Description of Activities (Professional, Service, Non-BAP)

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

All chapters, regardless of achievement level, must report at least six professional activities during the year that meet the following requirements: 

Chapters seeking to achieve Superior award levels must also report a minimum number of professional activity hours per active member/candidate.  Superior chapters must report 12 hours per member/candidate. 

The time for a professional activity consists of the professional part of the presentation—the speaker and questions and answers related to the presentation.  A chapter business meeting (orientation, officer elections) does not count as a professional meeting unless there is a professional program, in which case only the professional portion of the program receives credit. 


Exhibit B
Professional Activities

Examples of Professional Activities include, but are not limited, to the following:

Credit is not given for candidate meetings, orientation meetings, organizational meetings, chapter business/planning meetings, initiation and similar activities that provide no professional component.

Examples of Professional Meeting Topics/Activities


Audit of chapter financial statements

Improving communication skills

Business practice in (name of country)

E-commerce

Developing leadership skills

Time management

Ethics

Stress management

IFRS

The paperless audit

Marketing business services

Professional liability

Internet for financial information research

Comparing different career paths

Management of accounting / consulting practice

Analyzing financial statements

Derivatives and other financial instruments

Advantages of graduate education

Use of computer software

Fraud detection

Deregulation

New tax law

Investments

Implementing new systems

Off balance sheet risk

Going public (IPOs)

Internships

Etiquette

Resumes

Dress for success

Corporate finance

Systems development

Creating a web page

Forensic accounting

Not-for-profit accounting

Interviewing skills

Golf tournament with professionals (social activity)

Softball game with professionals (social activity)

Legislative changes impacting business

All student presentations, including those made at annual and regional meetings, as well as at chapter meetings, will earn professional hours for the length of the session.  In addition, credit for two times the length of the presentation will be granted to the individual presenter for professional development time. 

A chapter may report up to two social activities with professionals per year as professional activities.  The activity time is limited to 1 hour (50 minutes) per individual per activity.  Chapter socials involving only chapter members/candidates are not eligible for credit. 

SERVICE ACTIVITIES

All chapters, regardless of achievement level, must report one service activity during the year that meets the following requirements: 

Chapters seeking Superior award levels must also report a minimum number of service hours per member/candidate.  Superior chapters must report 12 hours per member/candidate. 

To be reported as a service activity sponsored by Beta Alpha Psi, the event either (1) must be organized and carried out by the Beta Alpha Psi chapter or (2) must involve participation by the members of the Beta Alpha Psi chapter as a group (in which case the chapter has agreed to participate as a chapter and has promoted participation in the event).  Any money received from a service activity must be donated to a charitable organization or used for a charitable cause.  Activities for which members receive course credit are not considered service activities.


Exhibit C
Service Activities

Since part of the mission of Beta Alpha Psi is to foster enthusiasm for service, chapters are encouraged to participate in campus and community service activities. The service category is intended to be flexible and adaptable to the needs and desires of individual chapters. 

Service is the giving of one’s time, energy and talents to benefit either the campus or local community.  Community service involves making a difference to these entities through the actions of caring for others by the chapter and/or its members and includes direct service or indirect service.  Direct service means becoming actively involved with a community group or organization (either on or off campus).  Indirect service means providing help or resources through a “round-about” approach and includes preparation time for charitable events, raising funds for charity, or assisting with “back office” functions such as accounting or computer systems.  In evaluating community service, we suggest that the chapter consider the following questions.

How does this activity benefit the member/candidate?
How does this activity benefit the organization/individual(s) being assisted?
Why are we (am I) doing this?

Activities that do not constitute community service include assisting friends or family or volunteering to participate in events where the underlying purpose is recruitment.  Any money received from a service activity must be donated to a charitable organization or used for a charitable cause.  Activities for which members receive course credit are not considered service activities.

Examples of Service Activities

Habitat for Humanity

Recordings for the Blind

Big Brothers/Big Sisters

Junior Achievement

Fund raising projects for charity

University Telethons

Food drives

Adopt-a-highway, Adopt-a-trail, Adopt-a-family

Service activities sponsored by religious organization

Blood drives

Walk-a-thons, bowl-a-thons, etc

Coaching youth teams

Assisting the Career Placement Office with a Career Fair

 

Volunteer Income Tax Assistance – Training time should be counted as professional hours.  Tax preparation time should be counted as service hours. At the end of the VITA program, you should download the VITA Reporting Form and submit per the instructions on the form.

Proctoring exams for department (for example, proctoring a common final at the end of the semester, not proctoring an exam for an individual professor)

Host Annual Meeting, Community Service Day, Regional Meeting or Leadership Conference – Hours  will be determined by the Director of Chapter Activities and Meeting Chair, Director-at-Large and/or sponsoring University

Tutoring sessions - group, e-mail, or one on one - without monetary compensation. Tutoring sessions count if the sessions were scheduled and are documented, regardless of whether anyone attends.  Please report this activity as a single service activity on the mid-year and/or end-of-year workbook

Consultation with campus or off-campus organizations about tax matters, bookkeeping, information systems, or other work of a technical nature

Mentoring of other chapters (a chapter must receive pre-approval of its Director-at-Large)

Create/update chapter web page (to a maximum of 10 hours for creating and 3 hours for updating)

Officers and committee chairs for a chapter may receive up to 100 hours for their time providing service to the chapter. A maximum of 10 hours each may be reported for up to 10 officers and committee chairs. Please report this at the end of each semester or at the end of the year on a single report. The limit of 10 is for the year, not by semester or quarter.

 

NON-BETA ALPHA PSI ACTIVITIES

At the individual level, chapters may report a maximum of five hours per year (per student) of professional activities and a maximum of five hours per year (per student) of service activities that are not sponsored by Beta Alpha Psi.  These hours should be reported as a single professional or service activity on the mid-year and/or end-of-year workbook.  Chapters must retain detailed information regarding the non-Beta Alpha Psi activities until October 1 of the following year.



Exhibit A
Reaching Out Activities

(formerly known as National/Regional Activities)

Chapters should update the “Report Activity>Reaching Out Activities” section on the reporting intranet by December 15 and June 1.  Even though more than one chapter member may attend an event, such as a Regional Meeting, only one credit is received for the Reaching Out activity.  

Reaching Out activities include the following:

Sponsored by Executive Office

 

Sponsored by Chapter