Transcript Delta Kappa Gamma MemberSHIP

Delta Kappa Gamma
MemberSHIP
Smooth Sailing
for New Presidents
Xi State Web site Membership
Section

What will be available there
This PowerPoint Presentation
 Games Templates
 Completed Games to use for
Orientation/Reorientation
 Delta Kappa Gamma Song in Mnemonic
form
 Other document files to help you build your
chapter

International Web Site

Page for Membership Committee has the
following:
Download for “Delta Kappa Gamma 101”
PowerPoint for Orientation
 Links for ordering Membership Anniversary
pins, brochures on membership
 Download of graphics files for Society
emblems and insignia

Reinstated and Transfer
Members
No fee for reinstatement
 Any members can ask for reinstatement
at any time, but chapter votes
 Geographic relocation or job change
may trigger transfer to another chapter
 All Active, Reserve, and Honorary
members in good standing are eligible to
transfer to another chapter

Keys to finding new members
Think outside the classroom
 Use a variety of means to identify
prospects
 Consider all kinds of educators, not just
those like ourselves

Who will be your new members?
According to the International
Constitution:

Active members shall be women who
are employed in educational work at the
time of election and have had three or
more years of experience as
professional educators (Article III, B1).
Other classifications of membership

Reserve


Must request transfer from active
membership based on inability to attend due
to long-term physical problems or
geographic location
Honorary

Must have performed significant service to
women and/or education but be ineligible for
active membership
For Active membership have you
considered…
Classroom teachers?
 Administrators?
 College or trade school instructors?
 Instructional Aides? Paraprofessionals?
 Private or charter school teachers?
 Educational program administrators?
 Private tutors?

For Active membership have you
considered…
Librarians instructing in the public
library?
 Church school education department
leaders?
 Business employees responsible for
employee training?
 Pre-school and nursery school
teachers?

Or These …
Registered nurses who present
educational programs?
 State or countywide teacher training
educators?
 State Department of Education
employees who provide educational
services?
 Corporate trainers and seminar leaders?

Have you looked in these places for
Professional Educators?

School or work place for regular and part-time
teaching staff, specialists, substitutes, support
personnel, and administrators
 District, county, state, national, international
schools; countrywide service centers;
universities; professional career training
institutes
 Grade level, department, curriculum or
professional development meetings,
conferences, workshops, and conventions
Or These?
Community colleges, adult and
community education courses
 Board of Education, local community,
and public board meetings
 Organized community park, recreation,
sport, and leisure time programs
 Pre-school, private, parochial, charter,
alternative schools, and senior citizen
centers

Have you looked here for
Professional Educators?
Hospital, nursing home, assisted living,
and care centers
 Public libraries, museums, institutes, and
service organizations
 Private businesses and corporations for
individuals responsible for training and in
servicing or creating instructional or
training materials

Don’t forget to consider these as
well…
Health, wellness, personal growth, travel,
enrichment, hobby, parenting, human
growth and development speakers and
events
 Local tutors and private teachers
(instruments, drama, painting, …)
 Social and community events
 Internet interactions and relationships

Can you considered prospects such
as these?
Susan, a resource teacher for “gifted”
students for 22 years, is planning to retire in
June.
 Anita, an extraordinary teacher, is beginning
her third year in the classroom.
 Jean, a retired teacher, volunteers as a docent
at a local art institute.
 Jane accepted the chapter’s invitation to
membership 15 months ago, but has been
unable to attend an initiation.

How about these?
Ingrid, a police officer, is assigned to
work with teachers and students
regarding safety, violence and abuse.
 MaryAnn was an unpaid tutor for many
years; now, she serves on the Board of
Education
 Heidi just finished her education to
become a kindergarten teacher; she
wants to join.

And these?

Liisa, an engineer, trains small girls in skiing
and skating during her leisure time; she has
spoken to school groups about the benefits of
an active life.
 Antji, a retired university professor, was
invited to membership two years ago; now that
she has time, she is interested.
 Sigridur will retire in two years from the
municipal library; she was a school librarian for
five years early in her career.
 Grete has written many plays and short stories
for children during the past decade.
What about these?

Sylvia taught six years before leaving
teaching; she returned to the classroom two
years ago.
 Kay has been an instructional aide in a
Special Education classroom for seven years.
 For two years Amy has done pre-school story
time/story telling programs as librarian at the
public library.
 Shirley has been a district pre-school/Head
Start teacher for five years.
Can these women be members?
Valerie is retiring in January, three
months before the chapter’s scheduled
initiation.
 Reverend Joanne organized the
religious education program in her
church and has taught in it for five years.


Tammy is student teaching in the high school
English department.
 Laura has written the training manuals and
has been responsible for in-service training at
XYZ Corporation for twelve years.
Finally, these?





Carol taught in the district’s adult education
program for twelve years.
After teaching for five years, Beth is the new
principal of a private, alternative high school.
Donna has completed her fifth year of
teaching at a community college.
Andrea completed her doctorate in early
childhood education although she has not yet
actually taught.
Michelle is a professor in the Accounting
Department at the state university
If in doubt…
Check with the Xi State Membership
Committee
 Check with Jill Foltz - Program and
Membership Services Administrator
 Check with the International Membership
Committee

Are these membership practices
acceptable?
 Epsilon
chapter initiates new
members every other year.
 Xi chapter pays the state and
International dues for Marlene who
resides in a nursing home.
 Both Phi and Pi chapters collect
partial chapter dues from Sara, a
“snow bird,” who spends part of the
year in each of the two states.
What about these?
Gamma members invite friends,
educators and other non-members to
chapter meetings.
 Sigma chapter members insist that Chris
join their chapter instead of Tau chapter,
because she works in Sigma’s chapter
territory.
 Upsilon chapter approaches district
superintendents and universities to
acquire names of potential candidates
for membership.

And these?
Due to chapter size, Alpha refused to
reinstate Ann, suggesting she join
Kappa instead.
 Rho distributes DKG flyers and
information at community events.
 Mu invites area women educators to a
countywide speaker and ΔΚΓ information
night and encourages those present to
consider membership in the Society.

Are these membership practices
OK?
Beta’s orientation involves all chapter
members, rather than only the Membership
Committee members.
 Zeta chapter initiates Audrey, a candidate
previously not accepted by Chi chapter.
 Nu chapter members are approached by
Barbara who wants to become a member, and
she is immediately accepted without vote.
 Omega members oppose the transfer of
D’Anne into their chapter.

Are these?





Lambda members help Debbie with transfer
process and paperwork.
Iota assigns initiation to Membership
Committee; Eta assigns it to Program
Committee.
Omicron added a Sabbatical classification for
the purposes of chapter dues assessment.
Theta collects Reserve state and international
dues for Betsy who is on a leave of absence.
Delta destroys financial and membership files
after 5 years.
Orientation is crucial for new
members and current ones, too.
Make certain that new members
understand the history and current
structure of the Society
 Make it easy for them to learn customs,
procedures, and ceremonies
 Use “Delta Kappa Gamma 101”
 Use game formats to test all your
members on facts about the Society
(games on the Xi State web site)

After initiation, your work is far from
over because new members need
Nurturing
 Personalizing
 Bonding
 Mentoring

Members need nurturing…





Use chapter telephone trees and the Internet
to contact members.
Carpool to help older or inactive members get
to meetings.
Offer financial help with members’ dues and
fees, if needed.
Create a buddy system so each member can
keep in close touch with another member.
Send personal notes or make phone calls to
members not attending.
More ways to nurture

Select programs and chapter activities based
on members’ interests and highlighting their
strengths.
 Establish a chapter committee or “Care Group“
to regularly check on inactive or older
members. Rotate the committee membership
so all members can serve in this capacity.
 Move the meeting to a home, retirement
community or care facility where members
reside to permit their attendance.
They need personalizing…
Feature a member’s biography or a short
skit about a member or two at chapter
meetings. Include this and similar
information in the chapter newsletter for
everyone to read.
 Use nametags for all.
 Create a “Me” bag, containing
information about a member, then ask
others to guess “Who?”

More personalizing strategies

Encourage members to sit with unfamiliar
women at selected meetings or events.
 Keep current data about members, including
contact information, personal and professional
interests and abilities.
 Send cards on special occasions, to celebrate
successes, or for illness.
 Record the oral history of a “treasured rose” in
the chapter. Use video / audio tape or pen and
ink. Present the finished product at a chapter
meeting.
They need bonding…
Use members’ expertise for planning and
presenting programs.
 Assign all members to a chapter
committee. Encourage chairmen to
involve everyone on the committee in the
group’s business, decisions, and
projects.

More bonding activities

Have warm-up activities during which those
present must match a fact with a member, like:
Who is a charter member? Who was born in
Singapore? Whose hobby is calligraphy?
 Schedule social time at every gathering to
allow members to become better acquainted.
 Select a chapter project in which all members
can actively participate.
 Assign groups to give presentations or make
meeting arrangements, so these teams can
celebrate their shared successes.
They need mentoring…

Help a new member or an uninvolved member
become involved.
 Invite a member to attend an area, state, or
regional meeting with you.
 Inform members about opportunities for
personal and professional growth in the
Society (ΔΚΓ scholarships, training, US and
international contacts, etc.).
More mentoring strategies…

Encourage newer members to accept
leadership roles, first, in the chapter, then, on
the coordinating council, state and
international levels.
 Talk to a member about personal or
professional goals and how the Society and its
members can help her reach these goals.
 Answer questions about the Society. Help
members understand activities, benefits, and
positions at all levels of the organization.
Still more mentoring tips…

Invite members from other chapters and
friends of members to present chapter
programs.
 Invite a state officer or committee chairman to
visit and interact with members.
 Encourage “show and tell” for members who
are active at the state and international levels.
Which all lead to retaining members

Actively seek to involve all members at
meetings and in chapter activities.
 Check to see why members joined, what
member expectations are in the Society, and
whether these expectations are being met.
 Meet members’ needs.
 Pay dues for members experiencing financial
difficulty.
More ways to retain members…

Use the Program Resource Guide to plan
engaging and relevant programs.
 Together, use “healthy” chapter practices.
 Reach out to include new target groups of
educators, while supporting current members
Final advice
Don’t take it personally when members
resign or fail to pay dues
 Do your best and grow with the job
 Ask for help from your chapter members,
state officers and committee chairmen,
and from International. We all want you
to be the best president your chapter has
ever had.
