Alpha Phi Omega Kappa Chapter, Carnegie Mellon

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Membership Standards of the Kappa Chapter of Alpha Phi Omega

Unless otherwise noted, in this document the term Members shall be used to mean Chapter Active and Pledge Members as defined in the Bylaws.

Leadership requirement
Members are expected to take such leadership roles in Chapter activities as their time and abilities permit.
In order to evaluate the progress of Pledge Members toward this goal, they shall be required to take charge of at least one Chapter project or event during the Pledging Period, although they are encouraged to do more if they are able. If there are more Pledge Members than the number of projects and events that the Chapter can reasonably support, the Pledgemaster may determine that significantly assisting the Chairman of a major project or event shall be sufficient to show progress towards this goal.
See National Pledging Standards, part 10

Fellowship requirement
Members are expected to meet and establish a fraternal relationship with the other Members of the Chapter.
To this end, Pledge Members shall be expected to spend time with each Member of the Chapter in turn.
In order to evaluate the progress of Pledge Members toward this goal, they shall be expected to obtain the signatures (in the space provided in their Pledge Manual for doing so) of the Members that they meet.
A Member giving a Pledge Member their signature is an indication that they feel that they have spent enough time with the Pledge Member to know them reasonably well.
Members are expected to make themselves available to the Pledge Members for this purpose.
The Members whose signatures the Pledge Members are asked to acquire under this clause shall be nine-tenths (9/10) of the Chapter Active and Advisory Members, with the exception of those Members that feel they would not be able to spend the requisite time with the Pledge Members, and all Pledge Members.
See National Pledging Standards, part 11

Service requirement
Members are expected to put as much time in on service projects as their schedules reasonably permit. The service projects that a Member works on should be varied, and they should be distributed among projects benefitting the Fraternity, the Campus, the Community, and the Country.
As such an ideal is nearly impossible to measure, no specific requirement can be set. However, at least twenty five hours spent on service projects during the current Semester prior to the end of the Pledging Period, no more than one-fifth of this number accrued from any one project, and with at least one project from each of the four fields of service being represented, shall impress upon the Chapter the Pledge Member's willingness to live up to the standard that the Chapter has set for itself.
See National Pledging Standards, part 12
Service Hours (so far as this requirement is concerned) are all time spent in the planning, set up, running, execution, cleanup, and evaluation of any Alpha Phi Omega service event, and time spent in the performance of the official duties of any officer or appointee of the Chapter.

Knowledge of Fraternity and Chapter history
Members are expected to know and appreciate our Fraternity, Chapter, and scouting history and heritage.
In order to evaluate the Pledge Members' progress toward this goal, each individual Pledge Member is expected to make some contribution to the recorded body of knowledge of the history of the Fraternity, Chapter, campus, or our special ties to and relationship with the scouting movement and our common background and present it, individually or as part of a group, to the chapter. This contribution may be in any appropriate form that can be added to the chapter archives, and must be approved by the Pledgemaster in advance. In addition, Pledge Members shall be expected to show satisfactory performance on a number of quizzes during the pledge period.
See National Pledging Standards, part 7

Knowledge of and participation in Chapter operations
Members are expected to have a working knowledge of Fraternity and Chapter rules, policies, and operating procedures and are expected to attend and conduct themselves appropriately at all Chapter meetings.
Members shall be instructed in, and expected to be familiar with parliamentary procedure, and the rules of the Fraternity and the Chapter.
To this end, Chapter Active Members are required to attend two-thirds (2/3) of all Regular Meetings each Semester, and may not miss more than two (2) consecutive Regular Meetings, in order to remain in compliance with these standards, and Pledge Members are required to attend two-thirds (2/3) of the Regular Meetings during the Pledging Period, and may not miss more than two (2) consecutive Regular Meetings, in order to be eligible to become Chapter Active Members. If a Member is not able to meet this requirement because of extenuating circumstances, the Member may petition to be excused for individual absences by submitting the reasons for the absence to the Membership Committee either prior to or within twenty-four (24) hours of the missed meeting. The Membership Committee shall meet prior to the next Regular Meeting in order to determine the validity of the excuse. If the excuse is deemed invalid, the Member may appeal to the Chapter as a whole at the next Regular Meeting, which may rule the excuse valid by a one-third (1/3) vote. If the excuse is deemed valid by either the Membership Committee or the Chapter, the missed meeting shall not be included in the calculation of attendance for the Member.
After a Chapter Active Member has missed a third consecutive Regular Meeting, or more than one-third (1/3) of the scheduled Regular Meetings of the Semester, and there is no further opportunity for an excuse to be deemed valid, the Member shall immediately be considered not to be in compliance with these standards.
See National Pledging Standards, part 8

General requirements relating to Pledge Members
In order to provide for a consistent and fruitful Pledging Period, and to help Pledge Members realize their full potential as brothers, we have established certain standards and procedures for the Pledging Period.
As Alpha Phi Omega is a collegiate fraternity, a potential new member's decision to participate in the pledging process should be made with due consideration to their academic obligations and performance.
See National Pledging Standards, part 14
In order that they be capable of experiencing the wide scope of the National Fraternity, Pledge Members shall be given the opportunity to visit other chapters.
See National Pledging Standards, part 9
As Alpha Phi Omega is a fraternal organization, Pledge Members are encouraged to organize a Pledge-Brother social and a Pledge social event to help advance our cardinal principle of Friendship.
See National Pledging Standards, part 11
Pledges shall attend all Pledge Meetings. The Pledgemaster may, under extenuating circumstances, excuse a Pledge Member for missing an individual Pledge Meeting.
See National Pledging Standards, part 10
Pledge Members are expected to wear their pledge pins at all times.
See National Pledging Standards, part 5
Pledge Members shall maintain their pledge manuals, and shall be expected to bring them to meetings or anywhere else they will be needed.
See National Pledging Standards, part 15
In order to provide feedback to the Pledge Members, and to assist Brothers in evaluating the Pledge Members' performance, Pledge Members shall attend two Pledge Reviews, one during the fourth or fifth week of the Pledging Period, and one during the eighth or ninth week of the Pledging Period, at which all Chapter Active Members are expected to be in attendance.
See National Pledging Standards, part 18
In order to assist the Pledge Members in fully understanding the commitments they will make to Alpha Phi Omega when they are initiated, Pledge Members shall be instructed in the Fraternity oath before initiation.
See National Pledging Standards, part 16
Pledge Members must, to the satisfaction of the Chapter, show that they are in the fellowship of the principles of Alpha Phi Omega and the Boy Scouts of America as embodied in the Scout Oath and Law.
See National Pledging Standards, part 19 and National Bylaws, Article III, Section 2

Amendment
This document may be amended though the same procedure required for amendment of the Chapter Bylaws.
As adopted January 27, 2013

 

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Modified: February 3, 2013
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