Placing an AKD Order for New Memberships and/or Merchandise

• AKD Order Form
• AKD List of Initiates

Identify

To identify eligible undergraduate members, compile a list of current junior and senior sociology majors, minors, and those in a program sociological in nature. If needed, contact your school’s registrar’s office for a cutoff list of those sociology students who are in the top 35% of their graduating class (or an overall GPA of 3.3 in lieu of class rank if not available), and have a minimum 3.0 sociology GPA (graduate students must have an overall 3.0 GPA). If your school’s registrar office cannot provide you with the top 35% ranking, instead use 3.3 overall GPA in its place. Make sure all individuals meet AKD’s minimum eligibility requirements. Be sure to cross-check this with a previous inductees list. (see membership eligibility).

Note: Alpha Kappa Delta chapters may not impose any type of service activity as a condition for membership in Alpha Kappa Delta. Membership eligibility is based on academic record. Alpha Kappa Delta chapters may use more stringent academic criteria for membership than those required in the Constitution & Bylaws, but they cannot use lower academic standards than those required in the Constitution & Bylaws.

Invite

Once you have identified all students who are eligible, send an invitation for membership letter/email and application to those candidates. Select a deadline for students to return their application form and payment (Note: certificates can take about 2-4 weeks to be processed and shipped. Please select a deadline that allows ample time to receive them before an induction ceremony; we suggest sending an order to the Executive Office about a month before certificates are needed). The membership fee is $50.00/student. Let students know they may purchase honor cords, pins, and other AKD merchandise at an additional cost. (See our merchandise page for pictures).

Induct

To officially induct new members (students are not members until all paperwork and dues are received in the Executive Office), prepare the following items for our office:

• AKD Order Form
• AKD List of Initiates Form – Please type to ensure names are legible. Include the initiation date you would like printed on the members’ certificates. Ensure all names are spelled correctly; it is a $25 fee to have certificates reprinted.
  

SEND IN BULK. Orders need to come directly from the chapter so it is all in bulk. We prefer one order per semester/quarter. With a mostly one-person office, accepting individual applications from every chapter and/or students is not sustainable or feasible at this time, unfortunately. We prefer that all paperwork be sent through email (akd@alphakappadelta.org) — just send a note payment is on the way (if paying by check/money order). Be sure to send both the completed AKD Order Form and the List of Initiates.

PAYMENT

BULK PAYMENT. Orders must be paid in bulk. We prefer one order per semester/quarter. We can accept a check, money order, and debit/credit cards. As of July 1, 2021, we can no longer take individual student memberships directly from students. We were happy to provide this during the pandemic, however, it is not a sustainable practice on our end with 700+ chapters. Also note we cannot accept personal checks from students.

• If paying in bulk with a check or money order: Send all forms and payment via snail mail and/or email the forms to the Executive Office with a note indicating payment is on the way (we do prefer the forms be emailed so we do not need to manually enter the names into our membership database).
• If paying in bulk with a debit/credit card (Venmo, PayPal, Apple Pay as well): Email all forms to the Executive Office (akd@alphakappadelta.org) with a note indicating you would like to pay by card. Once we confirm the order, we will email you an invoice to pay by card (as well as a direct link just in case).
  • Please note we can no longer individually invoice students for their membership fee or merchandise with a chapter order (students may pay the chapter for merchandise or they can order directly from us).
  • We are not charging a service fee to pay by card.

COLLECTING PAYMENT FROM STUDENTS. As we can no longer individually invoice students for their membership fees (a service we provided during the pandemic due to many campuses being remote), we would like to offer these alternative suggestions for collecting payment from your students. Please note these are only suggestions. Be sure to follow procedures allowed by your university/department/chapter for collecting funds from individuals for bulk payments.

• Venmo/PayPal/Zelle/Cash App/Etc. These are great tools to use to collect money from individuals. You may even set up a separate account for your chapter. It can be linked to your institution, department, chapter, etc. checking account. Additionally, some chapter representatives have students send them the payments and then they pay us directly by card. Whatever works best for you, your students, the chapter, and your institution’s policies!
  • Note: We can send you an invoice to pay for orders with your PayPal or Venmo funds (same invoice we link we send for credit/debit card payments. PayPal Business now offers this option.)
• Other. Of course, you may continue to collect funds in other ways including checks or money orders.

SHIPPING

CERTIFICATES. Physical certificates will be sent in bulk directly to the person on the order form. You may have them sent to a home address; we can ship them anywhere. They should arrive in about 2-3 weeks from the printing company we contract with

• Reminder: Certificates are sent separately from merchandise as they are not produced in-house.

MERCHANDISE. Merchandise will be sent in bulk directly to the person on the order form. You may have them sent to a home address; we can ship it anywhere. Students may also order merchandise directly through the Executive Office. Please allow 3-7 days for delivery. Note there is a shipping and handling fee for merchandise.

• Merchandise will be sent with a tracking number. AKD is not responsible for the loss of packages that have been confirmed as delivered by the USPS through tracking.
• Express shipping cost to ship 1-3 honor cords and/or pins: add an additional $25
  • Contact office if you need more than 3 honor cords sent via express shipping
• Pictures of merchandise may be found here: https://alphakappadelta.org/membership/merchandise/

Important Reminders

• Students are not official AKD members until we have received the proper paperwork and fees.
• Please limit orders to once a semester/quarter.
• Only orders from active chapters can be processed (annual chapter dues may be sent in with orders).
• There are no returns for honor cords, key pins, or lapel pins.

Please let us know if you have any questions at any time!