About "Ideas that Work" List of "Ideas that Work" Submit an Idea to Share Background on this Initiative Psi Chi National Home Page

List of Ideas that Work Topics Recruiting Members Promoting Active Membership Fundraisers General Activites Bringing in Speakers Research Participation Promoting Chapter Presence / Image Faculty Advisor Pointers (We will modify these topics as necessary as we receive submissions.) Remember that the National Psi Chi site has links to additional materials for chapters and advisors, and that the Eye on Psi Chi issues have useful pointers for advisors (especially the Summer issue). The Chapter Handbook also a includes a detailed description of the duties and responsibilities of chapter officers, suggestions for chapter projects, ideas for fundraisers, etc.   Recruiting Members No ideas currently submitted. Promoting Active Membership In the past at Stephen F. Austin we would sometimes have unfamiliar students show up in the advisor's office before graduation and want to order cords. Such students had not been active Psi Chi members in our chapter, yet they were able to wear an obvious honor symbol when they crossed the graduation stage. Thus, they were indistinguishable from those students who had been active. In response to this, our membership passed a by-law that requires a student to be continuously active and dues current each semester in order to wear cords / medallion at graduation. Of course any inducted member can always put the honor of membership on their resume, but only those who actively participated now receive the recognition of cords. We understand that not all members can make all meetings or activities, but we take attendance and track participation. Those that can't make meetings due to a class or work conflict should stay in contact with the officers so that they can participate in events at other times. Making our members more aware that we expect active participation, and that it will be recognized at graduation has helped increase overall member activity. (submitted April 2005) Fundraisers At Stephen F. Austin we borrowed one fairly easy fundraiser from the greek organizations on campus: sponsored t-shirts. The front of our t-shirt has the Psi Chi logo with our university name and the year. The back of the shirt has names / logos of local businesses. It costs a business $35 for their name on the shirt, and $50 for their logo on the shirt. Our students wear the shirts around campus and town, so it's inexpensive advertising for the businesses, plus they are supporting a campus organization. (submitted April 2005)   General Activites No ideas currently submitted. Bringing in Speakers No ideas currently submitted. Research Participation At Stephen F. Austin one of the major areas on which we focus energy is research and conference attendance. For several years now we have used the following model, and it has allowed 4-6 research groups to complete original research projects and present them at SWPA (or other Psi Chi / undergraduate conferences). Returning Psi Chi students are encouraged to start thinking about projects in the summer, but most activity begins at the first meeting in the fall. Members form research groups of 2-5 people (2-3 is most ideal). They determine a topic of interest and meet with a faculty member to firm up a topic that can feasibly be tested with in a 2-month period. They complete some background research and write an IRB proposal. By October they should be collecting data, and have it analyzed by the end of the month. Abstracts are due at the beginning of November for SWPA. It's a crazy pace, but doable! (submitted April 2005)   Promoting Chapter Presence / Image No ideas currently submitted. Faculty Advisor Pointers No ideas currently submitted. Return to the top. This page is maintained by Dr. Lauren Scharff, faculty advisor at Stephen F. Austin State University. If you have problems with this site, please contact her at lscharff@sfasu.edu.