This Tuesday Tipster is for Secondary chapters only. The weekly updates will probably continue to be long until after all the SLC deadlines have passed. You may want to print this message since there is a lot to read.

UPCOMING DEADLINES
February 24: SLC Housing Change Deadline (Complete the housing change form immediately upon discovery of a change. Contact your assigned hotel directly. Preferably submitted online no later than this date.)

February 24: SLC Registration Refund Request Deadline (Submitted online on or before this date)

March 1: State Service Project Chapter Scholarship Deadline

March 15: Ambassador Torch Awards and National Special Recognition Awards Deadlines

PROPOSED BYLAW AMENDMENT
The state executive council is proposing an amendment to our bylaws for a dues increase. This message serves as official notice.
Amendment: Amend Bylaw Article V, Section 3 by striking out "eight dollars ($8.00)" and inserting "nine dollars ($9.00)."
Rationale: Michigan BPA has not had a dues increase in more than 10 years. With changes in the economy and cutbacks of state funding, a dues increase is necessary.
State Executive Council Recommendation: Amendment be adopted.

SATURDAY NIGHT DINNER & DANCE
The dinner session continues to be a highlight of the conference. Students are given an opportunity to don their best attire and engage in a professional dining experience which they will remember for years to come.

There will be a dollar dance to support the Salvation Army of Michigan. The state executive council's goal is to raise $500 at this event. We ask that you encourage your chapter members to bring $1.00 to donate as they enter the ballroom. Northwood University is sponsoring the dance which follows the dinner session.

Please inform your students that they will be escorted off the dance floor and out of the dance by advisors and/or alumni for dancing inappropriately. This will not be tolerated!!!

BPA SAFETY PLAN
The Safety Plan for the state conference is available online on the SLC documents page. You may want to familiarize yourself with the plan to know how Michigan BPA will respond in the event of an emergency.

VOTING DELEGATES/STATE OFFICER ELECTIONS
Advisors, please remind your voting delegates that they are voting for the next leaders of the state association and that they need to take this responsibility seriously. Also, they need to evaluate the candidates as they speak at both the annual business meeting and the opening session. Finally, please inform your voting delegates that they may request candidates' test scores from the officer candidate test.

The voting delegates packet has been posted on our SLC documents page. The voting delegates will vote on a proposed bylaw amendment during the annual business meeting.

SLC COLLEGE FAIR
We are pleased to announce that we will continue to have our college fair during the state conference. Colleges are continuing to sign up for the college fair every day. Please make sure your students visit with the various college representatives. In order to receive a certificate of achievement after the conference, students must visit at least three college fair exhibitors in addition to attending at least four legacy launcher workshops.

Representatives from various colleges and universities around the state will be conveniently located in the Center Concourse Foyer near the Courtesy Corps on Saturday, March 24, 2012, from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM.

AMBASSADOR TORCH AWARD DEADLINE
The deadline for submitting Ambassador Torch Award resumes is March 15, prior to our SLC in Michigan. As a result, students will not be able to use any points earned at the 2012 SLC on their Ambassador resumes. Please keep this in mind as your students plan and prepare. We encourage your students to be sure and use points they earned at the 2011 SLC, and use 2012's points next year. As a result of the earlier NLC this year, national staff have indicated that there is no room for flexibility in this deadline for Michigan's members. Please contact the National Center directly with any questions or comments; ALL Ambassador-Award-related review, approvals, deadlines, and procedures are handled exclusively by national BPA staff.

STATE SERVICE PROJECT SCHOLARSHIP
REMINDER: The deadline for the state service project chapter scholarship is March 1, 2012. All applications must be postmarked on or before March 1, 2012. The application is available on the documents page of our Web site. Keep up the good volunteer work!

This Tuesday Tipster is for Postsecondary chapters only.

UPCOMING DEADLINES
March 15, 2012: Special Recognition and Ambassador Torch Awards Deadline
March 26, 2012: Pre-submitted Event Entry Deadline

NLC TRADING PINS
If your chapter is attending the national conference, please visit our Web site at www.michiganbpa.org/nlc and download the NLC Trading Pin Order Form. I’m sure your students will want to participate in the ever-so-popular trading pin excitement during the national conference. Trading pins sell fast, so don’t delay!

This year’s pin is a 1969 Ford Mustang with a 1969 red historic Michigan license plate.

GUIDELINES AND SOFTWARE
Please carefully review the WSAP Guidelines Handbook for your competitive events, including deadlines for submission of materials and software listings. For a complete list of software provided at NLC, please review the software listing in the WSAP Guidelines Handbook.

CONTESTANT NUMBERS & CHAPTER NUMBERS
Contestant numbers will be the same as what was used at the state conference. Your chapter # is the first six digits of your contestant numbers (ex. 04-9999).

NLC REGISTRATION
All information and registration information is available online at http://www.bpa.org/nlc/. I strongly encourage you to go online and download the various documents in preparation for the online registration system to open. Online registration will open on February 24, 2012. Registration questions for the national conference can be directed to Shawna Gfroerer at sgfroerer@bpa.org.

PRESUBMITTED EVENTS
Remember, the events listed below have materials that must be sent in to National BPA by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on March 26, 2012. You may revise these materials from your state conference entries. However, they must be sent via email in PDF format. Please read the guidelines for the events in which your students are competing.

The presubmitted events are:
Advanced Interview Skills (including the job application)
Entrepreneurship
Global Marketing Team
Graphic Design Promotion
Interview Skills (including the job application)
Web Application Team
Web Site Design Team

NLC LEADERSHIP ACADEMY
Remember, the NLC Leadership Academy is open to postsecondary students as well. In addition, postsecondary students may sign up to be a conference intern. Click on the national leadership academy and intern links on the NLC Web site for more information.