FAQs

A: Convention is quite the process, especially for those planning the weekend. Below is a brief list of deadlines/communication expectations that may help you know what to look out for in the coming months!

• January

  • January 15th: Convention details in the State of the Organization report

    • Includes: tentative itinerary, transportation plan, meal options, any changes

• March

  • March 15th: Updates are communicated

    • Includes: nominations for NBoD positions, nominations for LCs, and notice about proposal abstracts

• April

  • April 15th: Convention Registration opens

  • April 15th: Updates are communicated

    • Includes: NBoD Statement of intent form, LC application, Proposal submission form, general convention reminders (i.e. initial travel grant information, NBoD Office Hours)

• May

  • May 1st: Updates are communicated

    • Includes: NBoD office hours scheduling, Travel grant request form

  • May 5th: Proposal abstracts are due

• June

  • June 1st: Deadlines

    • NBoD Statement of Intent

    • Final proposal submissions

  • June 1st: Convention packet distributed

  • Attending office hours

  • Travel grant recipients announced

• July

  • 1 week prior to Convention: communication updates

    • Transportation updates

    • Contact list for attendees

    • Hotel and room assignment information

    • Final agendas

  • Attend Convention

• August

  • Convention Recap information distributed

  • Committee sign-up begins

A: Yes, guests invited by a Member can come to Open Meetings and the Banquet! Please note, guests will be required to pay the “Banquet-Only” Banquet tickets are $65/person. 

A: Anyone can apply for the Travel Grant! However, voting Members of Delegation are prioritized for receiving funds. Check out the Travel Grant page for more information.

If you receive a Travel Grant, you will still be required to pay upfront and will be reimbursed by the NDoF at Convention. 

Please note that hotel costs will be estimated assuming room costs will be split between four people. 

A: 

Proposal Abstracts are a summary of what you’re proposing and why. They allow Delegates to start talking to their Chapters about the topics that will be discussed at Convention. Proposal Abstracts will be shared with Chapters by May 10th. You are still able to submit a full proposal even if you did not submit an abstract. 

Final Proposal Submissions are submitted in order to get something changed within the Organization. Proposals include all the details of what you want changed, why you want it changed, and the logistics of the change.

A: It is highly recommended that you read through the Proposals in their entirety so you can be an active participant in the discussions. The discussions at Convention move quickly, so the more you know the Documents and the Proposals, the better! 

There are 3 different types of proposals: Goal Requiring a Committee, Issue Requiring a Vote, and Amendments to Current Policies.

• Goal Requiring a Committee

  • To be used when something someone desires to be done needs a designated Committee for the efforts of completing that goal

• Issue Requiring a Vote

  • To be used when new Policies or Bylaws are created

• Amendments to Current Policies

  • To be used when someone believes the Constitution, Policy, or Bylaws needs amended

A: The National Budgets are a lot of information to look at, so here's a basic breakdown of the information included.

Terminology/General Information

• Each row is a type of income/expense

  • Income/revenue - the amount of money we get

  • Expenses - the amount of money we spent

• Major columns include budget, actual, difference

  • Budget - what was planned/expected to be earned/spent

  • Actual - what was actually earned/spent

  • Difference - shows the difference between the actual and budgeted numbers

    • Positive difference

      • We earned more than budgeted 

      • We spent less than budgeted

    • Negative difference

      • We earned less than budgeted

      • We spent more than budgeted

There are many different sheets that are included in every National Budget

• Summary

  • An overview of every other sheet included on the National Budget for that fiscal year

• 1.1 Dues

  • A page that includes every Chapter (Active and Alum), their Membership number, and how much their dues are expected to be

  • In rows 3 & 4 include the cost of dues for the different Membership types

• 1.2 2.11 Insurance

  • A page that includes every Chapter (Active and Alum), their Membership number, and how much their insurance costs are expected to be

  • Rows 3-5 include the cost of insurance for the different Chapter/Petitioning Group types

  • At the bottom is a line-by-line of what we expect our insurance cost to be for the fiscal year

• 1.3 2.2 NDoE

  • A page that details the revenue/expenses for the National Director of Expansion

• 2.3 NDoO

  • A page that details the expenses for the National Director of Operation

• 2.4 NDoF

  • A page that details the expenses for the National Director of Finance

• 2.5 ExDir

  • A page that details the expenses for the Executive Director

• 2.6 NDoC

  • A page that details the expenses for the National Director of Communications

• 1.6 2.1 Operating

  • A page that details the expenses for various operating systems of the Organization

• 2.7 Convention

  • A page that details the expenses for various Convention costs

• 1.4 2.8 Bulk Items

  • A page that details the revenue/expenses for various items (i.e. pins, badges, stoles, lavaliers)

  • Lines 3-8 include the individual costs for the various bulk items

• 1.5 2.9 Savings

  • A page that details funds that go into/out of our savings account

A: You are welcome to get the feedback in whichever way works best for you! Some recommendations for methods of obtaining the feedback are below.

• Create a Google Form that describes the proposal and gives your Chapter Membership a place to submit their thoughts.

• Hold a meeting where you walk through the proposals and have a discussion about the thoughts that your Members have.

• Share the Proposals Summary PowerPoint with your Chapter and ask for any thoughts they have.

Note: Some Chapters have found this process to be difficult as many Members are on Summer vacation and are less responsive. Try to encourage your Chapter's participation by including them in the conversation as early as possible and/or giving them extra points (or an alternative) for their constructive participation.

A: Below is a very basic list of things to pack, but make sure to bring whatever is necessary for you!

Clothes

• Weather appropriate clothes for outside of meetings - Oklahoma will likely be HOT during convention.

• Membership pin, badge, and/or Lavaliere

• Business casual outfits

• Formal/cocktail attire

Electronics

• Tablet/Computer (whichever you'd prefer to view the Convention Packet)

  • If you need a printed version of the Convention Packet, please reach out to the Convention Committee (2026-convention@ask-wits.com) before July 1

• Phone

• Chargers for all electronics

Miscellaneous

• Sunglasses

• Sunscreen

• Water bottle

• Toiletries/bathroom items

• Medications

A:

When checking into the hotel:

• Walk up to the front desk and say that you are checking in with Alpha Sigma Kappa and say your name

• You may need to provide a valid ID and a debit/credit card

  • The ID is to verify your identity

  • The card is for a security hold/incidentals

    • This hold will likely be between $50-$200 and won't end up being a posted charge unless you damage something in the room or order room service

• They will likely tell you about check out time, when/where breakfast is (if they serve it), your room location, and they will give you room key(s)

When at the hotel:

• You don't need to talk to the desk again until check out unless you need towels, something's broken, you're giving them notice of a late check-out, or you have a question

When checking out of the hotel:

• Go back to the front desk and let them know that you are checking out of your room number

• At this time you will return the key(s) and get your receipt

A: A majority of the weekend will be spent in meetings, but there is still plenty of time for other activities! Check out the "Daily Expectations" Document in the Convention Packet for more detailed information!

A: Most of the terminology we use is based on Roberts Rules of Order, but below is a list of the terminology that will be used throughout the weekend!

• SOP or Standard Operating Procedure

  • A written procedure used to guide Members of the Organization

• Quorum

  • Amount of votes needed in order to pass a proposal

• Friendlies

  • Minor edits to proposals (i.e. grammar/clarifying sentences)

  • These are typically made in the National Discord Server in that proposal's discussion thread

• Open the floor/open discussion

  • Allows a certain proposal(s) to be discussed

• So moved

  • Used after the Executive Director entertains a motion to do something to indicate that you want that motion to occur

    • Note: This still needs a second in order to continue

• Motion to _____

  • Allows you to do things during the meeting

• Second

  • Someone (who didn't make the motion) who agrees that the motion should be made

• Point of Information

  • Correction/information that everyone should know

• Point of Clarification

  • You're confused about something and you would like something to be clarified

• Point of Personal Privilege

  • You need a comfort issue addressed (i.e. bathroom break, room temperature, need to leave the room, etc.)

• Recess

  • A break in the meeting for different reasons (technical difficulties, just need a break, for lunch, etc.)

• Table Discussion

  • Temporarily closes discussion of a proposal and allows it to be opened again at a later time

• Divide the Question

  • Splitting a certain proposal into multiple discussions/votes

• Combine the Question

  • Combining multiple proposals/discussion points into one vote

• Call the Question

  • Simultaneously closes the debate and allows voting to be done

• Straw Poll

  • Used to get an understanding of what everyone in the room is thinking about a certain topic

  • Note: when calling for a straw pool, you must provide the voting options

• White Ballot Vote

  • Allows the delegation to vote on multiple proposals simultaneously with the same vote

• Standing Committee

  • A Committee that will always be present within the National Organization (i.e. Document Review, Website, Trademark, etc.)

• Non-Standing Committee

  • A Committee that has been created to complete a specific goal (i.e. a committee that is designated to look into lawyers for Organizational housing)

A: There are multiple different types of discussion that happens at the Annual National Convention. They are separated by their goals to aide in maintaining focus throughout the weekend. The discussion types are as follows:

• Reports

  • This is when all National Directors, Committee Chairs, Chapters, Petitioning Groups, and the Education Foundation will give updates on what has happened over the past year

• Proposal Review and Voting

  • This is when the Delegation will discuss the Proposals submitted by various Members of the Organization

• Budget Meeting

  • This is when all 3 budgets will be discussed. 3 budgets are being discussed because we have to

    • 1. Completely close out the budget of the previous fiscal year, 

    • 2. Partially close out the budget of the fiscal year that we are still in, and

    • 3. Vote on the proposed budget for the future fiscal year

• Strategic Planning

  • This is when you get to help the National Board of Directors by providing input on the goals they have for the National Organization

• Standing and Goals Committee Assessments

  • This is when we will talk about all of our Committees (Standing and Non-Standing) and assign goals for them to work on over the upcoming year.

    • Standing Committees are Committees that we will have every year, regardless of the Goals of the National Organization

    • Non-Standing Committees are Committees that may change, depending on the Goals of the National Organization

A: There are different categories of awards presented at Banquet every Convention: Chapter Awards, Petitioning Group Awards, Philanthropic Awards, Individual Member Awards, and the National Excellence Award

• Chapter Awards are given to Active and/or Alum Chapters depending on various criteria

• Petitioning Group Awards are similar to Chapter Awards, but are only given to Petitioning Groups when there is more than one Petitioning Group

• Philanthropic Awards are given to the Chapter(s)/Petitioning Group(s) for their involvment in philanthropic events over the year

• Individual Member Awards are given to Members based on nominations from their peers. Nominate someone here!

• The National Excellence Award is awarded to the Active and Alum Chapter with the most National Participation within their respective groups.

For more detailed information on specific awards/what their criteria are, please check out our National Awards SOP!