National Council - Alpha Chi

Cards or Certificate Requisition Forms, nor manual data entry in the national office. The system has merged our
existing computerized membership records with the new system.
Our contract with ARELLO includes an initial fee for technical support several months after the official
launch of the IMS in the fall of 20l0. However, sponsors in the beta-test group have found the operator's manual
and the system itself easy to use, and several bugs have been worked out during the testing period.
It is too early to tell what effect this process will have on the rate of acceptance. Some other honor societies
using online registration believe it improved their rate. It is certain that students, who are accustomed to doing
most things electronically, will find it a more convenient process than our current manual system. The ease for
sponsors, particularly of larger institutions, may encourage them to invite more students (graduate students, for
example) because doing so requires little more work or expense. I am convinced, however, that chapters will
still need to find ways to apply the personal touch as much as possible to encourage students to accept
membership. A cold e-mail alone will not work as well as the e-mail plus a posted letter or some other more
direct contact.
In addition to the cost of the new system, there are also service charges and other fees for online transactions
that will diminish the income from membership registrations (approximately 2 percent).
E. Membership Registration Report. A summary report for the school years 2002-03 to 2008-09
shows that registrations declined by 4 percent in 2008-09, the largest decrease during the seven-year period.
Over the seven years, all regions have been relatively stable except for Region II, where we have lost a few
chapters in larger institutions following the retirements or deaths of long-time sponsors. It is a matter of concern
that registrations for the last half of 2009 were also down compared to the previous year.
F. Finances. In 2009 Alpha Chi's endowment shared in the general rebound of the stock market,
although not, of course, to pre-recession levels. Following the instructions of the 2009 National Council,
$130,000 in endowment funds (the combined draw on endowment for 2008 and 2009) was set aside in a
Certificate of Deposit to help fund the 2010 Super-Regional Convention. Also, some stock funds were cashed in
for the purchase of bond funds to have a better-balanced portfolio in terms of risk. Immediate and long-term
needs of the society support the need for an increase in membership fees, a recommendation for which may
come from the Finance Committee later in this meeting.
G. Staff Operation. Our national office staff is unchanged from last year, except for student workers.
Lara Noah and Melinda Hicks are extremely productive and effective representatives for Alpha Chi, and Penny
Bell continues her reliable data entry work. With the shift to the Induction Management System and the
decrease in data entry tasks, we may try to reassign Penny to other responsibilities, perhaps in the area of
accounting. This would free up Lara for more work with the web site and perhaps social media.
The national office was privileged to be given a free professional assessment by association management
expert Craig Cheatham, who spent two days in September in our office reviewing materials, facilities, and
procedures and interviewing me and Lara. His report was valuable in clarifying the question of the Executive
Director Search Committee regarding whether the next director needed to work from the site of the main office.
Partly as a result of his answer in the negative, I have offered to stay on with Alpha Chi for at least one
additional year past 2010-11, even if I relocate to Nashville, Tennessee. I have also had an offer from Harding
University to teach in the fall of 2010 in our program in England, and the Executive Committee of Alpha Chi
has approved my doing so, as I did earlier in 1999 and 2005. With electronic communication being even more
efficient and universal today, my experience working for Alpha Chi from London this fall and perhaps from
Nashville in 2010-11 will give the organization a good test of how effective an executive director might be
based away from the national office.
I appreciate the confidence in me and my staff expressed by the Executive Committee and the full Council.
The relationship we have with one another goes beyond work, of course, as we have forged true friendships,
and these are precious to me. The immediate future of Alpha Chi is not unclouded, but I believe we are in a
position of strength and that our identity in the honor society environment is respected. And I'm especially
proud to have Alpha Chi meeting this year in my home state of Arkansas.
10. Resolutions Committee. Patricia Williams, on behalf of the Resolutions Committee, moved the
following resolutions: Be it resolved that Alpha Chi expresses thanks to the following individuals and
companies for their contribution to the success of the 2010 Combined Regional Convention:
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