Our annual international convention is the ultimate Sigma Tau Delta experience—a truly unique and amazing opportunity to spend four event-filled days with well over 1,000 students, faculty, and respected authors who share your love of English. To make it possible for chapters to send multiple attendees, convention planners work hard to keep convention expenses low and to offer a number of discounts and reimbursements.
Voting Delegate Reimbursement
Advice from Sponsors on Seeking Funding
Chapter members: How to take advantage of funding at the local and national levels
Each attending chapter will receive a reimbursement check of $300 ($600 for chapters outside of the continental U.S.) if the chapter sends a voting student delegate to 1) the General Business Meeting (Friday), and 2) the chapter’s Regional Caucus (Friday). Checks are mailed shortly after the convention.
To receive a reimbursement check, the official voting student delegate must complete a form provided at the General Business Meeting on Friday and return it at the Regional Caucus following the General Business Meeting. The official voting delegate (a) must be a student member and (b) must attend and participate in both the General Business Meeting and the chapter’s Regional Caucus. Chapters should decide ahead of time whether the $300/$600 should be used by the chapter’s student delegate for his/her expenses or whether the money should be returned to the chapter treasury. Checks will be sent from the Central Office shortly after the convention. It is customary for delegates to provide their home chapters with a report on the convention (the business, the sessions, etc.).
We encourage Sponsors to plan early to 1) solicit travel funds, 2) take advantage of Society discounts and reimbursement opportunities, and 3) explore cost saving strategies to minimize travel expenses. Chapter Sponsors can often solicit funds from their own English/related departments, but they might also consider
We offer some suggestions for Sponsors seeking campus funding:
Deliver your requests in person, and consider taking a couple of chapter leaders along when you make the requests—it is much harder for your Dean to tell a student face to face that he/she cannot support student travel to present at an international convention or for Provosts to tell you that they will “look into it.”
While fundraising is a necessary activity for every Sigma Tau Delta chapter—and although attending convention may not be the only (or even primary) use of your fundraising energies—the opportunity to attend and present at the convention can generate renewed enthusiasm and creativity for fundraising. Attendees also return home with exciting new ideas and resources for projects and activities that will bring in money for your chapter next year.
Our student leaders and convention planners have the following suggestions for obtaining funding for convention travel.
Sigma Tau Delta gives away thousands of dollars each year in project grants, service projects, and chapter awards for outstanding chapters and publications.
Each Regent offers $100 for up to 10 chapters in the region that host an activity connected to the Common Reader, Almost Famous Women. The application for these funds (Regents Common Reader Awards) is quick and easy to complete.
Those annual chapter reports and conversations with past student leaders have provided numerous suggestions for effective fundraising events and activities. Check out Chapter Life: Fundraising for ideas.
More than $10,000 will be given in convention awards for the best submitted works. These awards are highly competitive, so enlist the help of Sponsors and faculty mentors as you select and revise submissions, or take the time as a chapter to help each other revise and polish before submitting.
Reserve your hotel rooms no later than March 1, 2017, and be sure to ask for Sigma Tau Delta’s special convention rates. These rates will be available until our room block is full. Make your reservations early so you can make sure your group gets the rooms you need.
If you have an odd number of people, consider finding roommates from other Sigma Tau Delta chapters. Sharing hotel rooms, whether or not you room with your own chapter members, can cut down on expenses and create lasting friendships. Contact the Central Office if you are looking for a roommate(s).
Register before January 23, 2017 to take advantage of the early registration fee.
In addition to the chapter awards and the convention awards, Sigma Tau Delta gives away over $80,000 each year for individual awards and scholarships. Such awards may allow you to set aside money for attending the convention. Work with your Sponsor and other faculty in revising your applications.