Frequently asked questions:

1. Why have a city council?

Answer - The purpose of a city council is to:

• Help members get acquainted with the members of other chapters in the same city.
  
  
• Promote inter-chapter harmony and good will.
  
  
• Provide a way for chapter members to discuss and correlate their planning of citywide activities in which all chapters participate. For example: Founder's Day, hosting convention, Valentine Social, etc.
  
  
• Guide and foster cooperation and harmony in keeping with the ideals of Beta Sigma Phi.
  
  

2. Is city council a governing body?

Answer - No. Council may recommend and encourage, but never legislate. Each chapter should offer suggestions and decide how its members can best cooperate with council's activities.

3. Who are the members of a city council?

Answer - Every member in every chapter that is a part of a city council is a member of a city council - represented by the chapter's incumbent president and elected representative(s).

4. Why is it considered such an honor to be elected to serve as a representative to a city council?

Answer - Being chosen to serve as a chapters' representative to council is a great honor because it means that a chapter has complete confidence in a member's ability and willingness to fulfill the responsibility of a city council representative. And some of these responsibilities are:

• To attend all council meetings.
  
  
• To collect ideas from the members of her chapter that will be helpful to council and clearly explain all such ideas to council, making sure that the ideas are reported accurately.
  
  
• To report city council discussions and proposals back to the members of her chapter accurately, as they were presented, never letting such reports be colored or weighted pro or con by her personal opinion. Thus, she gains the respect and reactions of her entire chapter in order to return to council the chapter's viewpoints as a group, never just a personal viewpoint.
  
  
• To exemplify the ideals of Beta Sigma Phi at both her chapter and city council meetings.
  
  
• To cooperate and to encourage her chapter to cooperate in carrying out to successful completion all citywide activities which have been discussed in her chapter's meeting(s) and agreed upon through city council.
  
  
• To do all within her ability to advance the aims of all Beta Sigma Phi chapters including Nu Phi Mu, Ritual of Jewels, Exemplar, Preceptor, Laureate and Master chapters--because she knows that the inter-chapter organization will be only as effective and strong as her chapter's interest and support.
  
  
• To publicize by word of mouth, and through all other mediums accessible to her, the noteworthy achievement-cultural, social and philanthropic-for which the members and chapters in her city council deserve recognition.
  
  
• To realize that the individual member is of first importance in Beta Sigma Phi, and that second comes the chapter as a group, and third, council as an inter-chapter group. City council is, in a sense, a large committee composed of all chapters' representatives, and its sole function is to guide, not to dictate; to expedite, not to impede progress; to help to light the way for those who follow the Torch of Beta Sigma Phi.
  
  

5. What are some of the points to be considered when selecting a member to represent your chapter at council meetings?

Answer - Her thorough knowledge of Beta Sigma Phi's aims and purposes, fair-mindedness, good judgment, humility, loyalty, unselfishness, enthusiasm, sense of humor, and her booster spirit.

6. When is a city council established in a city?

Answer - It is customary for Beta Sigma Phis to organize a city council whenever there are three or more chapters in a city.

7. Does the International Office recommend that a council be organized when there are only two chapters in a city?

Answer - Years of experience and observation have fairly clearly indicated that there is little need for a city council until a city has three or more chapters.

8. How can two, or three, chapters correlate their planning and carrying out of citywide activities?

Answer - Set up an executive coordinating committee. Chapters themselves have learned by experimenting with this committee idea that it can serve effectively in a less formal, less structured manner than a council in cities having only two or three chapters.

9. What is an executive coordinating committee?

Answer - It is a small committee composed of an equal number of members from both chapters (or from each of the three chapters if a city has three chapters) that has a chairman and a secretary. Any city desiring detailed information about "How to Set Up An Executive Coordinating Committee," with recommendations as to its functioning, may have the complete information simply by writing to your Division Chairman at the International Office requesting this bulletin.