Chapter and Province Balfour Awards
Due March 15, 2010Make sure you take the opportunity to recognize your most outstanding senior. Please note that you can recognize a brother who has graduated in December or who will graduate after the spring or summer term. Each chapter’s Balfour winner will receive a handsome certificate. This year only Province Balfour winners and one runner-up from each Province will receive a complimentary K.S. “Bud” Adams Life Loyal membership. Chapter Balfour winners are eligible to apply for the Province Balfour Award. To apply for the Province Balfour Award, download this form and return it to your Grand Praetor by March 15, 2010.
Due April 15, 2010
International Balfour Award
Every year, Sigma Chi honors its most outstanding graduating seniors with Balfour Awards. There are three tiers to the Balfour Award: chapter awards, province awards and one international award. First, brothers must select one graduating senior to receive their chapter’s Balfour Award. Then, the chapter must submit this choice to the Grand Praetor, who will review the nominations and choose a winner from the province. Province winners may apply for the International Balfour Award, which honors Sigma Chi’s most outstanding senior. The outstanding senior from your chapter will not be honored unless the chapter nominates him at the chapter level first (see Province Balfour Award, above). Download the International Balfour Award application here.
Chapter Annual Report & Awards Application
Due May 15 - Applications must be submitted online.
Applications will be available in March.
In an effort to allow chapters to more efficiently and effectively provide information to the General Fraternity about their annual operations and activities while also encouraging chapters to submit applications for the various awards and special recognitions of Sigma Chi, the Chapter Annual Report submission form has been combined with the major awards application for 2009-2010. Historically, much of the same information included in this report has been requested in the reporting and application process of prior years. The combination of the two reports along with the ability to utilize technology and online submissions will allow chapters to see an easier submission process that will result in less duplication of efforts.
Peterson Significant Chapter Award
Due May 15 - Applications must be submitted online.
Applications will be available in March.
The Peterson Significant Chapter Award, sponsored annually by the Sigma Chi Foundation, is the highest honor bestowed upon an undergraduate chapter. Named for Past Grand Consul J. Dwight Peterson, Indiana 1919, the award recognizes excellent, but not impossible, performance by chapters in all major areas of operation and programming. For many years, the Peterson plaque has been a symbol of dedication, idealism, and achievement.
There is no minimum or maximum number of chapters that may win the award in any given year. Award criteria are assigned on an objective scale and encompass the entire gamut of chapter activities, from financial stability and recruitment to chapter and member reputation to Ritual and initiation performance. Because chapter operations vary among campuses and chapters, each chapter measures itself against these absolute Sigma Chi standards, rather than against other chapters.
Winners of the J. Dwight Peterson Significant Chapter Award will be those chapters whose evaluation of the information included in their Chapter Annual Report submission yields a result of 90 percent or higher. New this year is a level of special recognition for chapters who achieve a significantly high score in winning the J. Dwight Peterson Significant Chapter Award:
J. Dwight Peterson Significant Chapter Gold Award
To achieve this award, chapters must achieve a 97 percent or higher on the score ascribed to their annual report. These chapters will receive a gold embossed seal on the certificate and be specially recognized at Balfour LTW.
J. Dwight Peterson Significant Chapter Blue Award
Chapters winning this award will be those chapters that score between a 90-96.99 percent on the score ascribed to their annual report. These chapters will receive a blue embossed seal on the certificate and will receive the award at Balfour LTW.
Risk Management Foundation Award
The RMF Award, sponsored by the Risk Management Foundation, has historically been awarded to the chapter that best exemplifies risk management at the undergraduate level. This year, to commemorate the RMF's 20th anniversary, there will be up to three (3) awards of $5,000 and five (5) awards of $1,000 granted to the chapters with the strongest applications. The RMF Award application is due May 1, 2008 and is available on rmfeducation.org, or by clicking here.
Daniel William Cooper Award
This annual award honors the undergraduate chapter that has the most outstanding scholarship program. The winning chapter receives a plaque and has its name engraved on the Daniel William Cooper Award trophy on display in the Sigma Chi Museum at Headquarters. Recipients of this award are chosen from the pool of Peterson applicants.
The James F. Bash Significant Improvement Award—funded by the late 49th Grand Consul James F. Bash, Butler & Indiana 1946, and his wife, Connie—is given to chapters that have demonstrated major improvement in total chapter operations from year to year. Significant improvement is defined as a gain of at least 25 percent in the score ascribed to a Peterson Significant Chapter Award application from one year to the next. All chapters that apply for the Peterson will be considered for the Bash Award, therefore there is not a separate application.
James F. Bash Significant Improvement Award
The Fraternity presents the Charles G. Ross Award to the undergraduate chapter with the most outstanding publications program. Criteria include content of both undergraduate and alumni news, writing and editing, layout, general appearance, frequency of issues and the quality of the publication. The award is named for the late Significant Sig Charles G. Ross, Missouri-Columbia 1905, newsman and press secretary to President Harry S. Truman. The winner of this award is chosen from newsletters that are mailed to Sigma Chi Headquarters between June1-May 31 of each year. To be considered for the Ross Award send copies of newsletters to 1714 Hinman Ave., Evanston, IL 60201.
Charles G. Ross Undergraduate Chapter Publications Award
2009-10 Award Winner: Western Ontario
View a list of past Ross Award winners here.
