Membership : Participants
The Ralph Bunche Societies provide "participant" institutions with a unique way to help their students become responsible, new leaders within an increasingly globalized world. As an undergraduate student association, members plan and implement programs of interest to them. While each Society is unique, the Phelps Stokes Fund works with students and institutions to ensure adherence to uniform standards of excellence. Participating institutions receive a matching grant for each of the first two years for student activities and assistance/guidance with fundraising.
Members of the Ralph Bunche Societies participate in student leadership development workshops and seminars focusing on global issues. Members also have access to speakers and mentors from both non-governmental and government institutions. They compete for internships with a global dimension in their chosen field of study, and develop cultural awareness, in addition to language competency. Finally, members give back to their communities through volunteer services. Faculty members and administrators at institutions can also participate in professional development conferences and will have full access to a nationwide network of students, faculty members, and speakers, all of whom are committed to providing opportunities for minorities.
The Ralph Bunche Societies, and its sponsoring organization, Phelps Stokes, offer a deeper understanding of global challenges, and that understanding will ripple through the culture of the "participant" institution. Therefore, it is essential that the institution invest in capacity building and global awareness activities for university administrators, faculty members, and staff. In this way, a Ralph Bunche Society will be sustained once the initial start-up phase is complete.
Phelps Stokes and each individual institution determine the most efficient and effective way of ensuring long-term institutional investment. For example, how much can a participating Institution expect to pay? While the shape of each Ralph Bunche Society varies from campus to campus, the average cost to launch and sustain a Ralph Bunche Society is approximately $5,000 per year. Costs to a participating institution include a matching grant (minimum of $2,500 each year over two years) that could be used to cover the costs of meals, travel to area colleges/universities, local high schools, and conferences, faculty mentor stipends, mentor luncheons for information-sharing purposes, snacks, presentation equipment, initial launch event activities (e.g. luncheon/dinner, honorarium for keynote speaker, etc.), marketing and communications materials, website development, study abroad scholarships, internship stipends, etc.
