Collegiate Delegates vote to accept Juniors

Engage members for life. Increase collegiate membership. Be the change. Student voice. Chapter sustainability. Mortar Board’s second century.

These phrases have been constant concepts discussed in conversations with national leaders, collegiate chapters, and alumni members during the past few years.  Our 106-years of success has many seminal moments that appear in our national history, initiation scripts, and on the timeline on our website.

At the National Conference in July 2024, our collegiate delegates came together to discuss and vote on Bylaw amendments that will establish 2024 as another momentous year in Mortar Board’s long-standing legacy.  The outcome may change the landscape of Mortar Board, but at the same time it will ensure we continue to grow and thrive with an enhanced vision for the future of our society.

First proposed by an ad-hoc Membership Committee and brought forward to the collegiate delegation by the Governance Committee, the delegation voted on three Bylaws amendments resulting in the following changes to Mortar Board.

  1. Expand the eligibility requirements for collegiate membership to include rising juniors,
  2. Encourage participation for students who are eligible to remain an active collegiate member beyond the traditional one-year experience, and
  3. Reimagine and enhance the Mortar Board alumni experience.
Collegiate Membership Update

The student delegation voted to expand the eligibility requirements for membership to include rising juniors, subsequently resulting in Mortar board becoming a junior/senior honor society.

Primary Benefits:

  • Interested and eligible students are provided the benefit of more than one year of participation, gaining continued experiences in the areas of leadership and service, advancing scholarship, and connections with other Mortar Board members.
  • The potential for multi-year participation for active and eligible collegiate members helps to grow and sustain chaptersfrom one year to the next as returning students bring both knowledge and experience to the chapter.
  • There will be no additional National fee nor membership dues charged to continuing students after their initial member dues. While membership dues are a necessity for any member-focused organization, Mortar Board is committed to never having financial limitations be a barrier for membership. Charging an additional national fee for continued collegiate participation is contradictory to both our recruitment process and our stated benefit of a lifelong member experience.

Implications:

  • As a junior/senior honor society, Mortar Board will drop “senior” from the official name and now be known as Mortar Board National College Honor Society.
  • Mortar Board chapters have the option to expand membership to juniors and select both rising juniors and/or seniors for membership. Members who join for their junior year are encouraged to participate for two years.
  • Mortar Board will eliminate the continuing senior membership status and associated fee to encourage active participation, at no additional cost, enhancing the member experience without adding a financial burden to collegiate members. Members will still be referred to as a first-year member or continuing member/student, but the designation continuing senior will be replaced by continuing student.

Points of Clarification:

  • Although chapters are strongly encouraged to also select rising juniors, this is only an expansion of eligibility and not a membership requirement. In addition, any chapter who chooses to select rising juniors must also continue to make the opportunity available to current and rising seniors, despite an individual’s participation during their junior year.
  • Collegiate chapters may choose to remain a “seniors-only” chapter on their respective campus.
  • Individual chapters can still choose to charge chapter (local) dues that would be retained by the chapter and used at their discretion within their chapter budget.
Alumni Updates

The student delegation voted to create a more intentional focus on an enhanced alumni experience for all alumni, without the barrier of annual Mortar Board Alumni Association dues.

Primary Benefits:

  • Mortar Board has a commitment to lifelong engagement and promotes “membership for life” as a pillar of our Society.
  • A reimagined alumni focus provides an opportunity to enhance the Mortar Board alumni experience for all members without confusion of three different alumni populations (MBAA Annual, MBAA Lifetime, general alumni) and additional dues.

Implications:

  • The Mortar Board Alumni Association will no longer exist, instead, an expanded focus to encourage engagement of all alumni will be a priority.
  • All collegiate members become alumni upon graduation from their collegiate chapter with access to all alumni member benefits.
  • No annual alumni dues will be required for continued engagement as an alumni member.
  • Mortar Board will sustain and grow the Lifetime Membership into a rebranded member experience known moving forward as the Torch Society.
  • Mortar Board will be working with the newly formed Alumni Engagement Board, chaired by the National Council Alumni Representatives at-Large Wilson Chan (University of Louisville, 1989) and Leslie Ellis (Lenoir-Rhyne University, 2015) to increase opportunities for engagement and enhance the member experience and member benefits for all Mortar Board alumni.

Points of Clarification:

  • Charter and current Lifetime members are important to the past, present, and future of Mortar Board. The Lifetime Membership is not being eliminated, but will now be branded the Torch Society.
  • The Torch Society is a cohort of critical stakeholders within the Society and an intentional focus will take place to further engage the Torch Society members.

Thank you to the student delegation who, through thoughtful conversation and civil discourse, voted on each of these important changes. As a Society founded by students and still governed by student voice and vote, the student delegation of 2024 made a historic decision that will move our Society forward in our second century. Thank you to the members of the Membership Committee and the Governance Committee for your hard work and careful consideration around each of these amendments.

We look forward to the next chapter in Mortar Board’s long-standing legacy and recognize these changes are imperative to the continued success and sustainability of our Society. We appreciate your enthusiasm for these changes and are happy to discuss any questions or concerns you may have. Please feel free to reach out: mortarboard@mortarboard.org.