The following requirements are established by the General Secretary for all new and returning colonies in order to petition for a charter or return to Good Standing as a chapter of Beta Theta Pi. A colony should strive to meet or exceed each requirement in EVERY YEAR of existence with a “chartering year” running  from January to December.

Cultivation of the Intellect

Achieve and maintain a colony GPA greater than the all-fraternity, all-men's and all-campus average.

Chapter Advisors

Have an active advisory team consisting of a chapter counselor, recruitment advisor, pledge education advisor, risk management advisor and financial advisor.

Recruitment and Chapter Membership

Aggressively recruit and maintain chapter membership equal to or greater than the average fraternity chapter size for the campus.

• A chapter size of 40 is required for campuses that do not report average fraternity chapter size.

Utilize the Men of Principle Scholarship grant process by:

• Applying for and receiving the scholarship grant
• Disbursing the grant to a potential new member through a MPS interview and selection process

Member Education

Maintain an average three-year initiation rate of 90% or higher.

Create a pledge program which is approved annually using the "Positive Pledge Education Assessment."

Leadership Development

Send 10 attendees to the 10 core leadership events annually

• One attendee to CPLA, One attendee as a Convention Delegate, Eight to Keystone

Send at least six additional attendees to a combination of Leadership College, Institute or UIFI

Self-Governance

Retain Good Standing* as a colony throughout the year prior to the charter application and submit four competitive applications (one within each category) for the following awards:

• Service (click on hyperlink to appy): John Holt Duncan Service Award, Campus Involvement Award
• Alumni (click on hyperlink to appy): Alumni Relations Award, Stephenson Historical Preservation Award
• Communications (click on hyperlink to appy): North Dakota Award, Website Excellence Award
• Singing (click on hyperlink to appy): Whitman Choral Cup, Best New Song, or Shelby Molter Song Competition

Financial Health

Remain compliant with the Chapter Accounting Standards and remain off suspension for a balance due longer than 90 days during the year in which you apply for a charter.

General Convention Presentation

The colony should prepare to present at the General Convention during the year they are petitioning for a charter. The colony will have 75 minutes for a presentation and question/answer session to support their application. We recommend the colony limits the presentation portion to 30 minutes. Additionally, the colony should consider the delegation they send to convention in support of their petition and thoroughly prepare for the entire session. There is a sample presentation listed below. For additional resources and assistance, please reach out to your Leadership Consultant.

Click here to download a sample chartering presentation

Miscellaneous

Meet all of the above-mentioned requirements by December 1 in the year of chartering. Further, the colony must continue to meet all of the above requirements during the following spring semester.

Submit to the Administrative Secretary a letter of intention to petition for a charter by December 1 which will be reviewed at the winter Board of Trustees meeting. The District Chief and Chapter Counselor must submit a letter at this time in support of the colony beginning the petitioning process.

*Note: Good Standing requires that a colony abide by the Risk Management Policy of Beta Theta Pi, Federal and State laws, and Beta’s policies including living in an alcohol-free chapter house if the colony is housed.

Chartering Requirements