What engineering manual would be complete without a system flowchart? Actually, running a Tau Beta Pi chapter is much like working with a linear system. This manual is full of transforms (though not attributable to M. Laplace) to help solve many of your administrative problems. If you have a question which is unanswered, please don't hesitate to contact headquarters*:
Details on the major inputs to the system follow in this Section of the President's Book. Further suggestions are included in Sections B and C.
A chapter president should be in full accord philosophically with the Tau Beta Pi idea. The president firmly believes that it is worthwhile "to mark in a fitting manner those who have conferred honor upon their Alma Mater by distinguished scholarship and exemplary character . . . and to foster a spirit of liberal culture in engineering colleges." He or she also believes that a group of engineering students with outstanding records, excellent character, and similar interests, as exists in a Tau Beta Pi chapter, has a responsibility beyond that of average students. Within the limits of time and each student's obligation to continue to do well in formal studies, the chapter president has a right to expect enthusiastic cooperation from fellow officers and members in carrying Tau Beta Pi forward. This calls for leadership of a high order, and the president has been selected by his or her chapter members to provide such leadership.
A key to good leadership is planning. Hold a meeting of the Advisory Board early to map your goals and strategies for the upcoming year. This is the time to do a little zero-based budgeting of your traditional chapter projects, recognizing students no longer flock to your calculator course and that a personal-computer course might be more appropriate.
Nothing breathes life into a chapter better than instituting a worthwhile activity to which your members feel justified in devoting their limited time. Thumb through the Index of Chapter Projects, listing more than 500 projects available from headquarters, for ideas on activities. Your electees, engineering dean, and chapter advisors, who are familiar with the needs of your college and community, may also offer suggestions.
Before embarking on a set of projects, examine your calendar and evaluate your financial and personnel resources.
Pages A-6a and b reveal a typical chapter schedule. You may need to alter them to conform to your school's calendar. Mark the sheets with information which pertains to your chapter.
Your chapter's budget doesn't have to be as elaborate as the budget of the federal government. Unlike the federal government, your chapter should not plan for more expense than revenue.
Confer with your treasurer and advisors on the budget frequently during your term. You are responsible for your chapter and this includes responsibility for financial matters. You should institute a procedure whereby your treasurer never makes an expenditure without your approval.
The balance in your checkbook is a good upper bound on the money available, but how can you assess your available "manpower"? Try distributing a questionnaire at the first chapter meeting asking what skills (tutoring, peer-counseling, cookie baking, etc.) your members may offer.
With this resource bank, you'll be able to make committee assignments. Dividing a large chapter into a number of small committees opens the gates for involvement and commitment from your individual members. It also supports the axiom that one can manage only seven-to-ten people.
Keep this ratio of one-to-seven in mind when you start thinking about doing some detail work. You and your committee chairs will be spending enough time offering guidance and following up to make sure the various tasks are performed so you should not worry about handling such chores as sealing envelopes. By delegating responsibility, chapter members become involved in Tau Beta Pi which leads to the formation of a tighter-knit chapter.
Your greatest challenge as chapter president will be motivating your members. Unlike the business world, there is no strong legislative or line authority for requiring performance. Your members are your colleagues, so you must get them to work with you, not for you.
Good communications is a key to obtaining commitments from your members. You will learn to fear the words, "But I assumed that you wanted me to ...." Prevent this by writing the details of your assignments and presenting them to your committee members. You are much more likely to get commitments when your members know exactly what is expected of them and realize that they won't be falling into a bottomless pit of responsibility. If you are reluctant to hand out a piece of paper with a list of duties on it, remember that each of us only has a limited number of bytes of short-term memory under our hat. That goes for you too! You will be doling out more than 128K-bytes of tasks, so to help you in your follow-up, keep a list of what you've assigned to whom.
Select reasonable deadlines for completion of the assignments. Your volunteers will accept responsibilities more readily if given a two-week lead-time rather than two days.
Every once in a while your members do have tests, homework, or lab reports, so it may not always be easy to fit in Tau Beta Pi activities. This applies to your meetings as well. Try to keep your meetings under one-half hour in length. A well-planned agenda will not only keep the meeting moving but will also stimulate attendance. The spirit of many chapters has been drowned by chapter presidents who begin meetings by saying, "Well folks, what do we talk about tonight?" Apathy comes not from dull members, but from poor leaders.
Part of the meeting should be devoted to a summary of chapter activities. With everyone's attention focused on his or her own project, a student may not be aware of the work of fellow members. Members make much better representatives of Tau Beta Pi when they are kept fully informed.
To relieve the feeling that you're shuffling more papers than a Washington bureaucrat, make use of Tau Beta Pi documents and personnel.
This President's Book, the national Information Book, the national Constitution and Bylaws, and your local chapter bylaws will answer many of your questions about Tau Beta Pi operations. Pay particular attention to the requirements for the election and initiation of new members. After all, one of our basic purposes is "to mark in a fitting manner."
To supplement these manuals you should have an outline of duties for each officer. A good basis for this is the material entitled "Duties of Officers" in Section C of this President's Book. The outline of duties serves two purposes.
One, it helps your officers understand their responsibilities, so that they don't have to "re-invent the wheel" each term. These guidelines are real time-savers when you and your people are embroiled in chapter matters and trying to keep up your grades. And two, it helps you, the president, see that the various jobs get done since you will be aware of the jobs that need doing.
The headquarters staff has a booklet for your advisors called "Advisor's Book." Tau Beta Pi is a student-run organization, but the guidance you receive from these valuable resource people — your chapter advisors — will make your job much easier.
Your advisors usually have access to grades which you may not be able to lay your hands on when you need them most; their service on initiation teams makes the presentation of the Ritual more impressive and, incidentally, also serves to maintain advisors' interest in the chapter; they know which restaurants in town will give you the best banquet service; some advisors have been known to provide their chapters with secretarial help; etc. As long as we are noting the virtues of the alumnus advisors, let's keep in mind that: — "members" is plural. If you have only one really interested advisor, try to find three others!
Your District Director, a volunteer national officer in your region of the country, has many ideas for promoting activity both within your chapter and with other chapters. Ways your Director can aid you are included on page A-9.
The headquarters staff is also ready to assist you. Tau Beta Pi's annual Chapter Survey report, which you will complete in the spring of your term, not only serves as the business-membership report to the national officers, but also helps you assess how close you've come to achieving your chapter's goals.
Feedback loops are just as important in chapter management as they are in circuit design. Your new officers should work with you in filling out the annual survey, because knowledge of chapter strengths and weaknesses serves as input to be fed back during their terms of office.
Your successors will be even more prepared to step into your shoes if you use the Chapter Officer Installation Procedure, described in Section C of this manual. Since the officer installation may be the only time all of the officers get together before the summer recess, it is a good time to complete the New Officers and Convention Credentials reports for the national headquarters. The credentials is a two-part form, the bottom half of which is sent to the national headquarters, while the upper half is kept by your chapter's delegate and brought with him or her to the national Convention. Credentials, or voter-validation certificates, are a requirement of the law under which Tau Beta Pi is incorporated.
Although it's not written into the laws or even the Constitution and Bylaws, you should never forget the magic words "please" and "thank you." After a hat-full of "pleases" throughout the year to your members, give them a tip of the hat in the form of individual letters of appreciation at the end of the year.
There's a story about an elderly minister which summarizes the philosophy of being a chapter president. It seems that this minister, long past retirement, frequently was called upon to preach in small communities which could not afford a full-time minister. One day he brought his young grandson with him. Arriving at the little country church, they noticed a box by the entrance labeled "Contributions for the Poor." The elderly minister, being a charitable man, placed the entire contents of his pocket in the box — the sum of 25ยข. After the sermon, an elder of the church informed the minister that it was the custom to give the contents of the box to visiting clergy. The elder shook the box, and out came its contents — 25 cents. The little boy said, "Grandpa, if you had put more into it, you would have gotten more out of it." And that's the whole idea!
The more time you spend preparing to be an effective chapter president, the better the job you will do, and the more satisfaction you will derive from your term in office. Time spent during the summer is time saved for your academic work during the school year.
If you take the time to plan your chapter activities, communicate effectively, use your resources, and ease the transition for your successors, you will see a highly satisfying output branch sprout from your system.
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