Alpha Chi Omega has had alumna initiates since 1886! Alumna initiates have always been a great benefit to our Fraternity, and they only make us a stronger organization, both locally and on the national level.

At the 2010 National Convention, the delegates voted to centralize the alumna initiate program, and in fact, approved a

ceremony to be used specifically to initiate alumnae.  The program now includes an application for the prospective alumna

member to complete, an application for the sponsor to complete, and an application for the collegiate chapter or alumnae

chapter to complete.

Once a prospective alumna member has sponsorship from a collegiate or alumna chapter and an individual, she will have

an “orientation” call with a member of the National Alumna Initiate Program “Panel” - at this point, the prospective alumna

member will learn what to expect . . . and the Panel member has the opportunity to confirm that this woman meets the

membership criteria of Alpha Chi Omega.  After the Panel member shares her orientation report with the other panelists,

they vote on whether or not to approve the prospective alumna member’s application based upon the orientation report and

the other documentation.  Once that approval is obtained, the prospective alumna member is educated by one of the National Alumna Initiate Program Educators using alumna-specific materials.  When the education is complete, the prospective alumna member will take the initiation exam; once passed, she is ready to be initiated!

If anyone has any questions, please feel free to contact aeaprez@gmail.com. 

AEA’s Updated Alumna Initiate Sponsorship Process
Previously the AEA policy was that a potential alumna member (PAM) had to attend three membership events and a vote would be taken at the next business meeting after fulfilling that requirement. This process was deemed unfair to both the PAM and any members who were unable to attend the events or the vote. It was also more arduous than those used by other alumnae chapters.

We have outlined a more structured process for determining whether AEA will choose to sponsor an alumna initiate. It is important to note that only paid members of AEA will be offered the opportunity to vote on whether or not the chapter will sponsor an alumna initiate. (Paid members are anyone who has paid her dues since the start of the new membership year on August 1. You can email aeaprez@gmail.com to confirm your membership status.)

We hope that this new policy will help grow our number of alumna initiates and encourage attendance at events where a PAM will be present. Please feel free to contact aeaprez@gmail.com if you have questions or concerns about the new process.

How It Works
Every new PAM must submit forms to Alpha Chi Omega Headquarters and she must have an active-member sponsor who fills out an application in her support. Once AEA is notified by Headquarters that there is a PAM seeking sponsorship by our chapter, AEA’s President will contact the PAM to determine a chapter event that the PAM can attend. All chapter members will be notified at least three weeks prior to the event that a PAM will be in attendance at that event. After the event, a feedback survey will be sent to event attendees and they will have the opportunity to submit a few sentences about the PAM, either in support of or against AEA sponsorship.

Within two weeks after the event, the President will send out all information related to the PAM and feedback from chapter members, along with a voting card, to all paid chapter members by email or by postal service, if necessary. Voting will be open online for one week and sisters receiving the information by postal service will have two weeks to reply with their vote by telephone or mail.

If the majority of responses are of the affirmative for sponsorship, ARIC or President will submit the required forms to Headquarters within one week of vote close. An announcement about the chapter’s position on the PAM will be made in the next monthly newsletter after votes close.

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