A. The National Headquarters is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m to 5 p.m., Central time (except during the summer, when the office is closed on Friday afternoons between Memorial Day and Labor Day), and someone is almost always in the office during those hours. If you need to talk to a person, be sure to call then.

A. Refer to the web site or download a PDF copy of the (OnLine Chapter Directory) for National Council and Board of Trustees contact information. Don't call National Headquarters expecting to talk to a Council or Board member because they don't live in Stillwater.

A. Call or e-mail National Executive Director Steve Nelson ([email protected]), the National Headquarters Office Manager, Diana Spiva ([email protected]) or the Chapter and Colony Education Coordinator, TJ Tooley ([email protected]) with your questions or concerns about hazing or other policy violations (alcohol, discrimination).

A. Download the Replacement Shingle/Membership Card Order Form from the web site (http://www.kkytbs.org/forms/ReplShingleCardOrderForm.pdf), complete it, and send it with your payment to National Headquarters. There is a $10 charge for replacement shingles, and (effective September 1, 2003) a $5 charge for replacement cards. As soon as we receive your order and payment, we'll print your replacement shingle or card and mail it to you.

 

NOTE: Unless you are a Life or Honorary member, replacement cards are available only for the current year. Replacement shingles are currently available only for the last twenty years (1983 to date).

 

If you need a new card for attendance at an official event (district or national convention), be sure to mail your order at least three weeks prior to the event.

A. Most likely they are in the mail to you or are still being processed. As a rule, you should allow at least four weeks for processing of new active membership cards: one week for your mail to arrive at National Headquarters, a week (or even two, depending on the volume of mail) for processing your report and printing the cards and/or shingles, and another week for the shipment to get to you. If you have not received your materials after 4 to 6 weeks, then call or email the Membership Services Coordinator at [email protected].

 

It could be, however, that they sent them to you but they were returned to us because the address we had on file for your chapter was wrong or out of date. Make sure your Chapter always has a current mailing address and email address (preferably a kkpsi.org or tbsigma.org email address) on file at National Headquarters. If we have to re-send your chapter a package that was returned to us due to the chapter's failure to pick up the mail or provide us with the correct address, then your chapter's account will be charge for the additional shipping costs.

A. We would prefer that you use a campus address or U.S. Post Office box as your official address rather than someone's home address. This is so someone will be there during business hours to sign for anything that we mail you requiring a signature. The signature is to: (1) provide proof of delivery and (2) help with tracking lost items.

 

If you use a U.S Post Office box or a campus mailbox as your mailing address, be sure to check it regularly! Occasionally mail sent to chapters, including shingles, membership cards, and pins, comes back to us as "unclaimed." And be sure to give the Post Office a forwarding address if no one is going to be on campus to get your mail during the summer!

A. Occasionally items do get lost in the mail. If you want to make sure that something important gets to National Headquarters, then send it "Certified Mail - Return Receipt Requested" or by a carrier such as United Parcel Service or Federal Express. That way you will get a tracking number and a signature when it is delivered.

A. All Chapters have already been assigned a tax identification number, and your Treasurer should already have a copy of it in your permanent file. If you cannot locate it, call or email National Accountant Di Spiva ([email protected]); she will send you a copy of the number on the proper form. You MUST have the proper form in your file; this is not something she can just give you over the phone.

A. Every chapter is sent a copy of the current fraternity/sorority liability insurance policy in the fall mailer. Simply show this to the hotel management. If the facility requires additional information, then call or email Di at least 2 weeks prior to the event! The best time to address the issue of liability insurance is when your event is in the planning stage, NOT the day before it is to start!

A. Sure. You can order one using the Supply Order Form available on the national website (http://www.kkytbs.org/forms/SupplyOrderForm.doc). The cost is $10, which can be charged to your chapter if you have money on account. You should keep this copy in your Chapter's permanent file! The old rosters in the books at National Headquarters are becoming more fragile every day, and we are not going to be able to continue to photocopy them indefinitely. They are being entered into a database, but this is a long-term project and there is no definite completion date.

A. Probably not. These are historical documents permanently archived at National Headquarters, and many are very old and fragile and in a form which does not allow them to be photocopied. Some may actually be damaged by the photocopying process. And we are missing a few chapters' Petitioning Documents.

 

However, you can send an e-mail to the HQ requesting a copy and we will forward it to the respective archive team for review. They will contact you and let you know if it is possible.

A. Maybe. As of June 2000, Charters have been printed at National Headquarters, and copies of these are available for $25. We have no copies of Charters issued prior to that date, and as the designs have changed over the years, we can't even be sure what your original Charter looked like or whose signatures were on it. Contact National Headquarters for further information.

A. Sorry, no. The National Headquarters staff is small, and while they would like to help, there are simply too many demands on their time already. Depending on the nature of your research, you may be able to do it yourself, but you need to call ahead and schedule an appointment. Extensive research into the National Archives of either the Fraternity or Sorority also requires written permission of the respective National Council.

A. It means you didn't pay on time. Late payment of members' dues and initiate fees (especially initiates from the spring semester that were not submitted and whose names did not appear on the Chapter Personnel Report) creates confusion at National Headquarters and requires additional staff time to resolve. Accordingly, any payment of required fees or dues that is more than 30 days late (by postmark date) is assessed a 25% surcharge. This was approved by the National Chapter at the 1997 National Convention.

A. Any Chapter that pays its members dues and chapter fee and returns an error-free Chapter Personnel Report to National Headquarters on or before September 15 of each year (postmark date) automatically receives this award.

A. Yes. You must be an active member, and your chapter must be in good standing (that is, not suspended) in order for you to attend any official fraternity or sorority event.

A. Because membership is based on the academic year, not the calendar year. Regardless of your initiation date, your dues cover your membership in the academic year in which you were initiated, even though you may have been active for only a portion of that time. A new academic year begins each September 1 and ends the following August 30.

A. If you are a fraternity member and there is a chapter of the sorority on your campus (or vice versa) you can become an Associate Member of the sorority (or fraternity). Refer to the definitions of membership status in your Guide to Membership or Guide to Membership Education for further details. Or talk to your Band Director about starting a chapter!

A. As of the 2009 National Convention, each chapter will received 1 printed copy of The PODIUM. If you chapter would like more than one copy of future issues, please inform the national headquarters. If you chapter did not receive its copy, please contact the Headquarters and a copy will be sent if one is available. The PODIUM is also available for viewing online at http://podium.kkytbs.org.

A. Call the National Publications Manager or e-mail ([email protected]) with your name and current mailing address.

A. You can use the Change of Address form printed on the back of The PODIUM or submit a request via e-mail to [email protected].

A. We receive lots of articles, but it's impossible to print every one due to a lack of space. 

 

Accordingly, like most publications, we have had to establish minimum guidelines for authors who wish to submit articles to The PODIUM. These can be found on the National Headquarters web site (http://podium.kkytbs.org). Articles that confirm to these guidelines receive priority for publication, and a really good article will be published when space is available, but there's still no guarantee that we can publish everything that meets our requirements.

 

If you are interested in writing for The PODIUM and have an idea for an article but are not sure exactly how to proceed or what to include, call the National Publications Manager or e-mail ([email protected]) and he/she will be glad to talk to you further and offer suggestions.