Happy New Year - 2013

Well, we survived another one.

I hope everyone had a good year, and I hope that next year will be even better. Leave a comment with resolutions, goals, hopes and dreams for yourself, your chapter, the whole fraternity, or whatever scale is important to you.

Thanks for making this a great year for the blog. Lets do it again.

Building a Goal for Fall Recruitment

Michael Ellis is a former student NBD member and a world traveling businessman who still manages to stay active on the AVC of chapters as far apart as Berkeley and Purdue. How? He uses the heck out of Google+ and it's hangout (multi-video chat) feature. Click on his name and add him to your G+ SigEp circle.

In this Google+ post he is working with Purdue to build their fall recruiting goals, The attachment is a worksheet posted in G-Drive (new name for Google Docs). It is a good worksheet so use it yourself to help set your goals.

Michael Ellis

Aug 5, 2012  -  Limited

SigEps:  This is how we are building our goal for Fall Recruitment at Indiana Alpha (Purdue).  If you are involved in Recruitment for your Chapter, you should be thinking about your goals RIGHT NOW and making your plans.   Perhaps this document will give you a bit of a model to work from.  Make a copy, adjust it to your situation.  But if you don't KNOW how many guys you're going after, I can assure you from years of experience, you will under-deliver your potential on your campus.   Post a message back here if you need some help in building your own recruitment goal for the fall.

SigEp IN A Recruitment Worksession 2012-07-25 GOALS »

Members in Chapter at end of Spring 2012 Semester. 102. Less Members who didn't or won't come back in Fall 2012. 3. study abroad, co-op. Less Graduating Seniors. 23. Graduated Spring 2012, None in Sum...

Iowa Delta - Remarkable News

Kevin Teets was a Resident Scholar while he was in law school. He sends us this news from the chapter at Drake, Iowa Delta.

SigEp Friends,

Some of you have heard me mention that Iowa Delta (Drake University) received grades of a 3.43 for the Fall 2009 semester.  Those numbers are remarkable.  Yesterday, however, I received the grade sheet calculations for the entire Greek system.  These numbers give all of us that are a fan of the RLC model something to brag about!

At Drake, Sigma Phi Epsilon is the top performing Greek organization.  This includes outperforming every sorority, as well as every fraternity.  SigEp is the only fraternity to perform higher than the "All Greek Average" of 3.24.  The "IFC Average" of 3.10 would not be the same without SigEp's manpower and academic presence.  In fact, only 2 of the 8 fraternities on campus scored higher than the IFC average.  If that doesn't indicate a statistical outlier, I don't know what does.  Sigma Phi Epsilon and Sigma Chi are the only fraternities to perform higher than the all university average as well.  I've uploaded a copy of the statistics that you can view by clicking grade sheet.

There is no doubt that these statistics can be attributed to the Residential Learning Community and the standards that the chapter upholds.  The chapter has had tremendous success in working with Faculty Fellow, Dr. Deb Bishop.  Members who are below academic requirements meet with the Standards Board.  The Standards Board then works with Dr. Bishop to create an academic success plan.  Dr. Bishop holds weekly office hours at the SigEp house, and has been an integral part of the chapter's operations and the development of our brothers.  We can never thank her enough!

If you are thinking they are a bunch of nerds... you may be right.  They are nerds that presently hold the intramural championship trophy, nerds that represent 40% of the student senate, and nerds that are first in manpower by 24.  They are Balanced Men.  

Pardon the bragging, but when I have good news like this, I want to share it!  It is certainly a testament that our model (national and local) works well.  These guys continue to make all of us on the AVC very proud to work with them!

I will be seeing many of you at the upcoming CLA's.  Look for me in STL, Pitt and Dallas.

Fraternally,

Kevin W. Teets Jr.

 We'll see you in Dallas, Kevin.

Grand President Garry Kief - 2009 Acceptance Speech

Our new Grand President Garry Kief has graciously sent us a copy of his acceptance speech from the Saturday night banquet. The PDF File of the full speech is too long to post in its entirety, but here are a few highlights:

Over the next two years… let’s remember that this is about you… and the Brothers sitting next to you… not some faceless number on a list.
Over the next two years… let’s remember that this is a Fraternity… not a Fortune 500 company.
And our symbol is a heart… not a calculator.
[…]
Let’s remember that it’s better to keep a chapter instead of close a chapter. Let’s remember that if they were good enough to be Brothers in the first place… how did they suddenly become the Black Sheep of the family?
Years ago we figured out that every time we close a chapter… it costs us $60,000. Now it’s probably more. So instead of casually loosing that money… let’s invest it in an RD Team that actually goes in and helps save a chapter… with help in recruiting…or academics… or leadership.
Let’s remember that we’re not playing a game of Survivor.
We’re playing a game of success.
[…]
You know we have a problem with volunteers.
The problem is we need them.
And we need more of them.
We need them for their advice… and their wisdom… and their life lessons.
We need them to help do the work… not just tell someone else what work needs to be done.
[…]
Let’s announce our National Board meetings well in advance and invite everyone to attend…
Let’s make sure everyone knows when our committees are meeting and that they’re welcome.
Let’s put our national calendar on line so Directors… and Trustees… and District Governors… and Committee Members… and Volunteers… and you… know about meetings and events before they happen… Instead of reading about them after the fact… on the blog (emphasis added, ed.).

And those are just from the first half of the speech. Read the whole thing here. Download it and print it out, too. By the way, he is also on Twitter as @GarryKief.

Tomorrow night... Past Grand President Shanklin's farewell address. Stay tuned.

SigEp Executive Director sheds some light

Craig Templeton, SigEp's Executive Director, sent this email today to several interested parties. We suggested that it be posted on the blog since it speaks to several items that have been discussed lately and he agreed.

---

Brothers:

I hear there is discussion of phones and staffing on the blog. I thought some background might help.

Last year, we did a review of the Headquarters & staff structure to overcome barriers to serving volunteers and their chapters. Telephone accessibility was a hot topic. We installed an advanced phone system that seamlessly connects callers to employees whenever and wherever they might be. If away from our desks, calls can be automatically forward to cell phones. Callers can now reach any employee any time, unless on an airplane, or otherwise "indisposed," by just dialing their extension.

That doesn't mean you won't get voice mail, but they'll get your message immediately.

Another barrier was the limited times a receptionist was available to answer & direct calls―particularly annoying to those in western time zones. When Douglas retired, our answering service proposed that, with our new phone system, they could provide live service, not just until "closing time," but 24 hours a day, seven days a week, just as they do for the Crisis Hotline. Particularly beneficial for reaching Regional Directors―calls now transfer directly to them too.

So now, rather than depending on one receptionist who often had to be away from her desk and left at 4:30 p.m. eastern/1:30 Pacific, we have four receptionists dedicated to answer every call. Live.

Like any new employee, they are getting used to our nomenclature, names, organization and services. They'll have everyone's availability on their screens just like Douglas did. When they can't reach me at my desk for any reason, they roll over to Karen for help―just like Douglas did. The same goes for every person and their backup in the building.

And best of all―if it doesn't improve service and accessibility, we can always go back to an in-house receptionist. In the meantime, I thought we'd try actually expanding and improving our service and accessibility…and, yes, at a small fraction of what our undergraduates paid for a full-time receptionist.

For those of you who know the Fraternity so well, I hope you'll help bring the new receptionists up to speed. As with any new employee, you will surely be able to catch them losing now and then, but please let me know when you experience any problem with the service. They have always been responsive and committed to performing at our standard, but if it doesn't work, we'll fix it.

Another top concern was with Chapter Services. Staff guys have come & gone over the years, but we've just undertaken the first staff structural reorganization since I arrived eight years ago. I am sending a letter to all chapter volunteers next week to detail the changes―again designed and intended to improve responsiveness and efficiency. We moved volunteer functions together under Gary Huff's direction and then divided the country east and west for Chapter Services, with a director and administrative coordinator for each, east & west.

I'm impressed by those who think the size of Headquarters staff has grown so much. Perhaps it is a sign of greater staff performance, presence and visibility, because this week I issued exactly the same number of paychecks as in 2000 before I came in. Also, that year our PMR (campus membership) was 12,917 & last year was 14,353. I know it's not popular to hear management in business terms at SigEp, but that's an 11% reduction in the staff to student ratio.

We are committed to finding ways to be more efficient and responsive to better serve volunteers working with undergraduates and chapters. I appreciate any ideas, feedback―or even volunteer assistance in improving. It's a challenge I take very seriously. In the meantime, if you have a favorite who normally helps you in Zollinger House, simply ask for them. Karen, Donna, Kathy, Debbie, Jan, Susan Ilch and Jerry are all still there and love to hear from you. And the newer folks on staff are anxious to get to know you.

You may also be interested that the RD fall meeting is in Lake Las Vegas next month. As it turns out, Vegas is a pretty cheap destination and the Foundation donors (Board of Governors) are having their fall gathering there and offered career planning meetings with RDs. Nice deal―the Fraternity saves on travel and the RDs get an added benefit. I've seen the schedule. Fall is our busiest season. No time for golf, but I hope they have a good time anyway. We'd love to have you to join us at the Foundation Homecoming Weekend in Nevada.

Please let me know if you have any questions, ideas or concerns and thanks for your continued commitment to SigEp.

Craig.

SigEp│All men by nature desire knowledge―Aristotle

Craig D. Templeton, Executive Director
310 S. Boulevard
Richmond, VA 23220

---

Thanks, Craig, for shedding some light on the issues. Communications such as this helps bring a much desired transparency to the workings at HQ. Still, I am sure that our readers will have comments and opinions on this post as they do on others.

Betas Push EIL

Emotionally Intelligent Leadership

In recent years, Beta Theta Pi has invested its time and financial resources into leadership development. A search for the word leadership on Amazon.com returns more than 178,000 results. Amazingly, a similar search on Google yields 269 million hits! Consider that you can read more than 2,000 published definitions of leadership. Yet, although the topic of leadership is far-reaching, surprisingly few books focus on leadership as it applies to college students.

Part of the motivation behind Emotionally Intelligent Leadership: A Guide for College Students includes the belief that Betas and all undergraduates have a terrific “learning lab” at their disposal. The campus environment provides a rich and plentiful array of opportunities for students to practice leadership skills for four (or maybe five) years. Campus-based organizations, residence halls, teams and related opportunities provide students with many different ways to get involved. Students can experiment with different approaches to leadership — honing the philosophy and style that best suits them.

However, as the General Fraternity’s leadership has realized, unless there are opportunities for students to intentionally reflect upon successes and failures, much of the learning opportunities may fall to the wayside. In addition, without consistent guidance from advisors or local mentors, undergraduate leaders may make the same mistakes over and over. Our exploration of emotionally intelligent leadership (EIL) provides undergraduates with the opportunity to pause and reflect on how they can better approach any leadership role, positional or non-positional.


About Emotionally Intelligent Leadership
Emotionally intelligent leadership synthesizes two major bodies of research and theory: emotional intelligence and leadership.

In 1990, Peter Salovey and John Mayer published a scholarly paper in which they coined the term emotional intelligence. They defined emotional intelligence as “the ability to monitor one’s own and others’ feelings and emotions to use the information to guide one’s thinking and actions.”

In 1995, the term was made popular by Daniel Goleman in his book Emotional Intelligence. In his follow-up book, Goleman (1998) defined emotional intelligence as “the capacity for recognizing our own feelings and those of others, for motivating ourselves and for managing emotions well in ourselves and in our relationships.”

Foremost in this model of emotionally intelligent leadership, the leader must be conscious of three fundamental facets that contribute to the leadership dynamic: consciousness of context, self and others.

Here is an example to clarify what is meant by consciousness of self, others and context. Let’s examine President John F. Kennedy as an exemplar of this model. Kennedy (self) was elected at a time (context) when his personal leadership attributes and his message aligned with that being sought by the people of the United States (others). Would President Kennedy be elected today? No one knows. Based on our reading of theory and research on leadership, one thing is certain — were he to seek election today, Kennedy would need to align his message with issues that mesh with our current reality and context.

Effective leaders in any organization or sector of society ensure that their message resonates with the interests and desires of others (Goleman, Boyatzis, & McKee, 2002). Effective or ineffective leadership is therefore a relationship between these three facets: consciousness of context, consciousness of self and consciousness of others. Leaders’ ability to monitor all three intentionally will aid in their ability to lead effectively. After all, leaders must be aware of their capacities, the needs of those who follow them and the environmental factors that come into play as well.

Along with the general framework mentioned above, EIL consists of 21 capacities to which a leader should pay attention. In the American Heritage Dictionary, capacity is defined as “ability to perform or produce; capability.” This word was chosen because everyone has the capacity to develop the ability to lead others effectively. The question comes down to choice — do we want to?

In essence, effective leadership is like being on a golf course and using the right golf clubs well in the right situation. The best players have mastered this technique. They are aware of how the weather, the course and the competition contribute to the equation. The best players have the skills to choose intentionally and play effectively with different clubs, given new or changing circumstances.

Developing Your EIL
If you are interested in developing your EIL, then you need a healthy balance of these capacities. There is no fixed formula for which capacities you must demonstrate; that would minimize the complexities and realities of leadership and of us as human beings.

It is not effective or advisable to demonstrate any one of these capacities to excess. For instance, leaders can take teamwork to an extreme and become bogged down when trying to progress and move forward. On the other hand, leaders may completely negate the importance of teamwork and alienate themselves from the group. In addition, leaders with low capacity for empathy may have a difficult time convincing others to believe that they have others’ best interests at heart.

The bottom line is that each capacity requires balance. The trick is that the right level of being in balance is dynamic — it’s constantly shifting. In other words, an appropriate capacity for developing relationships in one context may be inadequate in others, based on the leader, the followers and the context. The best leaders realize this, and they intentionally adjust their approaches or levels based on the needs of others and the context.

Leadership development is a long-term endeavor — a journey that all of us must consistently work on if we want to develop and grow. And as with any knowledge, skill or ability, you need to reflect on your successes and failures, observe others whom you admire and respect, and engage in trusting relationships with people who will provide you with open and honest feedback. Finally, and perhaps most important, to demonstrate emotionally intelligent leadership you must transfer this knowledge into action.

— S. Allen and M. Shankman

Scott J. Allen, Ph.D., Minnesota ’95 and Marcy Levy Shankman are co-authors of Emotionally Intelligent Leadership: A Guide for College Students. Allen is the founder of The Center for Leader Development.

What do Greeks Need?

Greek Movement has released a national survey with interesting results. What's the number one "Greek Need"? "Discovering my Skills and Talents"; number two: "Graduate and Get a Good Job"; number six: "Get Enough Sleep." Sound familiar? I thought so. The various needs are compared to the ubiquitous "Mazlow's Needs Hierarchy" to find insights about the way students are getting their needs met.

Number six on the Top 10 needs list is “not getting enough sleep.” This is rather surprising because sleep would fall under the lowest level, yet it appears to be a very crucial need to these students. According to Maslow, this lack of sleep that the students are experiencing might indicate a huge problem for Greeks as they try to progress in other areas. Perhaps it is the pursuit of the very top level that is causing them to fall behind on one of their most basic needs of all.

Number two on the Top 10 needs list is “being able to graduate and/or get a good job.” This need would fall under the second level, still very low on the pyramid like the need for sleep. From my own experience, this need for security or future security really affects a student’s decision and growth in college. I have seen many fraternity and sorority students leave the Greek system or become very inactive in their chapters because they want to succeed academically so that they can get a good job in the future. Or perhaps they have to leave the chapter to work more so that they can be more financially secure. This is one example of having to temporarily remove yourself from one of the higher levels to take care of a lower need first.

Tyler Zach, staff writer for Greek Movement, developed and conducted the survey. He is a SigEp, too.

"Greek Movement" is sponsored by Campus Crusade for Christ, but the opinions and advice you find there are very focused on the real world and not at all 'preachy.' It's a good site. We have have a link to it for quite some time now.

Just graduated? Looking for a job?

SigEp HQ has announced another partnership arrangement, this time with JobBound.

SigEp Job Guide
10/18/2007 9:41:10 AM

Sigma Phi Epsilon has partnered with JobBound to offer members a guide to landing their first jobs. The Job Guide offers advice on resume writing, cover letters, interviewing, networking, and other job search activities. Additionally, the Job Guide offers guidance on how to excel once you've landed your job. JobBound taps into the experience of Brad Karsh, a nationally recognized recruiting expert. One of the qualities that sets JobBound apart is the fact that all of our resume writers are former Recruiting Directors. Resume and interviewing advice is plentiful, but nowhere else will you gain the perspective of the Recruiting Director-the actual person responsible for making the hiring decision. You really can't beat that. JobBound offers individual job prep services to job seekers to help them land the job of their dreams. In addition, Brad shares his insider advice in dynamic presentations and workshops that he gives to colleges, student organizations, and companies across the United States. Check out the SigEp Job Guide at: http://www.sigep.org/memdev/resources.asp. Scroll down and click on SigEp Job Guide.

...or, just click here to get straight to it: Job Guide

Montana's Greek System Undergoes Changes

UM's Greek system sees renewal
By BETSY COHEN
Missoulian
MISSOULA - The 21st century has not been kind to the University of Montana's 103-year-old Greek system.In the past seven years, two fraternity houses have not only closed their doors because of membership woes, they've been bulldozed into oblivion.

Until recently, many of the remaining Greek houses have been nearly empty and increasingly in need of remodeling or at least significant repairs. Greek life at UM appeared to be on the brink extinction.

While no one can point to any one reason for the decline, those close to UM's Greek houses acknowledge the brotherhoods and sisterhoods lost their way from their chapters' founding purposes: to build leaders, to achieve academic excellence, to create community, to give back to their college and chapter, to serve the greater good.

In the absence of tangible proof of those ideals and with increasing problems of underage drinking, fights and run-ins with local police, stereotypes emerged.

Now UM's four sororities and five fraternities are working to shed the party-ghost of decades past and embrace more noble ideals, said Emily Yaksitch, the university's Greek life adviser.As Greek adviser for the past 2 1/2 years, she's outlasted two of her predecessors by at least one year, and has watched her mentoring and the hard work of students slowly begin to pay off.

"We are definitely in a revamping stage, and revamping our image of the past decade or more by getting to the roots of why our chapters were founded," Yaksitch said. "These organizations have long, distinguished traditions, and I think the current members recognize the honor of continuing that legacy.

"On Tuesday, the ages-old tradition of bringing new members into the fraternity system will begin. What used to be called Rush Week is now being called Recruitment Week.

The name change signifies a philosophical shift within UM's Greek community. At Sigma Phi Epsilon that transition is under way, said Derek Duncan, a member and vice president of communications for the fraternity.

The change was more than a nice idea; it was a matter of survival.

"About two years ago, we ran into challenges - the people in the house weren't very mature and were not a good fit with the organization," he said. "The house was in disarray, the leadership not great, and our national leadership said something had to happen, things had to change. It was a real wake-up call for the house.

"Given clear marching orders, about half of the fraternity's membership left, leaving about a dozen people to rebuild.

In 2006, the house recruited 16 members and was beginning to bounce back when two other warnings came from national leaders: Bring up your chapter's grade point average and get 25 people to live in the fraternity's 12,000-square-foot house to help pay the bills, or the doors will be shut for good.

Sigma Phi Epsilon's rebirth began in earnest, and fundamental changes in how they did business began to take place, Duncan said.

The house no longer takes pledges. When someone wants to join, they are a member immediately without a testing period. Traditions and core values of the chapter are passed on in stages, and in a new program called The Balanced Man. Each member commits to a physical fitness and wellness program, and participates in extracurricular education beyond the classroom, such as learning about art.

Each house member is required to post his personal and academic goals on his door for all to see and read.Becoming a member of the Greek system is not about joining a private club that defines who you are or what you are, said Colin Boyle, president of Sigma Phi Epsilon.

"It's a catalyst. It's a platform to help people become more engaged with campus and the community."As proof, Boyle said most of UM's fraternity and sorority members are far more than the Greek letters they are affiliated with, they are also UM Advocates, Grizzly athletes, peer advisers, members of UM's student government, and students who take an active leadership role in their field of study.

Last year, UM's Greeks donated more than $15,000 to nonprofit organizations, most of which are based in Missoula.Yaksitch said UM's Greek life is on track for success. Membership has stabilized, many houses have invested in their properties and made renovations, all have committed to alcohol-free recruitment week activities, and each house has dedicated itself to promoting its core values in a new flexible system.

"I really do think today's students are much more natural leaders and understand their actions impact others," Yaksitch said. "Their motto this year is to recruit somebody better than yourself."I like that, it tells me they are accepting responsibility and that's the difference from my perspective from nearly three years ago to now."

UM's Greek system sees renewal

Sound Body - Experts issue new physical exercise guidelines

OK everyone, let's get up and get moving. New recommendations by the American Heart Association and the American College of Sports Medicine came out today. Everyone should get at least 30 minutes of exercise 5 times a week.

Two leading health groups issued new guidelines on physical activity, updating influential recommendations issued in 1995 while also crafting advice tailored specifically for those 65 and older.
[...]
The advice comes amid rising health problems stemming from sedentary lifestyles and obesity among Americans, as well as people in many other nations.

"I think physical inactivity is the biggest public health problem we face. I think it actually accounts for more morbidity and mortality than anything except maybe cigarette smoking," said Steven Blair of the University of South Carolina, one of the experts who crafted the recommendations.
[...]
The new guidelines call for healthy adults to engage in moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity for at least 30 minutes five days each week, or vigorous-intensity aerobic exercise for at least 20 minutes three days a week. The guidelines also state that exercise above the recommended minimum amounts provides even greater health benefits.

Moderate-intensity aerobic activity can be a brisk walk, light jogging or other exercise that noticeably accelerates the heart rate. Vigorous-intensity exercise like jogging causes rapid breathing and a substantial increase in heart rate.

The guidelines called for weightlifting exercise to work on muscular strength and endurance, with eight to 10 different exercises on two nonconsecutive days a week.
[...]
"If you want to stay out of the nursing home, probably the best approach is to be sure you're physically active and fit," Blair said.

Um, I don't think "12-ounce curls" count, though.

PS: Don't forget the "Sound Body 5K" at Conclave.

Experts issue new physical exercise guidelines - Yahoo! News

Stollman Challenges Greeks to Know Their Values

Speaker inspires Greek future on campus
Meghan Foley

A cell phone ring began speaker David Stollman's challenge to Keene State College Greek Life organizations to remember their values and standards, and break the stereotypes.

"You earn your letters when you're allowed to wear them … by living up to what they mean," said Stollman to at least 84 Greek Life members gathered in the Mountain View Room of the Young Student Center Monday night.

As Stollman presented his interactive lecture, "Buy In or Get Out," excitement and energy became as bright as the colored T-shirts identifying each organization in attendance for the Greek Week event.

"He talked to a lot of people's hearts and made a lot of people cry," said senior Caitlin Ball, a member of Phi Sigma Sigma.

Stollman, who is with Campus Speak, stated the importance of organizations staying true to leading and serving.

One part of leading meant leading in the classroom, while another meant serving, he said.

"This is our true tradition. This is what our organizations are about. This is what all Greeks are about," he said. "We all swear ourselves to the same basic values."

He challenged those who didn't want to adhere to an organization's true traditions to leave it.

"For those of you who don't want to, I hope you leave," he said.

According to Stollman, an alumnus of Sigma Phi Epsilon, Greeks understood the difference between brotherhood and friendship, and sisterhood and friendship.

"Friends say what we want to hear. Sisters, brothers say things you need to here," he said.

Stollman also addressed the stereotypes associated with Greek Life.

"The rest of the world sees your letters and they don't know they are different, and they don't care," he said regarding organizations that promote the stereotype. He added the world thought the stereotype was fine because Greek organizations tolerated it.

"Are we perpetuating or breaking the stereotypes?" he asked repeatedly throughout his speech.

Besides looking at how Greeks were viewed by others, Stollman said members needed "to start thinking about the things [they] were doing."

"The more we perpetuate [the stereotype] the more problems we have," he said.

Hazing is one of those stereotype supports.Anyone who believed in hazing never understood that concept to begin with, said Stollman.

"Chapters that haze the most don't understand it doesn't work," he said. Stollman, advisor to the Alpha Sigma Tau sorority at New York University, also relied on his experiences to enforce what he was saying.

"Him having a personal experience made his speech that more eye opening," said Greek Life Assistant Cory Anderson.

According to Anderson, a member of the Sigma Lambda Chi fraternity, several KSC Greek leaders went to Pittsburg, Penn. for the Northeast Greek Leadership Association conference, and heard Stollman speak along with many others. They then asked him to attend Greek Week and give his speech, said Anderson.

"His speech is a good reminder of why we originally joined our respective organizations and to awaken members of the organization that have not realized their responsibilities," he said in an e-mail following the event.

"It was just as good the second time around," said senior Teddy Byrne, vice president of the Interfraternity Council and a member of Delta Nu Psi.

"He makes your want to improve your organization internally and turn it around."

Stollman ended his presentation with five things he wanted Greek organizations to do as a way to reach their potential.

Those objectives included
• watching out for other members interests,
• showing an organization's true values when recruiting,
• holding members accountable for their actions,
• seeking opportunities to break stereotypes,
• and challenging members not meeting the organization's standards and values.

"The entire organizations future rests in your hands," he said.

Five Year Strategic Plan Outlines Ball State Program

Ball State U. Greeks reveal strategic plan for next 5 years
By Amanda Getchel

After acknowledging recent violent incidences at parties and a problem communicating with each other, Ball State University fraternity and sorority members have created a plan to improve their relationships and image within the Greek system and the university.

The five-year strategic plan was shown Sunday after 21 people spent 370 days planning for Greek life's future.

The university has just developed its own strategic plan and one objective is to continue the revitalization of Greek life on campus, President Jo Ann Gora told about 80 Greek members, alumni and administrative officials in her opening remarks at the unveiling. "This is an incredibly important part of the plan because Greek members make up a small percentage of the number of students on campus," she said, "but the members are an enormous percentage of those who are involved in other campus organizations."

Kay Bales, vice president for Student Affairs and dean of students, said during the last two years a lot of time was spent discussing the fraternities and sororities on Ball State's campus.

In Fall 2005, an external consultant was hired to assess the Greek community. Bales said more than 120 people looked at hundreds of documents and talked to people on campus who were both involved and not involved in Greek life.

The research and time spent resulted in a 37-page report that suggested creating a strategic plan committee."The plan provides a blueprint for a more vibrant and successful Greek community," Bales said. "We're all responsible for the future of the community and in my time at Ball State I've never found a university president or Greek administrators than the ones here who are more committed to creating a community that is beyond what we've dared to dream in the past."

Kelly Shrock, a Sigma Kappa sorority alumna, said when she was at Ball State in the 1980s, many women joined sororities, but today more students are financing their education and do not have as much time to be involved in organizations like fraternities and sororities.

She said the plan would be valuable and work to strengthen the experience and value of belonging to such organizations.

LaKisha Johnson, president of the National Pan-Hellenic Council, said she thought the Greek strategic plan was well planned out, extensive and could be accomplished if everyone in the community worked together.

She said even though she is a senior, she would encourage her members to participate in the implementation teams because the teams are necessary to make the plan work.
The implementation teams focus on issues of the plan to make sure each step gets finished.Johnson said she thought most of the goals were reasonable, but some areas, such as recruitment, might not be feasible for the NPHC.

Her council does not have open recruitment like the Panhellenic Council and the Interfraternity Council, and therefore cannot follow the same plans at the other councils, she said.

Director of Student Life Lynda Wiley said each April the plan will be evaluated to see what needs to be changed or updated and what needs to be done during the following year.

In four years, Student Life representatives and Greek community members will look at what has been accomplished in the strategic plan and what needs to be done still. Then they can begin to create the next strategic plan, she said.

"Some may see this unveiling as the finish line, but we see this as the beginning," she said.

Goals
The Ball State University Fraternity and Sorority Community Strategic Plan 2007-2012 includes eight defined goals and areas to work on.

They are:
• Academic Achievement - Goal 1:
  The Greek community will support the Ball State University mission by establishing academic standards for all Greek councils to ensure that all chapters will maintain a grade point average above the all-men's or all-women's average.
• Alumni and Advisors - Goal 2:
  The Greek community will engage alumni to ensure active participation and consistent chapter advisement and support.
• Chapter Achievement - Goal 3:
  The Office of Student Life, in conjunction with student leaders and alumni, will outline organizational expectations and responsibilities for all fraternities and sororities resulting in increased chapter and member accountability.
• Chapter Housing - Goal 4:
  The Office of Student Life, in conjunction with Housing and Residence Life and alumni house corporation boards, will provide fraternity and sorority members with living and meeting space that is safe, attractive and conducive to learning.
• Leadership and Membership Development - Goal 5:
  The Office of Student Life, in conjunction with the governing councils, will address the need for both individual and chapter leadership development in fraternities and sororities.
• Recruitment and Expansion - Goal 6: The Ball State fraternity and sorority community will create an intentional and targeted recruitment program that focuses on the values of the community. By 2016, the total membership of the Greek community will be 2,060.
• Risk Reduction and Education - Goal 7:
  The Ball State University greek community will support a social experience that is fun, safe and responsibly managed.
• Values, Vision and Relationships - Goal 8:
  The fraternity and sorority governing councils will engage in an intentional planning and goal setting process to establish a clear direction for each chapter, council and the Greek community as a whole.