A Look at Proposed Amendments to the Constitution from the Membership Committee

 

The Delta Kappa Gamma Society charter says DKG is formed for educational and benevolent purposes, particularly for extending aid to women teachers and students by means of founding scholarships for study, for developing loyalty and high ideals in the teaching profession, and for conferring distinction upon women members of the teaching profession. With an overarching intent of presenting DKG as a professional organization, the following amendments were proposed. Further reasoning behind each amendment is listed in bullets below. 

 

Article III Section A. Membership

1. Membership in The Delta Kappa Gamma Society International shall be by invitation. A member inducted into the Society becomes a member of a chapter, a state organization, and the International Society. 2. An individual becomes a member of the Society when she is inducted. She is inducted only once.

•  This raises the external perception of the honor of the Society and removes the aura of a social club. This doesn’t take away our personal connections but emphasizes the professional honor. 

• This change does not have to take away the ceremony. Definition of initiation is“to induct into membership by or as if by special rites”.

Article III Section B

1. An active member shall be a woman who is or has been employed as a professional educator at the time of her election or has been retired from an educational position. An active member shall participate in the activities of the Society.  

• Many of our current members who are no longer in education bring great value to our Society. We want to extend that added value with potential new members. 

•  Members are still invited to membership and chapters choose who to invite. This widens our recruitment base to past educators who subscribe to the purposes of DKG.

Article III Section C.

A candidate for active membership shall be selected by the method established by the chapter's standing rules.

• This amendment allows chapters to determine how their own chapter will select new members. They may choose to vote at a meeting, electronically, or admit solely on a member’s recommendation. Different chapters have different situations.

• This amendment does not change eligibility requirements for membership. It shows respect and faith that fellow members have good judgement.

Google Keep: A place to keep your notes and ideas

DKG members usually have to keep track of lots of notes and ideas. The items could be related to DKG, family, or their job. There are many note-taking apps out there. Google Keep may not be as powerful as services such as Evernote, but its value is in its simplicity.

About 
Keep has been around since 2013. Many bypassed it because of its simplicity. Now, in 2018, Keep is an integral part of the updated (late April 2018) Gmail, along with Google Calendar and Google Tasks. You can use it on the Web (via your Google account), so it’s available on all your computers, and there are also Android and iOS apps. Because it is a Google product, Keep syncs to your Google account. It is always up-to-date regardless of which device you are using.

How does it work? (See Figure 1)
Think of Keep as a sticky note. It actually looks like one!

You can use Google Keep for grocery lists, work-related things, notes about your DKG chapter, other random notes, and even a holding place for ideas. Lists in Keep allow for check boxes so that you can check off items as they are completed. Keep also allows you to set reminders.

You can add images, voice notes (mobile only), drawings, and more. Each note can be customized with color and images.

Keep allows you to add collaborators, so you can share your notes and lists with other individuals or groups.

Keep integrates with Google Docs.

Bottom Line
Google Keep is simple. It integrates with Gmail. It is great for simple notes, lists, and ideas. It is available on all of your devices. If you want to step up your organization, give Google Keep a try.

Pexels: Another great source for free stock photos

Members are always on the lookout for high quality, free (Creative Commons Zero - CC0) photos to use. Creative Commons Zero allows you to reuse images that are so labeled for personal as well as commercial purposes without need for attribution. You can edit the photos from pexels.com in any way you want. You can crop, annotate, and use all filters.

You can search for specific photos, including by color, and download in different size formats. You can even customize the size. If you open a free account, you will be able to save collections you find and like.

 Although pixaby.com still remains a favorite of members, pexels.com could soon challenge that. Why don’t you try both and decide for yourself?

Celebrating World Fellowship Recipients

Juanita is a 2017-18 World Fellowship recipient. She was born and raised in Columbia and is now working on her Master’s Degree in Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame. In her own words Juanita describes why she is passionate about obtaining her Master’s Degree:

I want to specialize in the field of Development, understood as the improvement of the living conditions of citizens, by ensuring the fulfilment of their rights and strengthening their opportunities to enhance their well-being in a sustainable, long-term manner. I am particularly interested in post-conflict situations and the way in which societies in transition can deal with recovery and stabilization.

Previously, I was Program Assistant at the European Commission’s Directorate General for Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection (DG ECHO). Since our work was focused on improving the living conditions of the most conflict-affected communities on a short-term basis, this experience has been highly rewarding. I have traveled to the most isolated and affected areas in Colombia to witness the country’s forgotten humanitarian crisis and have acquired practical tools for monitoring and evaluating the projects funded by ECHO. The experience of being a humanitarian worker in the field, has been fascinating: getting out of my comfort zone; traveling for hours in boats, canoes, unpaved roads and even hand-operated cables (known as taravitas); living without basic commodities; and learning how to react when security incidents with armed

actors come across.

The impact of ECHO’s interventions in improving the lives of communities by enhancing their

access to water, food, health, and protection assures me that all our efforts are worth it. Personally and professionally, the past three years have been the most enriching and inspiring of

my life. I have not only learned about myself through my work in the field in the midst of an

armed conflict with acute humanitarian and psychosocial needs, but also, I can now respectfully

empathize with the suffering, claims for dignity and needs of victims, and make decisions based

on real life experience that will have a positive impact in their lives.

After these diverse experiences, I am now motivated to do go beyond the consequences of violence and support initiatives that will transform its structural causes. For this reason, I am immensely interested in completing a Master’s Degree in Development. I want to further explore the relationship between humanitarian aid, development, and peacebuilding. Since Colombia now faces the opportunity to sign a comprehensive peace agreement that will bring substantial changes, both positive and negative, to the current situation our country faces, this is both a theoretical inquiry and a practical-ethical commitment.

Undoubtedly, I have given substantial steps to in my academic, practitioner, and professional spheres to become a transformative agent. Hence, I am certain that in the near future I will become part of the group of leaders who will influence decision-making processes on development and peacebuilding in Colombia and the World, by supporting and guiding the work of multilateral organizations. It is precisely because I am passionate about building bridges between theory and practice that I believe it is now the perfect time to go back to study and analyze reality from an academic perspective, enriching it with the work experience I have gained. Finally it’s worth mentioning that I also want to continue pursuing a career in academia and become a university professor. I want to motivate students to be involved in solutions of real life problems because I am sure that knowledge and education are the most powerful tools to

change embedded patterns of violence.

Membership Committee Ready for Austin

Have you registered for the 2018 International Convention, Austin, TX, July 16 – 21? Have you made a hotel reservation at the JW Marriott Austin? Don’t miss all the opportunities planned for this convention … dynamic keynote speakers, informative and interactive breakout sessions, proposed constitutional amendments voting, Society Headquarters tours, naming of the 2018 Achievement Award recipient, Marketplace shops… and more!

Members of the International Membership Committee invite you to join us for two presentations:

Wednesday, July 18 – 1:15 – 2:00 Bridging the Generation Gap - Looking for ideas to bridge the gap and meet the needs of all ages in your chapter? The focus will be on utilizing the strengths of members from multiple generations to effectively establish meaningful dialogue and provide energized all-inclusive meetings. Bring your tips for building strong, viable multigenerational chapters to share.

Wednesday, July 18 - 2:30 - 3:15 DKG Membership Think Tank - Join the International Membership Committee for an interactive session to brainstorm remedies to membership issues that all chapters face. Solutions developed from this discussion will be published on the DKG website after the convention.

We look forward to seeing you in Austin! Bring fellow chapter members.