[ISUKappa]

I don't want to punish the girls who are excused necessarily, but I would like to have them make up some of the work they'll be missing while being gone. Most of the girls who are excused are missing only a day or two or the weekend right before Recruitment. I guess I see it kind of like a class--you may have to miss a class for family reasons, but you're still expected to make up all your assignments.

So it would be like: "Okay Susie, you're going to be gone tomorrow, so could you please help Kathy make nametags tonight and see if Becky has anything else she wants to you do before you go."

"Okay Janie, you're going to be gone this next weekend so could you please work with Sally (who's also going to be gone) organize the bottom half of the Recruitment cupboards and then check with Becky to see if she has anything else she wants you to do."

Okay Alice, I know you have Varsity athletics. Can you please help out as your athletic schedule allows and possibly be available to run errands for Becky if she needs something?" We would work with the girls and give them tasks appropriate to the amount of time they're going to be gone.

Work is never excused. According to the chapter Standing rules, unexcused absences from work week/recruitment result in a Standards meeting and a loss of all required points. The points only related to room choice, so that has no affect on the Seniors. Each girl living in is assigned Hostess (clean-up) duty once a semester, so having them clean normal things wouldn't really do anything (and again, doesn't affect the Seniors). They will have a specialized punishment via their Standards meeting, but we need something that will be effective and not just blown off as most Standards punishments have been in the past. Standards is not a threat in this chapter, it's a joke. I'm working hard to change that, but it's going to be a long, slow process.

The girls know who's going to be gone and why and they'll say "Oh Sally had a family reunion that weekend and nothing happened to her. I'll just say I have one next year and I'll be fine."
So many things have fallen lax at this chapter and girls have not been held accountable for their actions for so long, it's the expectation that they can pretty much do whatever they want. I really want to start following the rules as we're supposed to and hold these girls accountable. And I want to be consistent in how we do so.