National Council Announces Fall 2017 Colony Application Deadline
The National Council will begin accepting applications for Fall 2017 colonization starting May 15, 2017 and closing on June 30, 2017. This deadline window aligns with the summer meetings of the National Council. We welcome all interested schools and band programs to apply within the application window.
Applications sent before May 15th or after June 30th will not be accepted for review for a Fall 2017 process. Schools missing this deadline window will be encouraged to apply after November 15, 2017 for a Spring 2018 process.
Please visit https://www.kkpsi.org/membership/starting-a-chapter for more information on how to get started.
If you have any questions regarding Kappa Kappa Psi’s colonization program, please contact VPCM Evan Thompson at evan@kkpsi.org.
Have you reported your 2016-2017 Graduating Seniors?
Dear Brother President,
Before the end of the semester completely takes over your remaining available brain cells, I wanted to make sure that you were up to speed with what the Fraternity and the KKPsi Alumni Association (KKPsiAA) needs from you in regards to your end of year reporting of Graduating Seniors.
First off, each Graduating Senior MUST log into the OMRS and confirm that the contact information in their profile is accurate. Combined with the Graduating Senior Report, this update is what is functionally the membership form for their complimentary year of KKPsiAA Membership. No paper form is needed. We highly recommend that Brothers use their professional email address, and not the student email address established by the college or university. We need to be able to contact you for years to come. A school based email address isn’t reliable, and may be shut down by the school with no notice to the Alumni.
Next, I want to review which forms to use for reporting status changes to Alumni.
Each chapter with Graduating Seniors MUST complete the Graduating Seniors Report (GSR) at least twice an academic year. Submit as many of the GSRs in an academic year as you need to! For Spring and Summer 2017 graduates, please submit the GSRs immediately. If you have not submitted a GSR reflecting your Fall 2016 and Winter 2017 graduates, please do so ASAP! If any of your Graduating Seniors are currently listed as officers in the OMRS, you will need to complete an Officer & Chapter Update before the GSR can be processed.
If a member terminates their affiliation with the College/University without graduating, please submit a Chapter Personnel Update (CPU) to report status changes to Alumni status. Per the National Constitution, Alumni members of the Fraternity shall be those Active, Associate or Conditional members of the Fraternity who have completed their education or who have terminated their affiliation with their college or university. This report can also be submitted as often as necessary throughout the year.
If a Brother currently holds Inactive status, they cannot be submitted for Alumni status on either form. There is a separate process for Inactive Reinstatement that is not associated with these forms.
From reviewing all of the reported Alumni to-date in the 2016-17 KKPsiAA membership year, we have 25% of those Brothers with the strong likelihood of having been incorrectly reported in the OMRS. Almost 300 Brothers have potentially missed out on their complimentary first year membership in the KKPsiAA because the Graduating Seniors Report was not used.
One last point – get the Graduating Seniors Report under the noses of your Sponsor and/or Director of Bands at least two weeks BEFORE finals week. If they have no reason to be on campus but for a final or two, checking their campus email account may be the least of their priorities. Don’t get your report stuck in approval limbo until late August! The longer it takes for the report to clear all the necessary approvals, the longer it is until your future Alumni are marked correctly in the OMRS. If they aren’t listed as Alumni, they are not granted membership in the KKPsiAA, are not permitted to join any Local Alumni Associations, and may not be eligible to become Life Members. Also, incomplete Graduating Seniors Reports can affect the Annual Reports that each Local Alumni Association completes in the Spring. It isn’t fair to your Alumni to neglect or delay the submission of this report!
Thank you very much for tending to these important tasks this week. Your Brothers deserve it.
Fraternally yours,
Alison M. S. Beidler
Chair/Membership Director
Kappa Kappa Psi Alumni Association
alison@kkpsi.org
—
KKΨAA Board of Directors
https://kkpsiaa.kkytbsonline.com
The Kappa Kappa Psi Alumni Association is dedicated to supporting the Fraternity. Recognizing that the college band experience should continue after graduation, the Kappa Kappa Psi Alumni Association will focus its efforts on connecting and enriching members from the past, present, and future of college and university bands; promoting lifelong involvement with band; and enhancing the long-term growth and financial viability of Kappa Kappa Psi.
Information for the upcoming MWD, SED, and WD conventions
Brothers of the Midwest, Southeast, and Western Districts,
Below you will find buttons that link to both the National Town Hall question submission form (labeled with the hashtag for your convention) as well as the Ritual Performance and Education Committee Focus Group sign up form. The National Leadership Team is excited to see you all this weekend!
Keep striving!
Zac
Podcast update for the week of March 27th
Brothers of Kappa Kappa Psi:
Due to some technical difficulties following the Southwest District Convention, there will only be one episode of “Kappa Kappa Psi Presents” this week as opposed to the double episodes I mentioned last week. The episode will be posted on Wednesday morning and will focus on the Curriculum Committee’s conversation that happened at SWDCon. It will have some updates for the coming week as well. The goal for next week and the week after will be to have double episodes each week following the remaining district conventions, with one focusing on the convention itself and the other focusing on that weekend’s Curriculum Committee conversations.
I apologize for the hiccup and I look forward to bringing the Brothers of Kappa Kappa Psi continued quality content with the upcoming episodes of the podcast. If you’d like to contribute to the podcast, don’t hesitate to reach out by visiting the podcast’s website or sending an email to kkpsipresents@kkpsi.org.
Thank you for understanding!
Keep striving!
Zac
Official Notice of KKΨ National Convention
In accordance with Section 3.403 of the Kappa Kappa Psi National Constitution, official notice is hereby given that,
The National Chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi will meet in National Convention
July 18-22, 2017
Hilton Orlando Buena Vista Palace
1900 E. Buena Vista Drive
Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830
In preparation for our upcoming National Convention this summer in Orlando, Florida, the fraternity’s constitution requires that the National Executive Director and the National Vice President for Student Affairs publish any relevant information that our membership needs to be informed about the upcoming meeting. Below you will find a short summary of both an initial agenda and topics that will be discussed.
As with all national conventions, the commissioning of a new piece of band literature through the joint effort of the National Intercollegiate Band with Tau Beta Sigma, the review of our national constitution, the passing of a budget, and the election of officers are key priorities. As you know, the election process was changed in 2015 at our last national convention in Lexington, Kentucky. This will be the first implementation of that new process and a review will be done of its efficacy. In addition, many guest speakers and leadership development sessions are planned for the continuing education of all members in attendance.
At this national convention, the 10-year moratorium on changes to our Ritual expires. As has been mentioned for the past several months, this does not mean that the ritual will be rewritten. Instead, the focus of the Ritual and Regalia committee will be to ensure that any necessary updates are made with respect to changes made to our guiding documents (constitution, policies, and various statements).
There is also a goal to enhance the performance aspects of the ritual by providing better guidance within our ritual book itself. The Ritual Performance and Education committee was created this biennium to propose changes to the instructions and preparation pages of the ritual. This committee will be on hand throughout the district convention season to chat with brothers about their ongoing efforts. If you’d like to reach out to the committee, you can do so by sending an email to RitualEducation@kkpsi.org.
We will also discuss the implementation of a national curriculum, entitled “The Road to Wisdom,” that is the product of a multi-biennial effort to provide our chapters with a framework for educating new members. There will be plenty of room for chapters to retain their individual identities, the curriculum being proposed is focused on providing more structure to the overall process. It will do so by setting benchmarks on bringing in new brothers to the fraternity, with the focus more on what it takes to be a successful and productive active member. Members of the curriculum committee will be available throughout the district convention season to answer questions and have conversations on their ongoing work. If you would like to reach out to the committee, you can do so by sending an email to Curriculum@kkpsi.org.
Several constitutional changes will be reviewed. One such constitutional amend would create an appointed member to the Kappa Kapp Psi Board of Trustees. This additional voting member would fill a gap in expertise or experience as deemed needed. Additional constitutional changes may be recommended as we approach national convention. These will be published on the national convention website.
National Convention is taking place in the Buena Vista Palace hotel in Orlando, Florida. Registration for the convention is $140. If you have questions or need more information regarding the upcoming National Convention, please visit the convention website here: http://natcon.kkytbsonline.com/. You can also contact our National Headquarters with any questions you have by calling (405)372-2333 or email our National Executive Director Steve Nelson at nelson@kkytbs.org.
A short outline of the daily agenda for the convention itself follows:
- July 18 – Opening Joint and Separate Sessions, Seating of Delegates, NIB Concert
- July 19 – Committee Meetings and Workshops
- July 20 – Free Day for Orlando parks
- July 21 – Separate Session, Committee Meetings and Workshops
- July 22 – Closing Separate and Joint Sessions, National Elections, Convention Banquet
If you have specific questions for your National Council, there are a couple ways to get in touch. You can visit https://www.kkpsi.org/vpsa/ and click on the button at the bottom that mentions leaving feedback and questions for the National Council. You can also send an email to any or all of the National Council:
President: Jack Lee – lee.jack.d@gmail.com
Vice President for Colonization and Membership: Evan Thompson – evan@kkpsi.org
Vice President for Programs: Marco Krcatovich – mkrcatovich@gmail.com
Vice President for Student Affairs: Zac Humphrey – zac@kkpsi.org
Vice President for Professional Relations: Douglas Stotter – dstotter@uta.edu
Immediate Past National President: Christine Beason – beasonchristine@kkpsi.org
Chair for the Board of Trustees: Rod Chesnutt – rchesnutt@fgcu.edu
Vice Chair for the Board of Trustees: Adam Cantley – adamcantley@kkpsi.org
Chair for the KKΨ Alumni Association BOD: Alison Beidler – alison@kkpsi.org
Thank you for taking the time to read this and we look forward to seeing you this July in Orlando, Florida!
The opening Joint Session with Tau Beta Sigma is expected to begin on July 18th at 2pm. The seating of delegates will follow.
Sincerely,
Zac Humphrey
National Vice President for Student Affairs
Steven C. Nelson
National Executive Director
Kappa Kappa Psi & Tau Beta Sigma
—
Zachary T. Humphrey
National Vice President for Student Affairs
Kappa Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Fraternity
zac@kkpsi.org
Steve Nelson
National Executive Director
Kappa Kappa Psi / Tau Beta Sigma National Headquarters
PO Box 849, Stillwater, OK 74076
ph: 405-372-2333 / fax: 405-372-2363
www.kkpsi.org / www.tbsigma.org / www.kkytbs.org
2017 National Convention / July 18 – 22 / Orlando, Florida
District Convention National Town Hall Update
Greetings from the Northeast District Convention in beautiful Lancaster, PA!
I wanted to take a moment to re-post the links to the online submission forms for the District Convention Town Halls. This, along with using your district specific hashtags, provides an alternative to standing at the mic and asking a question or sharing a comment or concern with the National Leadership Team. To that end, find your district's button below. Utilize the hashtags on the buttons to submit questions via Facebook and twitter.
We can't wait to see you all in the coming weeks!
Keep striving!
Zac
National Vice President for Student Affairs
Ritual Performance and Education Committee update!
Evening brothers!
On behalf of the Ritual Performance and Education committee, I hope this finds you well! As you may have heard, as part of preparing for National Convention this summer, our National President Jack Lee and National Vice President for Colonization and Membership Evan Thompson created the Ritual Performance and Education committee. The appointed me the chair of the committee. The committee's mandate is to review the performance instructions relating for the ritual and work towards creating educational materials that will work in tandem with the work that the Curriculum Development committee is doing.
To that end, as the committee has been working over the past 5 months, we wanted to ensure that the work we were doing was meaningful, useful, and helpful to our active membership in their execution of the ritual. To get meaningful feedback, we have proposed a two prong strategy.
1) We will be sending a survey to all chapter presidents. We request that either the chapter president or someone they designate fill out the survey based on the chapter's experience.
2) Performing 6 focus groups during the upcoming district conventions. We invite each chapter to send one representative of their chapter to participate in this in-person conversation on the work being done by the committee. Chapters can sign up now using the buttons below based on their home districts.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to the committee by emailing RitualEducation@kkpsi.org.
Keep striving!
Zac
The Kenneth Corbett Most Improved Chapter Award Finalists Selected
Brothers,
I am honored to announce the following chapters have been selected by the National Council of Kappa Kappa Psi as finalists for the Kenneth Corbett Most Improved Chapter Award. These chapters were selected from among all chapters eligible in their district for this recognition of a biennium spent improving the chapter and their bands.
Remember that being eligible for next biennium starts TODAY with the steps you take to ensure paperwork and dues are submitted on time and that your chapter remains in compliance with all national rules and regulations. This is every brother’s responsibility, but if you aren’t sure what you can do or want advice on how to be in good standing next biennium, contact myself or any member of the National Leadership Team. We are here for you!
Please join me in congratulating these chapters for their hard work this biennium:
Midwest District – Gamma Delta chapter at Wayne State College (NE)
Northeast District – Epsilon Phi chapter at Clarion University (PA)
North Central District – Eta chapter at the Ohio State University
Southeast District – Alpha Eta chapter at the University of Florida
Western District – Alpha Alpha chapter the University of Nevada
—
Marco A. Krcatovich II
National Vice President for Programs
February/March Council Update, part 4: National Convention 2017
Today’s update shifts the focus to National Convention. Who’s excited? Have you registered? Have you booked your room at the Buena Vista Palace? Here is some information on dates and prices:
– NIB Application deadline: April 15th
– Convention dates: July 18th-22nd
– Convention registration deadline: June 15th — No refunds will be given after this date and any forms received after this date will incur a $25 late fee.
– Registration is $140
– The hotel is $132+tax a night, with $16 a day for parking (this price is only available if you stay onsite).
With those amounts in mind, here are some of the benefits of staying onsite:
– discounted Disney tickets
– free transport to Disney parks from hotel via shuttles
– directly across the street from Disney Springs (formerly Downtown Disney)
– just down the road [insert actual mileage] from a shopping mall with a Safeway and non-Disney restaurant options (both fast food and sit down).
– once you are on-site, no need to deal with tourist traffic in that area of Orlando
– hotel rate is about as good as you’ll get in that area, below average for the high season with no resort fees that are normal included in places like this
– complimentary beverage tickets useable in the hotel (2 tickets per person registered to the room, max 4 people per room)
– complimentary sun care products provided by the hotel
– the pools + lazy river
– being surrounded by 1000+ of your brothers and sisters 24 hours a day for 5 days straight
If you want/need more information see the website here: http://natcon.kkytbsonline.com (there are some Facebook Live videos of the hotel from the National Council’s meetings onsite in January).. There you will find individual registration forms along with the delegate registration forms. You can also call National Headquarters at (405)372-2333 for any questions that aren’t answered by the website.
Keep striving!
Zac Humphrey
National Vice President for Student Affairs
February/March Council Update, part 3: District Conventions 2017
Tonight’s update is all about district conventions. So let’s get started!
District Conventions are starting up in a few weeks, here is a list of dates and locations:
NED – March 17-18 – Lancaster, PA
SWD – March 24-26 – Stillwater, OK
MWD – March 31 – April 2 – Ames, IA
SED – March 31 – April 2 – Tampa, FL
WD – March 31 – April 2 – Boise, ID
NCD – April 7-9 – Columbus, OH
Remember, in order to attend, you must have a valid membership card. That means your active cards for those who are active and either a life membership or alumni association card for alumni members. This is a hard and fast rule! If you are bring candidates, make sure to have a letter signed by your DOB or Sponsor on file with their names. Any questions regarding membership cards, call HQ at (405)372-2333 and ask for Debbie.
Did you attend district convention last year? If you did, you’ll remember that during the National Town Hall there was a way to digitally submit questions to be answered. We will be bringing that back based on the success we had last year. Be on the look out for an update in the next few weeks that will have all the details on the hashtags and links to the district specific forms.
Two national committees are going to be actively participating in conventions this year in preparation for National Convention in Orlando this summer. The Curriculum Development Committee along with the Ritual Performance and Education Committee (RPEC) will both be on hand to share the work they have been doing as well as answer questions regarding that work. In addition, the RPEC will be inviting one member of each chapter in attendance to participate in a focus group where they will discuss the work being done and get feedback on specific language that will be included in the final report of recommendations that get sent to the Ritual and Regalia Committee at National Convention. In addition to the focus group at convention, your chapter president’s should be receiving a survey that either they or their designate will fill out on behalf of the chapter. Both of these committees are doing vital work in the name of the fraternity and we want to ensure that our membership has every opportunity to ask questions and hear more information about the work they are doing so that come July, everyone in attendance will be able to make informed decisions. If you want to reach out to the Curriculum Development Committee, you can reach them via their committee email, Curriculum@kkpsi.org. If you’d like to reach the RPEC send an email to RitualEducation@kkpsi.org. See the committee members in attendance below.
Curious about the National Leadership that will be in attendance to your district, check out the following list to see who you can expect to see!
MWD:
Council: Evan Thompson, Doug Stotter
Board: Danny George, Rod Chesnutt
Alumni Board: Nick Bratcher, Sarah Casias
NHQ: Steve Nelson (Alaina Peters as CFR)
Curriculum: (Evan)
Ritual: Andy Melvin
NCD:
Council: Jack Lee, Evan Thompson, Marco Krcatovich, Zac Humphrey, Doug Stotter
Board: Malinda Matney, Christine Beason
Alumni Board: Alison Beidler, Sarah Casias, Jennifer Pitts-Taylor
NHQ: Steve Nelson and Robert Bratcher
Curriculum: (Evan and Jack)
Ritual: Preston Ramsey (and Zac)
NED:
Council: Jack Lee, Evan Thompson, Marco Krcatovich, Zac Humphrey
Board: Adam Cantley, Eric Morson
Alumni Board: Alison Beidler, Nic Rorrer, Daniel Miller
NHQ: Di Spiva (Alaina Peters as CFR)
Curriculum: Jessica Lee (also Jack and Evan)
Ritual: (Zac)
SED:
Council: Jack Lee,
Board: Board: Eric Morson, Christine Beason
Alumni Brent Cannon, Nic Rorrer
NHQ: Robert Bratcher
Curriculum: Ken Corbett (Jack)
Ritual: Chris Haughee
SWD:
Council: Jack Lee, Evan Thompson
Board: Christine Beason, Danny George, Eric Morson
Alumni Board: Alison Beidler, Nick Bratcher, Brent Cannon, Daniel Miller
NHQ: (whole HQ since in Stillwater) (Alaina Peters as CFR)
Curriculum: Jessica Lee, Ken Corbett (also Jack and Evan)
Ritual: Andy Melvin, Graham Delafield
WD:
Council: Marco Krcatovich, Zac Humphrey
Board: Malinda Matney, Adam Cantley
Alumni Board: Daniel Miller, Jennifer Pitts-Taylor
NHQ: Potentially Aaron Moore (Justin Chesak as CFR)
Curriculum: Yvonne Daye
Ritual: (Zac)
I think that about wraps it up for today!
Keep Striving!
Zac