February/March 2000 Issue

One positive step toward increasing motivation is to develop an Enhanced Membership Program. This is a voluntary program in which active members are distinguished through an established system of recognition or rewards. Reward, as we know, is far more effective than reproach, and Enhanced Membership dually rewards the individual member and the chapter as a whole. Kenneth Patterson, a member of Eta Nu at St. Petersburg Junior College in St. Petersburg, Florida, believes that “the ultimate benefit … is to make a strong chapter for its members, including the ones that can't put in as much time as others.”

Both the 1999-2000 Chapter Officer Manual/Almanac (see pages 31-32) and the Advisor Manual/Almanac (see pages 35-36) offer an in-depth discussion of Standard and Enhanced Membership. Standard membership is defined as the basic membership benefits afforded to all members of Phi Theta Kappa; Enhanced Membership bestows additional benefits to those members who are active in the chapter. Some chapters have taken this original concept of Standard and Enhanced Membership and added a new twist.

Angel Pritchett, Theta Chi chapter president at Pensacola Junior College in Pensacola, Florida, reported, “We abandoned the idea of Standard versus Enhanced Membership because so many people were intimidated by their time restrictions.”

What chapters like Theta Chi have implemented is an Enhanced Membership Program modeled after the Five-Star Chapter Development Program, referred to by some chapters as a Five-Star Membership Program.

This “new package for an old idea” allows members to work their way up through five “star” levels, earning various recognition or rewards at each successive level. Therefore the member who has a limited amount of time to devote to activities can still be a one-star member, while others have the option of earning as many as five stars.

The idea of Enhanced Membership is to encourage individual development, and this new structure allows members the freedom to set their own goals and be recognized for achieving those goals. It also allows the chapter to meet its goal in the Five-Star Chapter Development Program by having more members to assist in completing projects. Members of Theta Chi “fill out a goal sheet at the beginning of the semester, just like the Five-Star Chapter Development Program. It gives them the feeling of an immediate commitment to get involved.”

Other chapters such as Omega Gamma at El Paso Community College in El Paso, Texas, distribute a checklist for easy reporting (see the Checklist).

Due to the varied sizes and needs of individual chapters, no one system works best for all. Designing a successful Enhanced Membership Program is best decided by your chapter, and must work specifically for your members. This means being realistic. Ask yourselves, what can a member of this chapter realistically contribute to the organization and what can this chapter realistically offer its members in exchange?

Following is a partial list of options to consider:

REQUIREMENTS:

• attendance of a specified number of meetings
• participation in a specified number of International Service Program projects
• participation in a specified number of Honors Study Topic projects
• participation in a specified number of Leadership or Fellowship Hallmark projects
• participation in a specified number of fundraisers

REWARDS:

• Chapter funding for travel to regional / international events
• an honors stole, tassel and cords to wear at graduation
• complimentary chapter t-shirt
• an Enhanced Membership certificate
• recognition in local / campus newspapers
• a star pin for each level

Other chapters with successful Five-Star Membership Programs include:

• Mu Delta of Kansas City Kansas Community College, Kansas City, Kansas
• Alpha Upsilon Omega of Ivy Tech State College at Richmond, Indiana
• Alpha Alpha Rho of North Harris College, Houston, Texas
• Alpha Zeta Alpha of Tulsa Community College - Northeast, Tulsa, Oklahoma