Many of your students may have graduated, but thousands will enroll in classes this summer, giving you a new crop of prospective members to recruit.
While many chapters focus on recruitment efforts in the spring and fall terms, adding a summer recruitment campaign can put you closer to a higher overall acceptance rate and receiving REACH Rewards.
By now, you should have at least some knowledge of our REACH Rewards program. Chapters meeting or exceeding an acceptance rate of 15 percent will be rewarded with free graduation regalia. We calculate this for you early in each calendar year.
Your REACH score is more important than ever before, as it will be factored into Hallmark Awards judging. To be recognized among the Top 10 Distinguished Chapters at PTK Catalyst 2020, we’ll look at the scores of your Honors in Action Project and College Project submissions, AND we’ll also consider your membership acceptance rate, or REACH score.
This means PTK’s Most Distinguished Chapters will need to be well-rounded and successful in both their projects and their recruiting.
How Summer Recruitment Impacts REACH
First, let’s dispel a few myths about summer recruitment when it comes to REACH. A chapter’s REACH score is not based on a school’s number of academic terms. When calculated, Headquarters considers the number of unduplicated students uploaded during each half of the year.
In other words, the calendar year is split into two halves: January-June, and July-December. A chapter’s membership acceptance rate is calculated for the first half of the year, and again for the second half of the year, then those two rates are averaged. There is no summer-only REACH calculation.
Let’s say your chapter has three enrollment periods during the year: one from January-May, a second from June-July, and a third from August-December. The eligible students you upload in June — and the ones who join in June — would count in our January-June calculation. Students joining in July would count in the July-December calculation.
The timing of your eligible student uploads doesn’t impede your REACH score. We can even extend your chapter’s eligibility dates to allow more students to join.
5 Reasons to Recruit This Summer
So, why should you recruit members this summer?
1. It’s really easy! Don’t worry if your chapter officers are off-campus this summer — a summer enrollment campaign requires minimal effort. Upload an updated list of eligible students, and we’ll send membership invitations on your behalf. You don’t even have to plan a special induction ceremony — simply include these students in the one you’ll host this fall.
2. A student may have missed their last chance. Our research indicates that eligible students do not join PTK until they’ve had five or more points of contact. So, identifying and inviting eligible students over the summer is one additional opportunity for students to join. These are likely many of the same students who were eligible during the spring or will be eligible this fall.
3. They can immediately start accessing benefits. New members may have more time in the summer to complete PTK Edge curriculums like Competitive Edge or Transfer Edge. They can go ahead and start working on their scholarship application to get ahead of the fall deadline. They can use PTK Connect to start looking at four-year colleges that offer transfer scholarships. They can request letters of recommendation from Headquarters for upcoming job interviews.
4. Free graduation stoles, anyone? Again, when you meet or exceed a 15 percent member acceptance rate, your chapter automatically receives free graduation stoles through REACH Rewards. Rewards are calculated using the number of new members, the acceptance rate for your chapter, and the enrollment totals for your institution, and the rewards earned are based on a chapter’s size.
5. Build a year-round presence on campus. Be a consistent sight at your college. Keep the recruitment posters up; hold an easy service project like a canned food drive; send chapter updates through email and social media. A consistent, year-round presence is an opportunity to continue the momentum to become a Five Star Chapter or reinvigorate your chapter by adding new members.
Maximize your PTK membership this summer! If your spring enrollment has ended and you’d like to extend your membership deadline, contact your division’s Membership Services Specialist (find your division):
Division 1
Monica Bates
monica.bates@ptk.org
601.987.5740
Division 2
Christopher Bingham
christopher.bingham@ptk.org
601.984.3557
Division 3
Paige Still
paige.still@ptk.org
601.984.3554
Division 4
Erica Bold
erica.bold@ptk.org
601.984.3572
If you do open summer enrollment, be on the lookout for our Summer Sign-Up Contest! Recruit members over the summer, send us a photo, and you could be featured on ptk.org. More details are coming soon!
