Board Job Descriptions
Other Ways to get involved with the Association are here
Written Oct 2009 Revised March 2023
2nd Vice President, Scholarships
3rd Vice President, Membership
We encourage you to indicate your interest in serving on one or more committees. When we are looking for new committee members, we check our database and contact those that have indicated an interest. However, since there are not openings on every committee every year, you may indicate an interest and not be called. Please don't interpret this as lack of interest on our part. If you have special skills that you think might be useful to the Association, we would appreciate a separate note, e-mail or call. Most committee work requires attending one to three meetings, but may require some additional work in preparation for the meetings. Committee chairs, who are members of the Board, are usually selected from the committee members.
The president presides over the Board meetings and appoints with the approval of the Board individuals to fill vacant positions, both on the Board and on committees.
Besides conducting Board meetings, the president s time is spent mainly in answering questions, mostly by email, from Board members, Association members, members new to the area, and others. In addition, the president writes a President s Letter for every issue of the newsletter and composes a President s Letter to be sent to those whose dues are currently in arrears, usually in March. The president also does proofreading for the newsletter, the annual dinner programs, and the meeting minutes.
The president can also serve on committees, e.g., scholarship, and often is called upon for advice concerning programs and other matters by the Board members. Finally, the president is usually one of the co-signers for Association checks above $300 and acts as the primary contact with National.
The President is a member of the Executive Committee (Bylaws. Article VI, Section 1) which shall meet at the call of the President to take actions between regularly scheduled meetings of the Association Board that can not be deferred until the next Board meeting.
Overview: The 1st Vice President, Programs is responsible for attending PBK Board Meetings, Organizing Events for the Membership during the calendar year, excluding the Asilomar conference, Setting up the Annual Meeting and Handling the Monies related to these Events.
Term of Office The term of office of the 1st Vice President, Programs begins the second Saturday of July. However, the officer is expected to have begun program planning for the Summer and Fall prior the actual start of the term of office so that the information related to these events is completed for the June and September newsletters.
Responsibilities
1. Board Meetings For each Board meeting, The 1st Vice President, Programs will prepare and present a report that includes events planned or in the process of being planned, a summary of events that have occurred, including the number of attendees and funds raised.
2. Events Through the various educational and social events that are planned and carried out, the 1st Vice President, Programs has a direct impact in stimulating PBKNCA members' interest in PBKNCA and in member retention. Surcharges on event tickets also help to raise funds for both scholarships and teaching excellence awards as well as subsidizing the Annual Meeting and Awards dinner. If an event is free to members, it may be appropriate to make a small donation to the venue. Board input is advised in such instances.
The 1st Vice President, Programs (or a designated replacement) should arrive at least 30 minutes before members are expected to arrive for an event. If nametags are prepared prior to the actual event, these can then be handed out as members arrive. Members who have signed up for an event but who fail to appear will not be reimbursed.
3. Suggestions for event development Ideas will come from many sources, including previous Programs officers, members, Board members, guidebooks from AAA and other sources, area newspapers, the San Francisco City Guide.
4. Publicizing Events, Newsletter Deadlines Once the actual cost for an event has been established by the 1st Vice President, Programs and an additional amount added for the "scholarship" fund, the write-up for the event will be drafted using the PBK Newsletter format and when completed, submitted to the Editor for publication in both the Newsletter and the PBKNCA Web site.
The deadline for the September newsletter is generally August 10 unless otherwise changed for reasons such as the Editor's vacations. Events for the months of September through December will be publicized in this newsletter.
The deadline for the December newsletter is generally November 10. Events to be included through March of the following year.
The deadline for the March newsletter is generally after Asilomar (Presidents' Weekend) to allow time for the Nominating Committee to seek nominees at that event. This newsletter will include information on the Annual Meeting and Awards dinner in addition to write-ups on events planned through June. The date and location of the Annual Meeting/Awards dinner will have been established previously (Berkeley Faculty Club or other location).
The deadline for the June newsletter is generally May 10. Events to be included through September.
Newsletters generally reach member's mailboxes mid-month, so sometimes it is necessary to put an event in an earlier newsletter.
5. Handling Funds, Coordinating with Treasurer Forms have been designed to facilitate the handling of funds, whether it is to document the transfer of payments received for various events from the The 1st Vice President, Programs to the Treasurer or to request reimbursement for money spent on Program activity. The payments received for events should be kept separate for each event as should any expenses. The form designed to document payments received for events when members sign up will facilitate this process.
First Vice-President is a member of the Executive Committee (Bylaws. Article VI, Section 1) which shall meet at the call of the President to take actions between regularly scheduled meetings of the Association Board that can not be deferred until the next Board meeting.
2nd Vice President, Scholarships
Bylaw job description
The Third Vice President shall be Chair of the Membership Committee; shall be responsible for receiving and recording all new and renewal membership applications, payment of dues, and contributions; will correspond with members and prospective members to resolve questions regarding membership status; and will work with the Treasurer to ensure that membership lists and dues are accurate.
Functional job description
Maintain an accurate and current record of present and past members of the Gamma chapter of Phi Beta Kappa.
Review and approve applications for membership of PBKNCA.
Oversee the processing of all on-line membership dues payments and all donations through the Wild Apricot Membership Management System
Manually enter all payments received off-line as cash, checks or PayPal payments and transmit such payments to the Treasurer with appropriate reports.
Provide regular reports to the President, Treasurer and the Board.
Query the database to provide information to the President and the Board as requested.
Respond to members’ questions and concerns as needed.
Notify the National organization of any deaths of members or address changes.
Be the official USPS contact, receive all returned newsletters and other mail and update the database if necessary.
Revised September 2023
3rd Vice President, Membership
The main responsibility of the Vice-President of Membership is to maintain an accurate and current database of present and past members of the Gamma chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. He/she should also be able to query the data when certain information is needed by the President or the Board members. As the database should be maintained in a format able to be easily passed on to subsequent chairs, Since 2021 Wild Apricot and AffiniPay put PBKNCA in the ‘cloud’. Phi Beta Kappa members with access to computers have been able to join, renew, register for events and individually control their privacy options. Board members no longer depend on a spreadsheet on the Membership VP’s computer to do their jobs.
Before the move to the cloud, Pat manually handled over 1,000 transactions a year; now it is less than 200. This means that she can now focus on assisting PBK members who have questions about what PBKNCA offers, and helping the minority of members who have issues navigating the online system or prefer to transact their membership matters offline. For me these are the most important parts of supporting PBKNCA membership.
I. Membership drive data entry procedures:
1) Membership data and payments are received in several ways:
a) Dues envelopes containing checks (from November newsletter and other mailings)
b) Printout of a PDF form along with a check (from email solicitations or web inquiries)
Contact the National Society if you have not received their PBK ID number either on the form or in advance from Ray
c) PayPal data (notification only, payment goes directly to the Treasurer)
2) Take checks from the envelopes, and enter payment data into the database.
3) Enter data from the Paypal responses.
4) Make any necessary changes to members individual records based on information submitted with envelope, on the form, or in the supplemental Paypal email.
5 At least once a month, or after 22-23 members have been entered (whichever comes first), have the database create a "batch report" from the database to send along with the checks received to the Treasurer. Paypal donations will be identifiable as those without check numbers.
6) File envelopes with copy of batch report for future reference.
II. Notify the National organization of any deaths of members or address changes.
III. Update addresses in database based upon returns from the post office as a result of RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED on mailings. IV. When desired, the database can create and send mailing lists for newsletters, dues reminders, thank you notices, a monthly backup copy of the entire database, and the triennial directory data to the appropriate officers.
Va The IRS requires that written acknowledgement of donations of $250.00 or more be received by January 31. A list of these donors shall be forwarded to the Corresponding Secretary by January 15. The database is programmed to create the appropriate list, as well as a list of members who can be thanked by email, which list is sent to the Communication Officer. This list should be generated between January 7 and 15 to allow time for all Dec 31 postmarked donations to arrive. Do not enter any January contributions until after this list is generated.
Vb Thereafter, the membership vice president will provide the Corresponding Secretary with a quarterly list of contributors: March 31, June 30 and September 30
VI In Mid-February, the database can be used to create and send to the Communication Officer the list of members who haven't renewed so we can send the President's email.
VII The database can create and send to the Communications officer a list of all this year s contributions listed in descending order of amount for publication in June Newsletter.
VIII In advance of November membership solicitation Newsletter, the Communication Officer will obtain from National a mailing list of all people in Northern California eligible for membership. He will update the database and rollover to the next year.
IX Generally in spring, enter into database new records for new initiates (free one-year membership). Contact the National Society to get their ID number.
X Attend Board meetings and report on status of membership.
The current Membership Chair describes the job as follows:
Time commitment varies during the course of the year. During "fundraising" months--Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb and March expect 10-20 hours per month handling envelopes and generating reports; During the rest of the year, expect 5-10 hours per month in supporting member inquiries, generating reports, cleaning up data as needed.
Third Vice-President is a member of the Executive Committee (Bylaws. Article VI, Section 1) which shall meet at the call of the President to take actions between regularly scheduled meetings of the Association Board that can not be deferred until the next Board meeting.
Updated 02/08/2013 by RH
General Description of Duties:
This position requires basic bookkeeping skills and a good head for figures. Quicken is used to keep financial records, but any computer program allowing multiple investment and checking account listings would work.
The majority of the time required for processing funds received is during the winter months, from November (when the annual membership payment appeal is sent) into April (after the annual President s Letter to delinquent former members goes out). Check writing is an ongoing activity, with the Scholarship and Teaching Excellence checks in late April (usually nine or ten of the former and four of the latter) constituting the largest number to be written at any one time.
The main duties of the treasurer are:
- maintain books - track income and expenses by category (see sample board report)
- arrange for the preparation and submission of tax returns and state registration
- deposit and write checks, including any required reimbursements
- report financial status and activity to the board
Treasurer's Calendar:
January Reconcile books and request audit
When insurance company requests (usually spring) submit any new documentation to maintain insurance coverage
Before May 15 - complete audit and send documentation to tax preparer. Tax preparer may request 6-month extension so that tax filing may be delayed
until Nov 15
Before August in even-numbered years - file California SI-100
Before November 15 - file taxes and California RRF-1 (be sure to read instructions)
Notes:
A sample of the treasurer's board meeting report spreadsheet is available. Contact duncan.missimer@gmail.com
Any format that contains the same information would be acceptable, but this Excel spreadsheet has held up well.
Historically PBKNCA books have been kept in Quicken, although the audit committee would be very happy to see them kept in QuickBooks.
We receive money either by check or by credit card via Affinipay.
Check and credit card transactions may be batched together in Quicken for simplicity, but categories must be tracked and other detailed records must be kept for auditing.
2014-2024 treasurer Duncan Missimer promises to provide unlimited coaching and support.
Compiled November 2024
At the request of other Board members, the Corresponding Secretary corresponds with present and prospective members regarding miscellaneous subjects. Most especially, after receiving from the Membership Chair the names and addresses of members who have contributed to the Association in excess of the regular dues, the Corresponding Secretary sends thank you s to those members according to the Board-drafted schedule and using the appropriate Association stationery.
The Corresponding Secretary will be provided with a mail-merge Word doc that, when combined with the Excel list of contributors provided by the Membership VP (see above), will print the appropriate thank-you notes. When printed Association envelopes are needed, the Corresponding Secretary contacts the Communications Officer to order the necessary materials.
On the occasions that the Recording Secretary is unable to attend Board meetings, the Corresponding Secretary takes notes and prepares the meeting s minutes.
The Corresponding Secretary completes the Association s Annual Report and, after review of the document by the Association s Board President, submits the report to National.
Policy for Written Acknowledgement of Contributions to the Northern California Association of Phi Beta Kappa (Drafted Nov. 8, 2008)
By January 15, the membership vice president will provide the Corresponding Secretary with a list of all paid members as of Dec. 31, of the preceeding year who have not already been listed as in need of thank-you notes. The Corresponding Secretary will then send out these notes by January 31, so that the members can use the thank-you's for tax purposes. The IRS requires that written acknowledgement of donations of $250.00 or more be received by January 31. A list of these donors shall be forwarded to the Corresponding Secretary by January 15.
Thereafter, the membership vice president will provide the Corresponding Secretary with a quarterly list of contributors: March 31, June 30, September 30, and December 31. The Corresponding Secretary will write the thank-you notes before the end of the month following each quarterly report, i.e., April 30, July 31, October 31, and January 31 (of the next year).
updated 01/15/10
The Recording Secretary s primary job is to take minutes at each meeting, transcribe them, and email them at least two weeks prior to the next meeting to all Board members. In addition to the minutes, directions to the home of the Board member hosting that meeting, an admonition to please notify both the President and the host if unable to attend and/or stay for lunch, and an agenda must be emailed. The Recording Secretary should consult with the President and the other Board members about this timing and the possible need to forward time sensitive materials, such as the annual calendar, immediately following the Board meeting.
The Recording Secretary is also responsible for retaining as a permanent record the written reports distributed by the officers and committee chairs and each meeting s minutes. The Recording Secretary should also retain a copy of the current Directory, job descriptions, by-laws, the Annual Meeting and Awards Banquet program, etc. Minutes of the previous year s Annual Meeting are made available for perusal and approval at the next year s meeting.
It is very helpful to submit preliminary email minutes to the President for input and corrections prior to emailing the final copy to the Board. Clarification is frequently necessary, and the Recording Secretary should feel free to contact individual Board members about specific names, dates, amounts, etc. if there are any questions.
At each meeting the Recording Secretary should have available a copy of the previous meeting s minutes to note any corrections, and an extra copy of the current minutes for Board members to consult. In the event the Recording Secretary is unable to attend a Board meeting, the Corresponding Secretary is designated to take, transcribe, and email the minutes to the Board.
Itemized bills for mailing or other related costs should be submitted to the Treasurer.
The Recording Secretary is a member of the Executive Committee (Bylaws. Article VI, Section 1) which shall meet at the call of the President to take actions between regularly scheduled meetings of the Association Board that can not be deferred until the next Board meeting.
(1) Working with Asilomar. Each year during the conference, the chair and the treasurer meet with the sales coordinator of Asilomar, Raquel Pacleb, to sign the conference agreement and place a booking deposit for the ensuring year s conference and to reserve a date for the conference two years hence.
Subsequently, the chair works with two other staff at Asilomar. Pat Kauffman, the housing coordinator, is very important. She maintains a block of rooms for the conference. In June the chair contacts her for a copy of the housing form. It contains the accommodation fee for the ensuing year, which goes into the August newsletter. Further, the chair sends copies of the housing form to all members who pay the $100 registration fee.
In early October, the chair contacts Pat to see how many rooms have been requested by our members and guests. Also, if a speaker needs accommodations, the chair should reserve the room. Later in the month Pat will need to know whether the conference requires additional rooms or whether she should release some of the rooms she has reserved. The idea is for us to have sufficient accommodations for all our folks, but not have to pay for any unused rooms.
The chair completes a 60-day and a 90-day estimate of room needs and faxes them to Pat in the middle of November and the middle of December.
Other Asilomar personnel may contact the chair from time to time with special requests.
(2) Scheduling Speakers. The conference has room for eight speakers one Friday night, three on Saturday, three on Sunday, and one on Monday. The members make good suggestions for speakers on their evaluation forms. Since we try to keep expenses below 20 percent of the registration fee, we do not ordinarily pay speakers an honorarium. In rare cases we may offer travel expenses at the government mileage rate. And since we like to have the speakers mix with the members, we offer them meals, and rarely overnight accommodations. The sooner the schedule is complete, the sooner it can be announced in the newsletter and help attract attendance.
(3) Advertising the Event. The chair contributes articles to PBKNCA newsletters throughout the year advertising the coming event and reporting on the event just concluded. The Communications Officer will also send email notices as requested.
(4) Taking Reservations. The chair takes reservations and registration fees at the conclusion of the conference for the ensuing year and throughout the year, especially, as articles in the newsletter elicit interest. The chair accumulates the checks and mails them to the treasurer once a month.
When members send in their registration and fee, the chair acknowledges the transaction and sends them a copy of the Asilomar housing form that Pat Kauffman has available in mid-June. Members send the housing form with their payment directly to Asilomar.
(5) Conducting the Conference. Thirty days prior to the conference the chair needs to order the microphone for the auditorium. We encourage speakers to bring their own audio visual equipment.
By the first of January the chair needs to photocopy a list of all conference attendees and the conference program and assemble them into packets along with an evaluation form for distribution from 3 to 5 p.m. on Friday. Further, the chair is responsible for making name badges for all members and guests.
If possible the chair should arrive at Asilomar early on Friday and meet with Raquel Pacleb for keys to the auditorium.
It is a good idea to ask two or more other members for assistance in passing out packets.
The conference coordinator gives the chair two keys to the auditorium. The chair should keep one and give one to a member who will be responsible for opening and closing the premises for the event. Also, it is a good idea to have someone in charge of the lights in the auditorium.
Each morning of the conference the chair needs to check with the front desk and examine the conference bill to make sure there are no extraneous charges.
On Sunday night and Monday morning the chair circulates a reservation sheet and an envelope for registration fee checks for the ensuing year s conference. At least half those in attendance may register and pay at this time.
Also, members are asked to return their conference evaluation forms in a box provided by the chair Sunday night and Monday morning. They often contain valuable suggestions for the next year s program.
(6) Submitting a Final Report. After the event, the chair submits a financial report to the treasurer and a descriptive report to the Newsletter. Both should indicate the net proceeds for the Conference, the amount that will go to graduate student scholarships. Finally, the chair may submit an expense statement for postage and photocopying to the treasurer for reimbursement.
See also the hardcopy of Guidelines for Asilomar Expenses
Concept: Be the link between our Association and the eight collegiate chapters in our region. Arrange for a board member or another NCA member to attend and speak (if possible) at each collegian chapter initiation (between April and June) and attend at least one yourself. Prepare and continuously update a Chapter Liaison Matrix listing contact for each chapter, NCA representative(s), date/place of initiation, number of initiates and any comments. Provide each chapter a packet of printed information for each new initiate on how to nominate for our Teaching Excellence Award and how to obtain free first year membership in our Association. Follow-up to make sure the information is distributed. At some schools provide the information again with the representative. Update the written information annually and obtain NCA board input on the content. Support the NCA President by attending monthly board meetings, providing an updated Matrix, reporting on Chapter Liaison activities, and participating in discussions and decisions at the board level. Submit NCA Newsletter reports and photographs of initiations as needed, attend Asilomar Retreat and Annual Meeting of NCA. At the request of the NCA President, speak with National PBK on chapter liaison matters as appropriate.
Specific Duties: January-February: Contact each chapter by e-mailing last year s representative (usually a professor or his/her assistant) and ask if that person is the correct contact for this year. Ask if date, time and place have been set for the initiation. Continue to follow-up until you nail it down. Contact the NCA representative from last year to determine interest in doing it this year. Ask board members for their interest at January Board meeting. Submit Newsletter articles as appropriate, asking NCA members for interest in attending an initiation. Contact NCA members who expressed interest last year, but could not attend. Prepare first draft of Matrix.
The Communications Officer will obtain a list of all current new initate emails from national and will send emails to all informing them of the free year membership, and then the following year asking them to join. He will also put all initiated on the newsletter emailing list.
March-April-May-June: Send the packet out to the schools. Send one to each NCA representative as a go by for his/her talk at the ceremony. Most mailings can be done electronically, asking the chapter to print them and distribute. Prepare and mail (about two weeks before the event) each NCA representative about five Teaching Excellence Award nomination forms with stamped envelopes addressed to NCA Chair of the Award. Encourage each representative to button hole some new initiates at the ceremony to promise to submit a form. After each ceremony, send a critique form to each representative to allow for suggestions and comments back to you. After each ceremony, send a thank you to the school.
July-August: Prepare a final report (final Matrix) for the Board, listing the total number of initiates at each chapter. Summarize the critique forms for each school for the board.
Sept-October: Present to the Board the relative success of new initiate participation by school in the Teaching Excellence nominations and joining NCA. Prepare a table showing each school, total number of initiates available to participate in the two programs, actual number who did, and percent of those available to participate by school. Make recommendations for improvement.
Updated 2014-10-13 RH, December 11, 2008
Communications Officer (Newsletter, bulk emailing, website)
The Communications Officer is a board member and is expected to attend bi-monthly board meetings held at various board members homes, usually on the 2nd Saturday of the month.
Responsible for assembling, editing, printing and mailing four newsletters, and a President s Letter . Creates a directory once every three years from the database output (Last done 2011). Has envelopes printed as necessary (#10 with President s return address, #6 remit with Membership VP or Corresponding Secretary address). Also sends the final newsletter, as a PDF, to the Webmaster. Currently, the Communications Officer and webmaster are one in the same person. The Membership VP will provide an Excel table of the appropriate mailing list, as well as the contribution list for June. Other board members provide their respective reports, so you should remind them about ten days - two weeks in advance about their opportunity (read - obligation) to contribute. Deadlines should be absolute drop-dead deadlines - no submissions accepted late. This is very important with the first few newsletters to establish the rules. Newsletters should reach the membership close to the first of the stated month, except the November, which is timed to mail after the elections and arrive before Thanksgiving.
The timing currently is as follows:
|
Newsletter |
Email Board |
Deadline |
Send for proofing |
To Printer |
Mail to |
|
September 1 |
Aug 1 |
Aug 10 |
ASAP |
Aug 20 |
All Paid |
|
November ~10 |
Oct 10 |
Oct 20 |
ASAP |
Oct 30 |
All |
| January 15 | Get list of unpaid members from Membership. Send President's letter by email. | ||||
|
March 1 |
Feb 1 |
Feb 10 or after Asilomar |
ASAP |
ASAP |
All Paid |
|
Pres. Letter 3/5 |
Email Pres |
Feb 15 |
ASAP |
After Mar NL |
Not Paid |
|
June 1 |
May 1 |
May 10 |
ASAP |
May 20 |
All Paid |
n addition, the Communications Officer maintains and uses an emailing program on the web (currently Vertical Response which allows 10,000 emails per month free) to mail membership solicitations to all National members and NCA members, to announce events, to recruite new board members, and send other emails as needed by the board. The database is setup to create many of the mailing lists needed, but one-time queries can be used to generate special mailings.
Newsletter Contents:
All except President s letter contain program descriptions in addition to the following
September -Teaching Excellence form, Asilomar
November - Membership renewal, Teaching Excellence list, Scholarship details, Asilomar. Contains a remit envelope for dues.
March - Nominations for the Board and Nominating Committee. Nomination committee would like a March newsletter so they can get nominees from Asilomar.
March - President s Letter (actual date to be determined by number of envelopes received) Shortly after the March Newsletter. Mailed to all non-paid members
June - Contribution list, plus Scholarship and Teaching Excellence lists (details in November). Contribution list should be by donor category, within category, by last name. This is easily generated by the database program.
Directory
The directory listing is easily generated by the database. It is a good idea to send a merged email containing the member's data for correction before publishing the newsletter. This data should then be corrected in the database, and the directory re-run from the database.
updated 01/15/10, 02/20/12, 2013-02-09
Newsletter Job Details
Procedure – modify as you see fit, but this works for me:
Email the board about ten days - two weeks before the deadline to remind them to send reports. Give a deadline, and make it "drop dead".
It is best to produce the newsletter in MS Word, since most of your proofers will have that. Publisher or other programs would be nicer, but you’ll lose your proofers. After the deadline, paste all reports received into one big Word file, separated by a few blank lines. At this point you can scan for consistency, and do some global search and replaces. For example, PBK NCA and PBKNCA changed to ΦBKNCA if you wish to use a Greek font, remove double spaces, phone number format (search by area code), convert all to Times font, 10 point (usually), etc. This is a good time to proof-read as well. First reading is usually best.
There is not a “newsletter template”; it works best to remove the text from a previous newsletter of the appropriate month as a starting point. It is better to use the column feature of Word rather than textboxes, unless articles are continued on a non-adjacent page. The “In this Issue” section is best in a textbox. Article headings, event coupons, Board list, Asilomar coupons are outlined using Format | Borders & Shading | Box. (Note about columns. If the columns won't align properly, select the text that you want to be two column, change it to one column and then back again to two - ah Microsoft)
Copy the text from the big Word file into newsletter one report at a time; it is sometimes necessary to edit down some reports to fit (editor’s prerogative!). Try to allow some “white space” in the newsletter – line between paragraphs and sections, use pictures to breakup the text. Event pictures, unless supplied by the Program VP, are usually found by a Google search for the event location. Convert these to B&W and reduce to approximate size in PrintShop or PhotoShop. Final size reduction can be done in Word.
The last page (address page) usually states “Return Service Requested”, and may have a comment on some item of importance in the newsletter. At Asilomar time, put the coupon here. Return address should be that of the membership vp.
After compiling the newsletter, send the Word doc to as many proofreaders as you can. Have the reviewers use the “Track Changes” feature of Word (Tell them to turn it on by double clicking the faint gray TRK at the very bottom of Word versions >2007. Word 2007 and 2010 Go to Review, Track Changes). Go through the changes, accepting or rejecting as desired. Using Word’s Tools | Compare and Merge Documents, merge the proofs into a new document. Use the track changes feature again to reconcile the various changes.
Create a PDF of the final copy and send to the printer. Normally, have about 5-10 extra copies printed. The printer takes about a week; mailing can take another week or two, depending in where it goes.
Newsletter editor should also take (or asign someone to take) pictures of the speakers at Asilomar and of the awardees at the annual meeting for the newsletter and web.
Printer
I, Ray Hendess, use All American Printing in Petaluma (707 7632 2500, Deni Stringham <deni@allamericanprinting.com>) for all printing including the directory. They work from emailed PDFs.
Generally, get 50 extra Directories. Extra newsletters are not necessary.
Recruiting new members
In the past, we have sent the November newsletter to all our members plus all on the national list (about 31, 000). This has gotten too expensive. In 2007 we sent the newsletter to just our members (cost $1,900 for 2300), and a #10 envelope with a single page letter and remit to the national list (cost $15,200 for 28,600 ). In 2008, we sent the newsletter to only our members ($2,100 for 2800) and an email to 5000 national members (those who had a good email address). The jury is still out on the effectiveness of the email (but it was free).
Directory
Once every three years, (2005, 2008, 2011, etc), you are responsible to produce the Directory of Members. This is best done around August when most people have (finally) joined. The alphabetical listing of members, lists by initiation name, school, and city are outputted from the Access membership database as PDFs. These are then combined with the first and last pages and other pages which are word docs. Convert all to PDFs, put into one PDF in the appropriate order if you have Adobe Professional) and send to the printer.
It is best to have the Membership VP send you the entire database, so you can proof the names. After proofing as below and creating the files for the Directory, send the proofed and corrected database back to the membership vp for their use. Open the PBKNCA table and scan over the Prefix, Fname, Init, Lname, Suffix, and Designation fields to be sure the following have been reconciled and are consistent: Mr. Mrs. Ms. Dr. Ph.D. M.D. Sr. Jr., etc. Run “PBKNCAFormUpdateFullNameFromParts” query or open the PBKNCA form to automatically update the full name (do not update the Full Name field manually; do all updates in the separate fields). Scan addresses and especially emails for typo errors. Run “PBKForm Chapter - Update Chapter Code Description” query to insure all chapters are consistent. Check phone number format for consistency. Run the directory reports from the “Mailing Lists and Reports” button, and look over the results, go back to the database, make corrections and run again, ad nauseam. Some members have requested not to be listed in the Directory – be sure this is honored. They are still sent directories, however. The directory is sent to all paid current year members. Errors are inevitable. Give an email and snail address in the directory, and publish corrections in the November newsletter.
It is a good idea to send a merged email containing the member's data for correction before publishing the newsletter. This data should then be corrected in the database, and the directory re-run from the database.
Forms
Copies of currently used forms, letters and a current newsletter as Word docs and pdf’s are available on a private page of the web www.pbknca.org/PBKNCAForms. Note case is important to get to this page.
We use bulk emailing to the membership. Currently, the webmaster, me, takes care of this; but that can’t last forever. Since 2012 we have been using Vertical Response, a web-based emailer that provides 10,000 free emailings per month to non profits.
Member dues payment forms and Paypal are available at http://www.pbknca.org/join, this address should be published in the newsletters. The form is for people who want to use snail main, Paypal payments go directly to the treasurer. The membership chair and the Communications Officer receive duplicate copies of the Paypal information.
There are queries in the PBK database (Membership VP) for transferring emails from the membership database to the email database and back. Also queries for massaging a list received from national to allow sending emails to national members who are not members of NCA. In 2008, we sent 5000 mails offering a free copy of the November newsletter (which contains a remit envelope). Three hundred requests were received; they were added to the November mailing.
There is also a list of about 1200 (of 2500) NCA members who can be emailed to announce events not in the newsletter, or to make corrections.
I will create a separate documentation for the emailing.
Ray Hendess, 2013-02-09
Publicizes the Teaching Excellence Award. This includes: editing and revising the Teaching Excellence Nomination form as necessary; providing an announcement of the Award for the newsletter together with a nomination form; seeing that the Chapter Liaison gets nomination forms for the new initiates packets; and providing nomination forms to scholarship winners at the annual meeting.
Receives the Nominations from PBK-NCA members. Asks the Nominees for supporting material which includes a resume, description of courses recently taught, and a short essay describing the Nominees' definition of teaching excellence. Makes copies of the material obtained and distributes it to the Teaching Excellence Committee. (This is the part of the job which takes the most time.) After a sufficient time for the members of the committee to review the material submitted, the Teaching Excellence Chair calls a meeting of the committee for ranking the Nominees. (This meeting can be an email meeting.)
The Teaching Excellence Chair presents the results of this meeting to the March PBK Board. The Teaching Excellence Chair informs the Nominees and their Nominators of the decision of the Board.
The Teaching Excellence Chair oversees the preparation of the certificates given to the Teaching Excellence Awardees. The Teaching Excellence Chair gives a brief introduction of each Awardee, while presenting the Awards at the annual dinner. The Teaching Excellence Chair writes up the Teaching Excellence Awards given at the annual dinner for publication in the November Newsletter.
The Teaching Excellence Chair is responsible for replacing committee members a needed.
Nominating Committee Chair and Committee Membership
In January, the Nominating Committee Chair should be contacted by the Association president regarding any upcoming board vacancies. In turn, the Chair will notify all committee members of vacancies and at that point, all committee members will undertake the search for members interesting in filling those positions. There are reliable ways in which to identify candidates for the Board as well as new Nominating Committee members. These include contacting people who attend the yearly Asilomar conference and the many Programs offered throughout the year. In addition, the Nominating Committee Chair should ask the Membership Chair for names and contact information of members who have indicated on their membership forms interest & willingness to volunteer for the Association. Committee members can then contact those listed by either direct phone calls or via email or other means. Once replacements have been identified, the Committee’s work is completed. The Chair can then complete a follow-up call to candidates and if necessary answer any questions. The Chair or the Chair's designee will then present the new slate of board members for approval at the annual meeting. Membership on the Nominating Committee does not usually require any face to face meetings.
Revised March 2023, Nov 12, 2024