RC - anything from technical issues, questions on planning a new event, or a chapter concern.

New Resources Posted in the Collegiate Resource Center

1. Financial: BillHighway Financial Agreement (informational). This is the text of the agreement form each member signs when they set-up their BillHighway Account.

2. Awards: 2011 Individual and Chapter Awards 3. Essential Sigma: Updated VP Admin Screen shots on how to

use the Arc Sequence Administrative features 4. Essential Sigma: video on how to correctly complete the online

P109 part I and II

2011 Awards Applications Posted

Tell us of your accomplishments in scholarship, recruitment, programming, Panhellenic, Ritual and values and overall chapter achievement. Or maybe you have an outstanding senior, chapter advisor or fraternity/sorority advisor. Don't let your chapter be

overlooked. Applications must be submitted for your chapter to be considered. Award nominations for Individual Awards are due on Tuesday, November 1. Award nominations for chapter awards must be submitted by Thursday, December 1. Check Sigma Connect for nomination forms located in the collegiate resource container under Awards.

Support

Fall 2012 - Billing Implementation Update and Timeline

Last month chapters activated their fall scheduled payments and also received an email from the Director of Chapter Services regarding outstanding balances. The email outlined the amount of money members owed to the chapter which were 1-30 days past due, 31-60 days past due, 61 - 90 days past due, or 90+ days past due. This email also included a call to action to work with their Financial Services Coordinator to resolving these outstanding balances by December 1, 2011. In the past two weeks, the outstanding balances owed to your chapters have been reduced by 17%. Nice work ladies! Thank you for your efforts here. A big Whale Done and congratulations to the following chapters who have done an excellent job resolving any outstanding balance prior to fall 2011 and now have minimum amounts left to collect:

Alpha Delta Theta PiAlpha Upsilon Epsilon Theta Theta Gamma

Beta Pi Gamma Lambda Zeta Theta

Gamma Xi Lambda

Resolving past outstanding balances and getting a clean start to the new academic year is the first phase of implementation. Throughout the implementation, it is our goal to be transparent with the changes to occur and provide monthly updates on actions completed and next actions. Please review this attached document that provides an executive summary of the changes plus our month-by-month implementation plan. This is important for advisors, officers, and individual members to read and be informed of the changes to occur fall 2011. Our role is to support, coach, and provide information. Your role is to be informed.

Our focus for the month of October includes:

Coaching Meeting: Treasurer and Financial Advisor with Your Financial Services Coordinator OR your Regional Consultant to achieve the following:

1. Review who still owes money from fall billing 2011, 2. Assist with sending women to Honor Council, 3. Assess budget and progress toward recruitment goals, 4. Determine any help needed with National Fees and how to

address members who have not yet paid their local dues

As a reminder, any woman owing more than $25 to the chapter for more than 7 days should be sent to Honor Council. That balance should be resolved by the next BillHighway statement due date. If it is not resolved, it should result in being sent to Honor Council again. Many are facing hard economic times, and it is the member's responsibility to work with their local leadership to request Special Consideration. This can reduce participation and local dues obligations. Financial stability is an expectation of membership. If you find yourself in a place where you cannot afford the responsibilities of membership, see if Special Consideration is a good option for you and your chapter. This is better than not paying your bills, incurring late fees from BillHighway, and generating more work for your chapter Treasurer and Honor Council. If your Special Consideration system is not working for you or your meeting is not being held by Honor Council, talk with your advisors to help resolve the situation and ensure a meeting is hosted. Questions? Submit your questions on the plan here. We'll begin including responses and FAQs in each issue of the Sigma Standard.

Officer Elections - Recommended Timeline

By October 15th - elect Nominating committee with an academic class elections (i.e. sophomores vote on a sophomore representative, Juniors vote on junior representative, Seniors vote on senior representative)

October 20th - Officer nomination and interest forms due to chair of the nominating committee

October 25th - grades verified and slate of officers AND Honor Council announced to chapter

November 1- elections held for all officer positions and honor council, be sure to complete OTP. Elections must occur before November 8th!

November 15 - President letter of introduction due (see Collegiate Reports in Sigma Connect)

Before Thanksgiving - incoming & outgoing officers schedule transition meeting AND Officer Retreat to be held for OTP

December 1 - incoming and out-going officers work to complete the Chapter Focus Area Assessment on the Collegiate Reports page. 1 submission per chapter.

December 1 - C202 to be updated with new officers

December before Finals - Officer Installation held & committees appointed for the spring semester (remember to update the C202 to add the spring committee chairs)

January 1 - all officers have read their 2012 position manual cover to cover (including the general officer section, insurance and risk management section, and their position-specific information). New members are posted by Nov. 15th each year.

February 1 - all officers have completed OTP and the Officer Retreat has been held

Feb. 15 - all chairs have completed OTP and the Committee Retreat has been held

Nominating Committee 101

Can you believe it is that time of year again? Officer elections are right around the corner. A couple of quick reminders:

Nominating committees are elected within academic classes. There should be 1 representative from each academic class - even the freshmen. New Members may serve on the committee although they cannot attend the CBM election. Outgoing officers or women interested in being an officer cannot serve on the Nominating Committee. See the President manual for more details.

Elections should be held no later than the 1st meeting in November. You need permission to hold your officer elections later than November 8th this year. Please contact your Regional Consultant to obtain permission.

Officers need to have a 2.5 or higher cumulative GPA PLUS a previous semester GPA of 2.0 or higher to be eligible to hold office.

Newly elected officers should be installed following the Rituals of Sigma Sigma Sigma at the last meeting of the fall semester.

Approximately November 1 - December 15th is a shadowing and transition period.

Outgoing officers are fully responsible for accreditation and accreditation appeals.

Newly elected officers should be able to attend one of the National Officer Academies held in January. Chris Smithhisler has sent out communication on these dates and recommended locations for chapters. If you have questions please contact Chris Smithhisler or your Regional Consultant.

Good luck with elections! Please communicate with your advisors regarding the nominating committee, officer retreat with OTP, and the overall elections process!

Don't forget to join your Regional Support Group on Sigma Connect

Your Regional Consultant has created a Sigma Connect group to provide you important updates every Friday. It is open to all alumnae and collegians. You can search and join your group by logging onto Sigma Connect, typing your Regional Group name into the search bar in the top right corner of the main page, then using the drop down menu to search for "groups." When you find your Regional Group, click on the group, then on the group's main page, click on the "Join Group" link on the left hand side. Now you can receive your consultant's Friday FAQs and Updates! The Regional Group Names are:

* Region 1 Support Community * Region 2 Support Community * Region 3 Community Support * Region 4 Support Community * New Chapters & Colonies

Member Development

Live Help Lines and October Webinars

To help your officers with new information, refreshers or problem-solving, there are two resources which will be available to your

members in the month of October:

Live-help Line - this is not a formal program but rather a set time(s) where National Representatives will be on a conference call line, Skype or Gchat to help you trouble-shoot, ask questions, or brainstorm. This month's focus topics include: * Vice President Admin Trouble Shooting Q&A * New Member Sigma Connect Login Issues * RM1 Completion Issues Check your RC's Monday Updates for her times Live-Help Line dates/times. Webinars - There will be 3 webinars offered in the month of October. To sign-up, please see this week's RC Monday Update for dates, times, and registration links. We will be covering three topics: * Nominating Committee and Officer Elections - process review and Q&A * Developing an Officer Transition Plan - we have OTP but how do you coordinate that on a local level and make sure the incoming officers have the resources and support they need from the outgoing officers. * Awards - how to complete and tips for success

Announcing the Accreditation Mentor Program!

Beginning January 2012, chapters will have the opportunity to be paired with an Accreditation mentor focused on helping them achieve Chapter Accreditation! Currently we are seeking both collegiate and alumnae women to serve as mentors for the 2012 Accreditation year. This is an opportunity to develop your personal coaching and mentoring skills as a volunteer. Attached here you will find a position description for the Accreditation Mentor, if you have any questions, feel free to contact Regional Consultant Brittany Parrott at regionalconsultant@gmail.com . Click here to apply before November 1, 2011. Application review process will take place in November with training in December. The volunteer position will begin in January. This is a great opportunity for outgoing officers and young alumnae! We are looking forward to having a variety of our members work together through this program! Next month, chapters will have an opportunity to request mentor support and outline their commitments to utilizing this resource and support system!

Foundation

LOOK FOR BOLD E-MAIL FROM THE FOUNDATION

A recent New York Times article notes that with the recent departure of two female high-profile corporate CEOs, the number of women in the "corner offices" has dwindled. We can do something about this! Be sure and watch for a bold e-mail from the Foundation which will educate you with some interesting facts about women leaders in the U.S., and also gives you a gift (a Sigma luggage tag or a Vera Bradley coin purse in the new "Plum Petals" design) in return for yours to the Foundation.

SPOTLIGHT ON ALPHA MU FOR FOUNDATION FUNDRAISING EFFORTS

Alpha Mu Chapter at the University of Louisiana/Lafayette hosts its annual dodge ball tournament each spring semester. This spring the chapter raised $5,000.00 for the Foundation! Thank you for your hard work, success, and the huge impact you've made to our sisterhood and play therapy for hospitalized children. Here's why Alpha Mu is so successful: Each member is required to do one of the following:

* Host a team to play * Collect monetary donations from parents or businesses * Collect prizes for the winners of the tournament * Personally donate to the cause The chapter advertises the tournament on campus by handing out fliers

and chalking. Other Greek organizations are notified at Greek Council meetings, and Alpha Mu sends a representative to their chapter houses to make an announcement at their chapter meetings. The tournament has two brackets, one for men and one for women. There are 6 players on a team and they play double elimination games. The tournament only lasts for about three hours, and every sister is required to attend and help sign-in participants, serve food, referee and manage their teams. Every participant is given an event t-shirt paid for by the members. There is free food, music, and the possibility of winning the prizes. *A tip to be able to afford all participants to receive a t-shirt with registration without taking away from the registration fees is finding a good deal on t-shirts and having members cover the cost. This year they found t-shirts for $5.00 a shirt. Each member paid $12.00 for their shirt instead of $5.00. This covered the cost of all the extra shirts for the players, and still allowed the members to pay a reasonable price for their t-shirt. They collect business logos and place them on the back of the tournament shirt for advertisement as an incentive to give money. This past year they had 17 teams play (6 players per team, $15.00 per player) which generated about $1,500.00 in profit. They had about $2,500.00 from parents and business donations, and another $1,000.00 from members donating their own money. A grand total of $5,000.00 was raised. Along with that they had another $750.00 worth of gift cards, merchandise that was donated. The winning team in the men's and women's bracket won about $60.00 worth of prizes. Leftover prizes are given to members who help out the most with the tournament, and who go above and beyond what was asked of them. This boosts member participation and enthusiasm.

Merchandise Benefiting the Foundation

Look stylish on campus with the classic Tri Sigma Vineyard Vines large tote bag, which is available for $86.00. Support collegiate leadership training by joining the 3Sigma4

collegiate giving club. For a personal gift of $18.98, you receive a special dangle for your badge. If the entire chapter contributes, your chapter is eligible for a special gift! Store your Sigma files on a Sigma flash drive which are available for only $15.00 each plus shipping and handling! These are great for school, work, or travel, so get them while they last. The proceeds from the tote bags, 3Sigma4 Giving club, and flash drives benefit the Sigma Sigma Sigma Foundation. You can order these items from Nancy Benedict at National Headquarters by calling her at 540-459-4212, writing to 225 N Muhlenberg St, Woodstock,VA 22664, or emailing her at nbenedic@trisigma.org.

FOUNDATION VISITS

School is underway and Foundation Development Officer Cindy Harms is excited to travel and visit collegiate chapters this fall. She will visit Boston, MA, on October 11-14, Philadelphia, PA, on October 25-28, and Kansas City, MO, on November 8-10. Contact her at charms@trisigma.org if you'd like her to visit your chapter and make the Foundation come alive!