Headquarters assistance with Dean’s Letter projects

The practice of sending a congratulatory letter from the dean of engineering to parents of scholastically eligible candidates has shown to increase the number of candidates who express an interest in learning more about Tau Beta Pi, and, in most chapters using the letter, has resulted in an increase in the number who are initiated. Therefore, the dean’s letter project has been identified as a key component in the nationally directed effort to assist chapters in turning around the trend in new membership decline.
Even though a sample dean’s letter has been available for several years, it was seldom used due to lack of awareness of the letter and difficulty coordinating such a mailing at many schools. Headquarters’ first intervention in promoting this project was, in 2000, to re-write the sample letter and send to all chapter presidents the letter and instructions on how to carry out this project. This information was also placed on the web in the Chapter Resources section. The following year, the dean’s letter became a chapter project and all chapters implementing the mailing receive project credit and one extra point. Realizing that the mailing creates an expense that some chapters can not carry, the Executive Council this year designated $1,000 to be used to reimburse chapters who send a dean’s letter for the first time. A chapter can receive a one-time reimbursement of up to $50 for expenses incurred by the project. To receive this money, the chapter must submit to Headquarters an itemization of expenses and a copy of its dean’s letter. Chapters and District Directors will be reminded of this program in January 2003, and the program will continue until the funds have been depleted.