If there isn't a Delta Sigma Pi chapter on your campus, you can help to start one. New groups are forming all the time. First, check the list of
current startup groups and
expansion effort. Can’t find your school? Review the
list of requirements for new chapters. If your school meets the requirements, staff, students and/or faculty may explore the possibilities of starting a chapter.
The Delta Sigma Pi Central Office helps guide start-ups through the process—offering assistance and materials to help make starting a new chapter simple. The Central Office staff will coordinate recruitment efforts with interested students, staff, and volunteers. These support structure will aid the group from inception to installation. They will teach, guide, and advise the group through the entirety of the startup process.
Forming a Startup Group
To form a startup group, students must submit a formal letter of intent with the signatures of two or more interested students to the Central Office. Once the request is reviewed and approved, the startup group is established. The new startup group must plan and implement a variety of activities that demonstrate they are functioning like a Delta Sigma Pi chapter by doing the following:
- Hold weekly meetings and report monthly to the Central Office.
- Continuously recruit new members. In order to become a chapter, the startup group must have 25 or more student members, with a minimum of 20 members returning to campus the two semesters or quarters following the installation. Ideally, the group should have 40 or more students and several faculty members.
- Each student member must be in good academic standing with a GPA of at least 2.000.
- Maintain an updated roster of startup group membership and provide this roster to the Central Office.
- Prepare local bylaws and submit them to the Central Office using a template provided. Copies should be made available to each startup group member.
- Elect startup group officers, including a startup group advisor, and submit their names online to the Central Office at the beginning of each school term and summer. Officers should meet weekly to plan for the startup group meeting and to review the status of all objectives.
- Appoint appropriate committees, such as fundraising, social, and faculty relations.
- Prepare a calendar of activities and conduct programs including professional, service, fundraising, and social events similar to those of an active chapter.
- Complete five professional activities per academic year.
- Complete four service activities per academic year.
- Complete two fundraisers per academic year.
- Report all activities to Central Office online.
- Attend LEAD events. Encourage members to take advantage of Delta Sigma Pi events and conferences.
- Communicate with the Central Office and local volunteers, such as your District Director and Regional Vice President, on a regular basis.
Once the startup group has met all of the requirements, the startup group may apply for a chapter charter. The official application and request for a charter includes:
- A petition and cover letter to the National Fraternity.
- Payment of the charter fee, initiation fee for each member, and badge lease fee for each member.
- A complete and accurate historical reference for all activities of the startup group since its founding, as well as other supporting materials.
Once the petition is received, the Board of Directors votes whether to approve the charter. If approved, the startup group determines an installation date, a pledge education program is conducted in accordance with our policies. Upon successful completion of the pledge education program, members of the group participate in an installation celebration.
For more information on starting a new chapter, contact the
Central Office or call 513-523-1907.