Omicron Delta Kappa

The National Leadership Honor Society

New Circle Process

Establishment of New Circles

Omicron Delta Kappa establishes circles (chapters) at colleges and universities to further its three-part mission:

  • Identify, honor, and develop leaders in collegiate and community life.
  • Encourage collaboration among students, faculty, staff, and alumni to advance leadership.
  • Promote, publicize, and enhance our ideals.

The Society considers only those campuses dedicated to pursuing excellence in leadership development and education for students, faculty, staff, and alumni. We seek institutions that emphasize the prestige of membership in honors societies, value the concept of a multi-generational organization, demonstrate a commitment to promoting lifelong membership engagement, and unreservedly commit to the OΔK Idea.

Establishing a new circle (chapter) requires a five-year institutional commitment from the acceptance of an application for charter through the first four years of the circle’s life.

Omicron Delta Kappa seeks institutions that will develop and recognize leaders among their students, faculty/staff, and alumni through the extended support of an established circle.

 Qualifications for Charter

The qualifications for consideration of a circle include the following.

  1. The institution offers baccalaureate or higher degrees and is accredited by the appropriate regional accrediting agencies. It additionally offers honors programs, whether as individual courses or as a college in and of itself.
  2. The institution offers extensive leadership development programs, including but not limited to majors or minors in leadership studies, emerging leaders’ programs, and leadership recognition and award programs.
  3. The institution will establish the Omicron Delta Kappa circle as an institutional program, and the circle must operate within one of the established leadership programs or the honors program.
  4. The institution provides financial and personnel resources dedicated to the established circle as part of the institutional budget. Omicron Delta Kappa will not consider petitions for circles significantly dependent on circle (re student organization) resources such as local fundraising, circle member dues, or non-guaranteed student fee funding through the student government or other student organization funding boards.
  5. The institution affirms and promotes openness and inclusiveness among all people in significant ways. The institution shall affirm that its enrollment and hiring practices are free of bias so that all qualified individuals are included in the community.
  6. The institution will appoint circle advisors at the institutional level consistent with other faculty/staff appointments to institutional governance committees. Advisor appointments shall be for no less than three years, or as appropriate to the institutional committee appointment structure.
  7. The institution and the circle members will establish a robust program for the circle, including supervision and assistance with the annual Signature Leadership Program, Signature Service Project, and initiation of new members.

 Chartering Process

The steps for the establishment of a circle.

Establishment of a Circle in Development

  1. Establish a chartering team of at least three faculty/staff members from the leadership department or honors program where the circle will be located.
  2. Secure the commitment of the college or university president/chancellor that the institution seeks to establish a circle and that the institution will meet the Qualifications for Charter.
  3. Establish a Circle in Development (CID). The CID should review the CID Five-Year Plan according to the OΔK Chartering Process. The CID may be an existing program, local honor society, or student organization that will eventually become the OΔK Circle.
  4. At the invitation of the institution, the OΔK President and CEO and Director of Extension will meet with the institutional president and chartering team to determine if the institution is sufficiently ready to begin the Chartering process.

Application and Review

  1. If invited, the institution will complete the Application to Establish a Circle. This includes a $1000, non-refundable application fee and establishes the essential information for the Circle in Development. After receiving the application and fees, the Director of Extension will work with the CID to set up the chartering timeline.
  2. Upon approval of the chartering timeline by the OΔK Mission Committee, the CID will be permitted to act as an ODK Circle in Development for the next 12 to 18 months.
  3. During the CID period, the CID will develop the petition for a charter, conduct regular meetings, present programs and service projects, and generally act as a circle. Individuals who are active in the CID are eligible for full membership in Omicron Delta Kappa so long as they meet the highest standards of the Society. Students who are seniors of the CID may be eligible for full membership in Omicron Delta Kappa even though they graduate before the Circle is chartered.
  4. A draft Petition for Charter should be submitted to the Director for Extension no less than six months before the expected chartering date and not before the CID has been in operation for at least six calendar months.
  5. Upon receipt of the draft Petition, the Director of Extension will arrange the campus site visit from the Extension Review Team. The Society requires a $4000 extension review and chartering fee. The extension review team includes the President/CEO, Director of Extension (or other senior OΔK staff members), and a Board of Trustees or Trustee Emeritus member. During the site visit, the Extension Review team will meet with the following:
    1. President/Chancellor, Chief Academic Officer, and Senior Student Affairs Officer, individually or collectively.
    2. Head of the department where the Omicron Delta Kappa circle has been assigned.
    3. Advisors and student officers of the CID
    4. Membership of the CID
    5. Other individuals the extension review team may deem necessary to interview.

Final Petition and Charter Approval

  1. After the site visit, the Director of Extension will work with the CID and institution to complete the final Petition for Charter.
  2. The institution will submit the Petition for Charter.
  3. Once the final petition and fee are received, the extension review team will recommend it to the OΔK Mission Committee. Within four weeks, the Mission Committee will recommend to the Board of Trustees whether to extend an offer of a charter, ask for additional information or clarification, or reject the petition. If the petition is rejected by the Mission Committee or the Board of Trustees, the institution may apply again within three years with no additional application fee.
  4. Once the Board of Trustees approves a petition, the Society and the institution will begin scheduling and conducting the chartering ceremony.

Omicron Delta Kappa New Circle Development – Five-Year Plan

The five-year New Circle Development plan has been established to ensure that institutions and circles are sufficiently committed to supporting and enhancing a circle.

All new circles will be required to meet regularly with OΔK staff assigned to them and submit to a site visit from OΔK at the end of the first three years. At the end of the fourth year, OΔK will conduct a complete review of the circle’s status to determine whether it meets all expectations laid out during the chartering process and, if necessary, review the status of the charter.

Year One – Establishing the Circle in Development (CID)

  • Application and Petition
  • Creation of Circle in Development
  • Election of Officers
  • Selection of Charter members

Year Two – First Chartered Operational Year

  • Chartering Ceremony begins year two
  • Full recruitment of all classes
  • Attending the National Leadership Conference
  • Signature Programs completed
  • Completion of Circle Minimum Standards

Year Three – Officer Transition and Program Enhancement

  • Successful Officer Transition
  • Enhancement of Signature Programs including collaboration with other agencies, departments, organizations, or circles.
  • Continued participation in national programs, NLC, NDOS, CATW

Year Four – Circle Board Review

  • The extension team visits the campus for a full review of the circle, which is similar to the original extension process.
  • The Board of Trustees review

Year Five – Transition to Circle Self-Governance

  • Meetings with circle contact quarterly
  • Completion of the five-year process and notification to the institution that the circle is now fully self-governing as long as it continues to meet OΔK Circle Standards.

For more information about chartering, contact:

Brent J. Anderson
Director of Finance and Extension
brent@odk.org
(540) 458-5341