questioning whether the chapter should remain open

disillusionedCA · #1 02-15-2004, 09:52 PM

Hi. I am the chapter advisor for a collegiate group who is currently struggling. They have been struggling for a few years now, but I don't believe they were given the help they needed. Our hqs and advisory council are aware of the problems, however, I do not believe the chapter is being completely honest with what is happening. There are several people who would love to help, but without knowing the extent to which they need help, we can't. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to break through this barrier?

Also, I have been given information that really makes me wonder if it is possible for the chapter to pull through. A few things have come to light, that have made me contemplate (with the support of the advisory committe) recommending to hq that the chapter be closed. Has anyone every been in this situation? I feel terrible here and I don't want to do it, but I almost don't see another way.

I would appreciate any help that you can offer.

SmartBlondeGPhB · #2 02-15-2004, 10:42 PM

Aren't you aware of the entire story since you are the chapter advisor? I only ask because why can't you just tell the whole story to the right people and get them to come in and help?

In my experiences, it's usually the advisor(s) that "raise the red flags" to HQ.

When my collegiate chapter was struggling, our problem (low numbers) was pretty obvious.

PsychTau · #3 02-15-2004, 11:59 PM

This sounds harsh, but is reality.....

Don't be afraid to clean house (and make sure the campus knows that house was cleaned) and start over. Sometimes it's not all the members bringing a chapter down, and there could be women who want to be a part of your GLO, but don't want to call "Crazy Cathy" a sister. If she goes, other women might come in.

Without more info, I can't tell you what to do. I have seen the above work, but it depends on a lot of factors. Sit down and have a brainstorming session with different types of people (chapter alums, other alums, HQ staff, etc) to figure out what's going on and what can be done about it. That's how people can start helping.

And it's confusing when you say people want to help, but you don't know the extent to which they need help. Identify the problems first, then you can figure out what kind of help this chapter needs.

Good Luck!
PsychTau

33girl · #4 02-16-2004, 11:44 AM

Please give us just a LITTLE more info....is the problem numbers, hazing, financial, house situation, substance abuse, what???

Having no idea what the "struggle" entails makes it impossible for anyone to give you advice on how to remedy it.

AOIIalum · #5 02-16-2004, 10:23 PM

Add me to the list of those who'd love to help, but wish just a bit more info.

Has your (inter)national personnel been in to visit the chapter yet this academic year? If not, why not and can you have a visit arranged ASAP? I know different sororities have different traveling staffs, but that could be a start.

You mentioned 'not getting the help they needed' earlier. What help did the advisory team feel that they needed? Did you offer your opinion to those (inter)national personnel working with your chapter? Does the chapter communicate regularly with their advisers? With their assigned (inter)national personnel? Can the advisory team identify the chapter's most crucial need right now? Or, does the team believe things are so far gone that a complete reorganization or closure are the only practical solutions? Like Melanie said, usually it is the advisers who raise the "red flags" when there are serious problems.

I would suggest contacting the person or persons that the advisory team reports to (in AOII, for example, we report to Network Personnel.) Simply and honestly, they need to know what is going on. These women have the benefit of not dealing with the chapter on a day-to-day basis (fresh eyes and ears!) along with years of experience. They can give you some beneficial feedback on what needs to be done immediately, and can offer recommendations of what to do next (maybe a chapter action plan for improvement; chapter monitoring, probation or reorganization; or maybe even closing the chapter...it depends on what the whole story is, of course!) As you can tell, I'm a big fan of utilizing the support system my own sorority has in place for those who work with collegiate and alumnae chapters.

Good luck,
Christin

disillusionedCA · #6 02-17-2004, 11:11 AM

the chapter has been struggling with numbers for some time now. in the beginning of the decline of numbers, there really was no advisory committee...hq was just about no where to be found. when they came the chapter just got yelled at. it really left a bad feeling in most member's minds. if they had received the help at this time, i think the chapter could have been successful.

yes, i am the advisor, and i should know what is going on, but i can tell you that the executive council doesn't tell me everything. i believe they are missing the major points. there are problems within the exec council and they fight amongst themselves. when i am there, they are like the perfect group, then i get wind of "issues" later. i just picked up this position recently. the chapter basically ran the other advisor out of town (and most of the advisory committee) because of their secrecy, lack of communication with the advisory committee, and a variety of other things. i realize that i have inherited these problems, but i need to make them better and i don't know how.

i have overheard things while visiting the chapter from chapter members, such as, "what are they doing here?" (meaning members of the advisory committee) or "great, now what are we going to do?" i have heard snippits of concerns from sisters and i suspect that hazing is occuring in our pledge program, although i can not confirm this. they want to compete with the other chapters on our campus, so they think they have to haze too! (and i can confirm that the other chapters haze. they did while i was a student...and continue to do so years later. they really don't bother to hide the hazing, either. chapter members throwing food on new members in the middle of the street hardly leaves room for wonder.)

as far as help from hq, well, let's just say, they are less than helpful. i really don't know how many times to email the same people with the same questions and NOT to get a reply. it is not just me either. the president doesn't get responses, either!

33girl · #7 02-17-2004, 03:09 PM

I hate to hear that your HQ is not being responsive, but if they can't help, you have to take the bull by the horns.

The first thing to do is a retreat or candle pass, something where every single sister can express their concerns and what they want out of the sorority. If there are sisters there who don't want to work to make the sorority better they need to terminate or go inactive.

As far as the hazing...if you haven't seen it, it's pretty much impossible....if you accuse the chapter of it they will lose trust in you even more.

Let them know that you are you and not the other advisor, and that you want to help.

SmartBlondeGPhB · #8 02-17-2004, 05:01 PM

Well, you might not be as blatant as I am but I've never had a problem going over someone's head to get an answer. If the person you keep emailing won't get back to you, go to her boss.

I would agree with 33girl as well. However, you may need to make the candle pass an all out "bitch session" and air everything. Lay it all on the table and figure out, as a group, how to work through it all. Or if you want to at all.

I get the impression you were there as a collegian when the decline in numbers began and your hq was "yelling" at the chapter. Chances are, they were yelling because that group of collegians was just an unresponsive as the one you are now dealing with.

The question to ask is do the women want to change. They are the ones who are going to have to change, if they don't want to then it might be time to close.

And personally, the declining numbers doesn't sound like the problem. It's simply a result of bigger problems of attitude and morale.

Stacekat · #9 02-17-2004, 08:16 PM

I'm the CA of a chapter that is currently undergoing a redevelopment. The only thing I can tell you is that it is HARD!

The very first thing we did was tell the chapter women the plan. If they could not agree to the terms and dedication that the redevelopment is taking, they were granted Alumna Status. We sent out a mailer to all Alumnae that graduated from our chapter and to all local Alumnae (regardless of the chapter they were initiated in). Our redevelopment is mostly Alumnae driven and coordinated. As Chapter Adviser you can NOT chair the redevelopment!!! You will go insane! I don't do it and I swear that I've gone almost completly crazy!!! We did not participate in formal recruitment last semester as there was no way we could have been competitive. Instead we chose to use last semester to develop a plan of execution for a redevelopment this semester. We had a two week plan in place to do very well planned and publicised parties. Honestly, It isn't going quite how we had planned and I don't know why. We sent out 500 mailers to a list of freshmen and transfer students who said they were interested in Greek Life, but they were never contacted by the school. We got the list from the Greek Advisor on Campus. We have over 100 women who help in various ways. Some financially, some with time and planning, some with PR, etc. I recommend that you find someone to see how many and to what extent you can get your alums to help.

You CAN NOT do this alone. We have not had any help from international, but we do have a person that works for our international and help to start one of our colonies. She kind of covertly helps us! If we did not have her, I don't know what we would do!

I hope that helps!

33girl · #10 02-17-2004, 09:06 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Stacekat
We sent out a mailer to all Alumnae that graduated from our chapter and to all local Alumnae (regardless of the chapter they were initiated in). Our redevelopment is mostly Alumnae driven and coordinated.

I was writing that other post really fast, but that is something I definitely wanted to add. IF THE CHAPTER IS IN TROUBLE, MAKE SURE THE CHAPTER ALUMNAE KNOW!!! Don't sugarcoat the situation or send a letter that sounds like every other letter asking for donations. Make sure that the alumnae know that if things do not change, their chapter of initiation WILL close.

In too many cases the alums are not notified until it's too late and it sucks, because they can make a huge difference, in time, donations and morale. If you can't get an alum list through your HQ, try your school's alumni office.

TigerLilly · #11 02-17-2004, 09:16 PM

Ditto on letting the alumnae know about what's going on!

Also, above all, remember that these women are PEOPLE and your sisters. Keep that in mind, and don't start to run the chapter entirely like a business. One of the worst things that people in this situation can do is to start doing things "for the good of the chapter", without considering if they are alienating women within the chapter. The last thing you want to do is to cause good sisters to drop out because they feel insignificant/slighted/not good enough, etc. You want to gain more members, not lose the ones you have!

#12 02-18-2004, 12:39 PM

I agree with puttingit all out on the table and airing out dirty laundry.....But that also comes with consequences and could harm matters even more....but as they say desperate times deperate matters......

Getting back to basics with a retreat and geting back to the ideas of sisterhood would be benficial.

Letting alumnae know is crucial these are your sisters as well as your past who delivered you a healthy chapter when they left college and they w ould want t o know what they can do to help regroup and organize the chapter.

Tom Earp · #13 02-18-2004, 03:38 PM

I can empathize with you along with many others!

The SPE Chapter had a cleaning but are returning slowly but surely. My Chapter, Hm, I was ready to recommend just shutting down or cleaning, but they have done it themselves.

We too have had problems getting International to help but with a lot of nudging so to speak, they have decided to work us.

As an advisor, you can only Advise, but, remember, your Hdq. will listen to you a little closer than just Chapter members whether The Actives beleive it or not!

If there a Faction that is rending The Chapter, then it is the time to find out and get it corrected before there is No Chapter. Get it out into the open and just put it "Like Here is The Situation, How Long Do You Want To Be On Campus?" "Do you want the Soroity to close under your watch?"

Is there an Alum Base to work with or are they also disgusted like mine for the most part are!?

Remember, people will dissapear into the wood work when times are tough, but when times are good, they love to ride the winning horse!

Good Luck, and PM me anytime if you so wish!

xo_kathy · #14 02-18-2004, 03:46 PM

I have a different sort of suggestion -

If your org is a chapter of one of the many groups represented on GC (NPC, NPHC etc), maybe send a PM (private message) to one of your sisters on GC. Meaning, let's say you are talking about a Chi O chapter, you could pm me (or NutBrnHair who is super knowledgable!). Or if it's a GPB chapter, pm SmartBlondeGPhiB, etc. That way you might feel more comfortabale getting into the whole story and that person might have contact/ideas specific to your org.

Good luck!

disillusionedCA · #15 02-20-2004, 11:00 AM

i finally got in touch with someone from hq who visited the chapter last semester. she really felt that apathy was a problem. i totally agree. she didn't have any suggestions on how to tackle this and basically said this isn't the worst chapter she has seen. she felt that the chapter didn't really ask her for suggestions or help and that they seemed to feel like they didn't need help. ok great. these are all things that i already knew. in my "real" job, i have to motivate employees, so i know how to do that. i feel that if i came to a chapter meeting and tried to moviate the girls, i would be wasting my time. i think the chapter would take the motivation better from the president, but since the exec council doesn't think they have a problem, then i don't know how to make them want to motivate the chapter. how can i help the exec council understand that they have a problem?

i completely agree that the alumnae need to be informed. most of the alumnae are pretty burned out with the chapter because of things that happened over the past few years. the chapter hasn't kept an advisor for more than six months if that gives you any idea of how many alums they have burned bridges with. do you think it is my responsibility as the advisor to inform the alumnae or is it the chapter's?

thanks for all of your help thus far!