chapter status and reimbursement

Start a new SIGN Chapter

Apply for Chapter Status

• Assemble a group of interested students, and select a chapter president to lead the group. You may optionally select co-presidents and other leadership (i.e. secretary, treasurer). 

• Identify a faculty advisor at your institution to oversee the chapter. The faculty advisor's role is to provide guidance on neurology-related events and serve as the institutional memory of the chapter through leadership turnover. 

• Fill out the registration/renewal form to apply for SIGN chapter status, being sure to select the 'registering new chapter' option.

• Submit a roster following this template to the SIGN Staff Liaison. The roster may change as you hold recruitment events - please update it on a yearly basis after recruitment events are held. As a reminder, the roster must contain the following for each student:

  • Full name 

  • Member type - president/co-president, treasurer, etc. 

  • Anticipated graduation year 

  • Institution email address 

  • Alternate (non-institution) email address

Renew your chapter

To renew your chapter status and stay an active chapter, chapter leadership should:

• Complete the end-of-year form.
• Complete the registration/renewal form, and select the 'renewing existing chapter' option. 
• Update your chapter roster.

APPLY FOR REIMBURSEMENT

Who is Eligible? 

For the 2023-2024 chapter year, only US and Canada-based chapters are eligible for reimbursement for SIGN-related expenses. You must renew your chapter status before submitting new reimbursement requests. Please check the SIGN chapter map to make sure your status is active.

Setting Your Chapter Up for Reimbursement  

• Identify a designated “vendor” within your chapter. A vendor is someone who can be reimbursed; this person could be a chapter member, administrative assistant, or faculty advisor. Other members can make purchases on behalf of the chapter, but it is the vendor’s responsibility to distribute reimbursements to members who have made purchases on behalf of the chapter.
• Be sure that your chapter has completed the 2023-2024 renewal/registration form and submitted a roster for the year. 

Submitting for Reimbursement

Keep all receipts for SIGN-related purchases. When ready to submit for reimbursement, the vendor should send the receipts and completed expense form to the Staff Liaison. 

• Common reimbursable expenses include food and beverage costs, trivia prizes, speaker costs, and printing supplies. 
• Reimbursement limits are unaffected by external funding. We encourage chapters to seek funding from their institutions or other sources as needed. 
• All reimbursements must be submitted within 30 days of the event.

Reimbursement Tiers

Reimbursement request limits reset with the new chapter year. Tiers are based on your chapter activities per the previous (2023-2024) end-of-year form. 

Tiers: 

1. Have active chapter status - $100
2. Submit previous cycle end-of-year form and host a community outreach event - $400
3. Create mentorship, shadowing, and/or research opportunities, or host a regional or large inter-institutional event - $800

Example: based on your 2023-2024 activities, you were eligible to request $400 and had requested $270 as of April 1. Between April 1 and July 31, you would be able to request up to $130 more. Once the new chapter year starts on August 1, 2025, reimbursement resets and is based on your 2024-2025 activities.

Please contact the staff liaison with any questions, or to indicate that your chapter should be eligible for tier 3 based on new activities.