The Major Christian D. Kutschinski Award for Outstanding Chapter

• Last Revised and Approved: August 4th 2018

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This policy outlines the purpose of the Major Christian D. Kutschinski Award for Outstanding Chapter and the process by which the Alumni Association will assess the chapters and approve the presentation of the award.

The Alumni Association will consider the presentation of the Major Kutschinski Award at each annual Convention meeting. This does not mean that the award will be presented each year. If the Alumni Association determines that no Chapter has undertaken activities during the previous year which merit the honor of the award, there will be no presentation for that year.

When presented, the award will go to the Mu Beta Psi Chapter that most successfully promotes the purposes of the Fraternity during the previous year, including those set out in the Fraternity’s Articles of Incorporation.

The purposes listed in the National Constitution are:

• To honor those outstanding men and women who have devoted their time and efforts to the musical organizations at the educational institutions of the respective Chapters.
• To stimulate interest in the musical organizations at the educational institutions [“Institutions”] of the respective Chapters.
• To advance music to its proper place as an educational subject.
• To actively promote fellowship among musicians everywhere.

Other types of Chapter activities that will be considered appropriate for consideration are:

• Institution or Community service projects that reinforce the value of Mu Beta Psi to the beneficiary and/or its audience.
• Programs that promote the values of music to the community in general.
• Physical or financial contributions to the Institution or a local school(such as sheet music, instruments, and scholarship contributions).
• Physical or financial contributions to partner organizations or non-profit entities whose purposes align with Mu Beta Psi’s.
• Chapter-initiated service that promotes music to the Community or Institution (such as performances at local hospitals or rest homes, music programs in local parks, music instruction provided by Chapter members at schools, etc.)
• Fellowship among musicians in the community or who visit the area for events(such as receptions for an orchestra after a performance).
• Extraordinary efforts to promote Mu Beta Psi (such as Expansion efforts).

Activities that will not be considered for the award–though they may be valuable to the reputation of the Fraternity and to the individual Chapters–are:

• Activities that are not related to music.
• Social activities within the Chapter or among Chapters.
• Hosting National Convention in regular rotation.
• Activities held to raise funds for the Chapter.
• Activities of individual Brothers unrelated to Chapter Activities.

Each year, The Alumni Association shall solicit information from each Chapter in support of their eligibility for the Kutschinski Award. Information gathering efforts may include but are not limited to: questionnaires; interviews with Chapter members or advisors; interviews or correspondence with beneficiaries of Chapter activities; activity documentation from the Chapter or the beneficiaries of Chapter activities; letters of reference, thanks, or accolade; newspaper articles; Chapter activities mentioned in Fraternity publications; mentions in programs or brochures; mentions on social media or websites. Submission of documentation on the part of Chapters is voluntary but encouraged, so that each Chapter may receive appropriate consideration for the award.

At the conclusion of the information collection period, the Alumni Association shall compile reports for each applicant and submit qualified nominees to the Association for consideration. The number of nominees may range from zero Chapters to all active Chapters. From those nominees, a winner may be selected and announced at the annual Convention meeting. Remember that the Kutschinski Award will not necessarily be presented every year. The Alumni Association will consider all activities about which information is provided and will honor a Chapter if that Chapter’s activities are appropriately outstanding.

Address your questions to the Secretary of the Alumni Association or to any Alumni Association officer you may know. Additional information may be available on the Alumni Association website.

• Kutschinski Award Webpage