PHI BETA SIGMA FRATERNITY, INC.

Southwestern Region | 828 N.W. 110th | Oklahoma City, OK 73114

Phone (405) 623-6602 |

Joshua A. Busby

First Vice Regional Director

Report of the Southwestern Region First Vice Director

INTRODUCTION

The Regional Constitution states that the First Vice Director shall assume the office of Regional Director in the event of death, resignation, or removal of the Director, and he shall act for the Director in the absence or incapacity of the Director. He shall be responsible for membership development and serve on the International Membership Committee.

Since being elected in St. Louis a little under a year ago, we have been busy about the work of Sigma. I stated when we left St. Louis that we would have to fundamentally change our mentality as it relates to membership development and retention in the region, and we’re working together gradually and comprehensively to do just that.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

I was able to attend 3 State Meetings around the region in the fall of 2012: Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. We finished 2012 with 905 brothers financial in the region. While this is a decrease of 178 brothers from 2011 we produced a report that identified who those 178 brothers were so that we could target them in 2013. We finished 5thout of the 7 regions at the end of the year as it relates to membership. We were only 9 brothers from the 4thlargest region. Numbers were down across the fraternity in 2012 from 2011 in every region except the Western Region.

As it relates to membership and our individual chapters, the Southwestern Region once again is the home of the largest alumni chapter and collegiate chapter in the fraternity. The 2012 Largest Collegiate Chapter was the Delta Nu chapter at the University of Memphis. The 2012 Largest Alumni Chapter was the Tau Iota Sigma Chapter of Memphis, TN. This feat, being the region having the largest collegiate and alumni chapter, has been an honor held for several years in the fraternity. And this is something that we do not take lightly.

As it relates to the Mission Possible Recognition Levels, please see below the levels a chapter must reach in order to reach, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Diamond, or Founders’ Level Status:

Out of the 64 chapters that were listed on our membership report, 37 chapters reached one of these levels and that is a great feat. 27 of those chapters were collegiate chapters.

Southwestern
Total Chapters in a club / 37
Alumni Chapters
Club / # of chapters
Bronze / 7
Silver / 1
Gold / 1
Diamond / 0
Founders / 1
10
Collegiate Chapters
Club / # of chapters
Bronze / 10
Silver / 14
Gold / 1
Diamond / 2
Founders / 0
27

Lastly, after looking at the latest Regional Membership Report, after February commenced, we are ahead of our membership numbers from this time last year in January and February. We’re starting off the year on the right note, so let us continue to march on, march on.

LESSONS LEARNED

  1. We must develop a plan to retain our alumni brothers which will help us to grow the region. Our collegiate chapters will continue to be a revolving door to the fraternity, but our alumni chapters hold the key to our future as we push to grow our numbers exponentially.
  2. After the January membership report was generated, an attrition report was generated so that we could capture the brothers who were financial at the end of 2012 but not financial as of February 2013. The number equated to over 400 brothers. If we can capture these brothers, this will bring us to about 1000 members in the region.
  3. We must be more comprehensive in the tracking of our intake certification around the region especially with the implantation of the new intake process.
  1. Work to get our brothers who are interested in being Certified Trainers trained in that capacity earlier in the year.

RECOMMEDNATIONS FOR THE FUTURE

  1. Create a Regional Membership Committee which would be comprised of the First Vice Director, Second Vice Director, Area Directors and the Regional Director of Alumni Affairs and Collegiate Affairs. This committee will work to begin to formulate a comprehensive recruitment process to retain all alumni members as well as recruit collegiate and alumni members.
  2. We must continue to push chapters to utilize the recruitment and retention materials that were created to aid the membership in membership development. The material includes invitations, flyers, and posters for informational meetings, special events and activities. Additionally, there are brochures and power point presentations available as well.

CLOSING AND SUMMARY

2012 was a transition year for us, but we did not sit back idle. In addition to the work we accomplished, I attended the Serious Sigma Summit where I presented a session on “Creating Winning Strategies for Recruitment and Retention.” 2013 will be a year of progression for our region. I’m exciting about rolling out the new intake process and we’re excited about certifying the brothers of the region in Kansas City.

Fraternally,

Joshua A. Busby

Bro. Joshua A. Busby

First Vice Regional Director

Southwestern Region

Founded 1914 | Washington DC | |