As businesses downsized over recent years, accountants have had to demonstrate that the value of their contributions exceed their cost. Our profession has emerged from this experience providing a greater range of services that represent a greater value than ever before. The Beta Alpha Psi Fraternity now finds itself in a similar situation. With ever increasing demands on a student's time, the Fraternity must demonstrate that the benefits it provides to its members justify the time and cost of membership.
Our objective is to provide opportunities for professional development to accounting students who have demonstrated superior academic achievement. We accomplish this by programs that compliment the student's classroom experience. Accounting programs cannot teach a student how to be a professional in the classroom but we believe that can be achieved through participation in Beta Alpha Psi activities. Our program is designed to provide opportunities for leadership development, career planning, association with practicing accountants, application of ethical standards, maintenance of current professional knowledge similar to the content of continuing education courses, and development of a community of supportive students and faculty. The Program for Chapter Activities requires a balance between business meetings, professional activities, social activities, and service activities.
Experience indicates that the benefits of membership are dependent upon our members active participation. We rely on our local chapter to maximize the opportunities for accounting students to benefit from membership. To accomplish this, chapters need to aggressively market membership opportunities to those students who are eligible for membership and will actively participate in the chapter. Keeping members active in the chapter requires that chapter programs be held at a time when the maximum number of members can participate. It also requires that programs be of a nature that the members will view as worthwhile. A chapter is more likely to keep its members actively involved if members are asked to participate by serving on a chapter committee, making a presentation at a chapter meeting, or representation of the chapter at a National program. One opportunity for participation in National programs is the Annual meeting that will be held in New Orleans on the fourteenth and fifteenth of August and preceded by a leadership seminar on the thirteenth. The theme of this year's Annual Meeting will be the characteristics of a professional. Other opportunities include regional meetings, the Thomas J. Burns undergraduate student seminar, the graduate case seminar, authorship of a manuscript submitted to the manuscript competition, and the summer abroad in London program.
In order to encourage greater chapter participation, the Fraternity will recognize at the Annual Meeting those chapters that have had the highest average attendance at baseline professional meetings. I call your attention to the long-range planning process that the Fraternity has begun during this year. This process will result in the evaluation of all aspects of the Fraternity's operations. Portions of this process will be ongoing for a period of several years. Suggestions and comments are solicited fro m all chapters and embers. Your input can be provided at regional meetings, to our national office (I suggest using e-mail), or to members of the National Council as well as to those directly involved in the planning process.
Finally, as many of you know, the Fraternity's former Executive Director, Nancy Harke, died very suddenly two years ago. At that time, the Board of Directors designed a fund in her name with the earnings to be used to provide an annual scholarship to the chapter that had the greatest increase in reported activity. The Fraternity has not received sufficient contributions for this fund to accomplish its objective. I invite all of you to join me in making a contribution to the Fraternity for inclusion in the Board-designated Nancy Harke Memorial Scholarship Fund.
