Preparing the Chapter Survey and Project Reports

Who should prepare the survey:

To be most beneficial, completion of the survey and project reports should be done jointly by this and next year’s officers. This is the best time to teach the new officers about the operations of your chapter. Your advisors should help. Since they are being asked to evaluate your chapter’s performance, this is the time to meet with them to discuss objectively the year’s activities, introduce the new officers, and develop a preliminary plan for next year.

How to organize and present the annual survey (per 1999 Convention):

Chapter Surveys and Project Reports

• Chapter Surveys are the online report which is graded.
• Project reports should be presented in an organized and professional manner, including front cover with a table of contents.
• Chapter Project Reports (with supplementary material) should be organized by date and area of emphasis.
• Chapters may create a template to use while preparing project reports provided the required information is presented in the same general format. An MS Word document is available for this purpose.

General comments:

• Some national officers and Convention committee members must review up to 150 surveys. Use of the standard format helps them.
• Past Conventions established our format for surveys to be considered for awards. Hours spent preparing and participating in chapter projects should be specified in total person-hours. Percent participation in projects (as reported on the Annual Chapter Survey itself) should be specified in both average participation and cumulative participation. The cumulative participation is a measure of how many members/electees have participated in at least one project, whereas the average participation represents average turnout across all projects.
• You’ll likely use a PC to prepare your chapter project reports. Be sure that each one follows the same format as the blank report.
• In determining whether material should be included in the survey, usefulness to another chapter should be the prime requisite. Appropriate photos of chapter projects should be included for historical documentation. While photographs and chapter "propaganda" may be entertaining, the committee may feel that they detract from the professionalism of the reports, waste the time of the committee, and may be attempted substitutes for a lack of projects.
• The committee would much prefer well-detailed project summaries and relevant supplementary material presented in a professional manner. Submit anything useful in describing the project, but when in doubt, leave it out!
• Be concise. Thanks!

The 2005 Awards Committee’s recommendations to each chapter are:

• All reports should be typed and ALL sections completed (neatness and organization are two of the criteria for judging these awards
• A Table of Contents should be included and all pages should be numbered
• The Chapter Survey should be included as part of the Annual Chapter Report
• All reports should be bound in a permanent binding (ie. Spiral or equivalent binding) so that all pages remain intact and cannot get out of order
• Suggestions for completing the Project Report Forms
• Participation should be noted as X/Y members and electees, where X is the number participating and Y is the total number of members/electees (ie. 39/50 members, 12/17 electees)
• Number of hours should be standardized to show the average number of hours each member contributed to the project (ie. 30 members at a 1 hour planning meeting is listed as 1 hour not 30 hours)
• A list of names of the members participating in each project should be included
• Ensure projects are noted as being a new or a recurring project
• Membership Timeline Summary should be created and include:
• Number of members and electees at start of Fall term
• Number of initiates and date of Fall Initiation
• Number of members and electees at start of Spring term
• Number of initiates and date of Spring Initiation
• A summary of the number of projects each member/electee participated in during each term should be included (ie. Sue 8/22, John 21/22 etc.)