The Collegiate DECA Leadership Passport encourages individual members, chapters and associations to plan activities and participate in events that enhance members' experience. As our division grows and develops, your Collegiate DECA Executive Officer team brought some new additions and said goodbye to some old program features for the 2024-2025 membership year.
Why update the Leadership Passport Program?
Your Executive Officer team has been looking for ways to create new experiences while promoting the longtime traditions that make our division unique. By updating the Passport, we can keep things fresh and exciting for our members who have completed this program in the past.
What stays the same?
The Leadership Passport Program still provides three submission opportunities for individual members, chapters and associations. Individual members can stay engaged with the division by checking off task items over the course of the year. Our chapters can create exciting events and activities to ensure our members have the most diverse experience yet. Finally, our associations can continue using their passports to grow and expand their reach on new campuses.
Of course, we will still reward individual members, chapters and associations for completing the program. Along with the coveted Passport Certification Certificate, you will receive recognition via the DECA website and a DECA Direct article. You can also take this opportunity to pose and post about your accomplishments via social media (yes, LinkedIn is the place to be for that)!
DECA Inc. will still review the applications for accuracy and completion. In addition, your chapter or association advisor will still be required to confirm your leadership passports and will verify them for accuracy via an email to come from DECA after your submission. This ensures all items are completed, and you will get the right credit for completing the passport. Also, a friendly reminder that all DECA Direct Articles must be a minimum of 400 words in length to be eligible for completion.
What’s changing this year?
To start the change list, we are saying goodbye to the Passport levels for each Passport type. Previously, the levels of the Passport program included Executive, Diplomat and Presidential. We ask that individual members, chapters or associations complete all base requirements and a minimum of three tasks from each category listed. This removes the need to complete different amounts of tasks and now allows everyone to work towards the passport as a “certification” rather than promoting different levels.
The other change to the program is the addition of brand-new task items! These items allow you to complete a portion of the Leadership Passport in different areas of your campus. For example, individual members can take the opportunity to “Conduct an informational interview with a professional in your field of interest and write an article for DECA Direct Online.” Not only are these great for your members to shine outside of chapter meetings, but they also allow us to shine a spotlight on your college experiences via DDO articles.
We are excited to see how each of you will “Be the One” while completing the Leadership Passport Program this year! Feel free to contact your Collegiate DECA Executive Officer team with any questions. Best of luck!
