Many resources are available to help you start a chapter on your campus. The information in the Chapter Manual can serve as an extensive overview of the steps you should take to get started. There are certain requirements your institution must fulfill in order to be eligible (View requirements). Once you have reviewed this information, you should contact and submit the filled out Chapter Chartering Petition Form to the Executive Office. It would be useful to send us your petition in electronic format--as much as possible. See Requirements page for more detail.
Benefits of Membership
By Richard Reiff, PBD
As a Phi Beta Delta member, would you be able to describe the benefits of membership? An understanding and an articulation of PBD's benefits are important for increasing individual and institutional membership. Relating those benefits to institutional goals of internationalization can be an effective means of promoting Phi Beta Delta. Moreover, the goals of our Society augment and enhance institutional efforts to promote international education.
Below are what I believe are the major benefits of Phi Beta Delta:
- Tangibly demonstrates the institution's commitment to and support of international education.
- Provides a forum for international educators to get together on a regular basis to discuss issues relating to international education.
- Establishes a world-wide network of individuals and institutions committed to promoting international education.
- Promotes and supports excellence in international programming.
- Supports institutional goal of internationalizing education by proving recognition, visibility, and quality programming.
- Demonstrates the importance and significance of international education.
- Provides a mechanism for bringing together international faculty and students and U.S. faculty and students for meaningful interaction and exchange of ideas.
- Provides an appropriate vehicle for recognizing individual and institutional excellence in international education.
- Promotes scholarly research and writing in international education through its journal and newsletter.
- Promotes and supports the involvement of domestic students in international exchange.
- Augments and enhances the academic programs of the institution related to international education.
- Provides a nonpolitical and nonpartisan forum for international educators to get together for an exchange of ideas and information.
- Provides a campus focus for international endeavors.
- Encourages achievement and excellence through recognition or monetary awards on the local and international levels.
- Provides scholarly and dignified means through its rituals and ceremonies to appropriately recognize achievement and excellence.
- Encourages and supports cooperation and coordination among the various individuals and offices involved in international exchange.
- Promotes the enhancement of services to those involved in international exchange.
- Promotes the exchange of students and scholars by connecting them with officials at other institutions.
- Encourages joint research and writing by linking international scholars throughout the world.
- Annually brings together international educators and students for an exchange of research and ideas at its annual conference.
- Provides an often much-needed link among the various institutional offices and individuals involved in international exchange.
- Enhances the status of international education on the local and international levels by honoring achievement and excellence.
- Provides a means to more actively involve upper level administrators in international endeavors.
If those activities and programs which are listed above as benefits are not currently part of your chapter's activities, they can serve as goals and objectives.
Institutional Membership
Starting a New Chapter
If you would like to start a chapter of Phi Beta Delta at your institution, you should contact
Dr. Amy Leh, Executive Director of Phi Beta Delta, to express your interest. Previously, please review the Phi Beta Delta Chapter Manual. It can serve as an extensive overview of the steps you will take to get started.
To charter a chapter of Phi Beta Delta, an institution must:
- offer at least a baccalaureate degree or an associate degree
- hold regional accreditation
- have faculty members who are formally engaged in juried or refereed scholarly creative activity of international scope (as evidenced in resumes or other documentation), and
- demonstrate a regard for and commitment to the provision of programs and services for international (visa) students and scholars on campus, study abroad programs, and international faculty exchanges.
The institution must then complete and submit a petitioning form with its attachments, including a $100 non-refundable petitioning fee. As much as possible, you should submit your documents in electronic format. Whether you choose to present the petition via email, it is helpful if all documents, with the exception of the
signed letters, , are uploaded as PDF. In the case of university catalogues, brochures, or other non word-processing documents, there is no need to mail or include these as attachments. You can simply provide us with the link to that information. Finally, as part of your submission, please make a list of all pertinent websites that showcase your institution's international efforts.
If the Board of Directors approves the petition, the institution will be notified, and the payment of Chartering and Authorization Fees (totaling $250.00) will be due. The chapter is officially founded when it holds its founding meeting.
Individual Membership
Individuals who have demonstrated scholarly achievement in the international area are nominated for membership in Phi Beta Delta through the Chapter Governing Boards at colleges and universities with active chapters.
There are three categories of membership:
- international (non-immigrant) students (upper division and graduate)
who have demonstrated high scholastic achievement at their institutions;
- domestic students (upper division and graduate) who have demonstrated high scholastic
achievement in the pursuit of academic studies abroad; and
- distinguished faculty, staff and visiting scholars involved in international endeavors
such as teaching, administering exchange programs, conducting research, or providing services and programs
to international students and scholars.
Once an individual is nominated, he or she is invited to the chapter's annual installation meeting where
they become official members of the society.
If you would like to become a member of Phi Beta Delta, please contact your Campus Coordinator to
find out the eligibility requirements for your chapter.
If your institution does not yet have a chapter, please ask your institution to contact the
Phi Beta Delta Headquarters
to learn how to start a chapter on your campus.