Senior Apathy?
 

I am doing some research on a particular trend that I am seeing in Greek Chapters on many campuses. I am seeing that sophomores and juniors are taking over leadership roles and many seniors are checking out, etc.

I am curious if that is the experience of the sorority women who post here. If your chapter does not have trouble keeping seniors engaged, what do you do that you feel helps their experience continue to be relevant to them.

I appreciate any input/responses. Thank you for any information!

It depends on when elections are held. Many chapters hold mid-year elections, thus Sophomore and Juniors almost need to take over the roll. Otherwise, a graduating senior will need to vacate her office half-way into the term.

We never had issues with keeping specifically seniors engaged. They were like any other member when it came to . But, priorities of seniors are different than underclassmen (interviewing, internships, wrapping up their thesis). I know one quarter during my senior year, I had a class (the only time it was offered the entire year) conflicting with the chapter meeting. It was forgiven, since class always was a priority over the sorority.

We did put have speakers come in for the seniors on interviewing skills and dress. We also had a professional recruiter (an alum) come in to critique resumes. That went over very well. Typically, seniors still participated in social activities, so that was never a problem.

Thank you for your input! I think that it's true that there needs to be an investment made into Senior programming such as what you mentioned. A senior's needs and interests are surely different than they were as a freshman.

Thanks so much.

I agree that putting offices on a calendar year (as opposed to academic year) is a contributor to senior apathy and I think it's a really stupid idea that should be disposed of.

I also think that schools where most people join before they have even had one college class (i.e. the week before their freshman year starts) have a bigger problem with people getting burnt out and not wanting to participate by the time they're seniors. By contrast, the schools where you can rush at any time and have a chance of getting into the sorority you want (as opposed to the "if you don't rush as a freshman you're screwed" schools) don't seem to have this problem as much.

A lot of senioritis is distancing yourself from the sorority because it will be easier to deal with the loss upon graduation. Perhaps you could research ways that your alum can stay involved with sorority after graduation. You could invite the local alum chapter and volunteers to help them with the transition from collegiate to alumna. They could talk about alumnae activities, etc.

Several GLOs have developed Senior specific programming as a way to increase senior retention, to honor our seniors, to help them transition to alumnae opportunities, etc.

Alpha Gamma Delta is formally implementing Senior specific programming next fall.

If I understand, 33girl, you prefer putting elections on an academic year. I don't agree; I think that mid-year elections are the better alternative. Of course there are pros and cons to any scenario, but I think you may have trouble getting seniors to commit to leadership positions for their entire senior year. Also, no matter how committed a girl is to her house, a last semester senior inevitably changes focus to job or grad school interviews, upcoming marriage plans, location changes etc., all of which commonly follow a final year of school.

Additionally, I think it would be difficult for everyone to come back after the summer to new office responsibilities in the midst of rush. You would also lose the "overlap transistioning" available to new officers who still have the outgoing officer in the house spring semester.

IMHO, one of the most detrimental things to losing senior (and even junior) involvement has been so many upperclassmen living out-of-house. When I was in the house (OK so I'm old--this was the early 80's), no one lived out unless you were doing an internship. Now, almost the only Juniors and Seniors that live in are the officers. Sure we can pledge more girls, but I think it negatively impacts "bonding" with your sisters and also commitment to the organization.

Not everyone has rush before the school year even starts. And for those groups that do, my understanding is that there's usually a summer work week beforehand.

Students today communicate across hundreds/thousands of miles CONSTANTLY and don't think about it. If an incoming officer has questions, an answer is as close as an email or text.

If an officer has properly transitioned her successor, her not being around shouldn't make a difference. In fact, sometimes having the "past president" (officer, rush chair, etc) around can be bad instead of good, especially if she doesn't want to move on and wants everything to be done the way she did it (even if that way sucked).

If you are carrying 21 credits, trying to get into grad school and planning your wedding, should you be president? Probably not. Could you handle being parliamentarian? Yes, probably.

The more we say "you don't have to do {x, y, z} because you're a senior" the more people will give the least amount they have to give. I feel like we're almost pushing them out the door. I understand you have to have some amount of "letting go" but I think that allowing seniors to have reduced responsibilities should be the exception rather than the norm. Juggling everything is part of life. One of my coworkers is going to school for her masters. She doesn't have reduced responsibilities because of it.

RaggedyAnn, I think this is a very, very valid point. It is a natural human tendency to distance oneself from something or someone you know you will be leaving soon. It's a protective device. Most sorority programming is geared towards the entry, very little is geared toward leaving/transitioning to a different type of involvement. The same with society.... we are much better at beginnings than we are at leave-takings.

Chapters might take a look at how they help seniors transition and what programming is available. As Benzgirl says, the needs are different, and speakers/alums who present about resumes, job interviewing, grad school applications, what to look for in job offers/benefits, etc. might be well received.

Also, do the actives make it known publically how much they are indebted to the seniors for leadership, legacies, traditions? Does the chapter have "senior spotlights", pass-down ceremonies, senior roasts or awards where all are honored?

It's a great issue to raise for chapters to consider.

My chapter changed from school year elections to calendar year elections when I was a collegiate member. I joined in Spring 2004, and we had elections in April for an exec board for Fall 2004, and then elections in February for the 2005 calendar year. Since then, we've held elections in November for the next calendar year.

Pros of Calendar Year Elections:
1. Most seniors are still around to provide guidance if need be for a full semester (spring).
2. No spring graduating seniors (the majority) will have to juggle an executive position with job/grad school/etc related responsibilities.
3. Officer reports are due to our HQ in December, and it's easier to write a report based only on things that you did, rather than try to integrate stuff that the person before you did, especially if they graduated.
4. It works well for schools with a fall formal recruitment, since the VP Recruitment has all of spring semester and the summer to plan for formal recruitment and subsequent COB plans after FMR if need be.
5. It encourages generally the most enthusiastic members (ie younger ones) to hold exec positions, which can be good if there are problems with burnout or if there need to be changes made that the younger members support (i.e. getting rid of hazing, putting more effort into formal recruitment, etc)

Cons of Calendar Year Elections:
1. The housing situation becomes a royal pain in the ass. If you want to be on exec, you have to either live in the house for two full years, or bank on there being space (in the form of sisters going abroad, December-graduating seniors, sisters that want to move out for whatever reason) if you live out of house and decide to run for a position. Also, in my chapter's house, there are two singles, one for the President and the other for the Executive Vice President. They live in the singles during their term, so they have to shuffle stuff mid-year.
2. It inherently says "we expect less of spring-graduating seniors" by not allowing any of them to serve on exec. Some can handle it, some can't, but that should be to the discretion of the member when she decides to run.
3. Calendar year elections are particularly a huge pain for the VP Recruitment at schools with a spring formal recruitment. Because a VP Recruitment elected in November can't be expected to pick up and run recruitment alone, the incoming VP Recruitment shadows the outgoing VP recruitment, and then runs the following recruitment as the outgoing VP Recruitment. Because the VP Recruitment has to be available for 2 formal recruitments, sometimes very qualified sisters have to choose between running for that position or going abroad.
4. There are fewer opportunities for a sister to hold a position if formal recruitment is deferred (and I am the second-biggest deferred recruitment cheerleader, 33girl being first). A member who joins as a freshman in the spring would be able to hold two positions (second semester sophomore year-first semester junior year and second semester junior year-first semester senior year). Members who join as a sophomore in the spring can only hold one executive position. (This of course, assumes the member graduates in exactly 4 years.)

I agree that programing is often geared towards the entry aspect of the sorority experience. Since my chapter was founded with a number of seniors and juniors, we wanted to have some way to recognize a large number of graduating seniors. The chapter developed a special ceremony that was very meaningful and special to each graduate.

I'm one of the seniors that checked out. I went temp alum for my last semester, and most girls do the same. For me it was 3 reasons:
1. Our chapter has a fairly high attrition rate. Out of my pledge class of 27, only 5 of us were left. Total is 90, and we stay at total, butwe do so by constantly recruiting. We have about 30 drops every year, resulting in a very young chapter that I can't relate to.
2. My university realized that the grand diploma doesn't mean as much as it used to. Becuase of this, my program and just about every other program has an internship required or some other form of pre-professionalism (student teaching, etc.) As a result, I'm only a normal college student 2 days a week. I don't spend as much time on campus, and I'm tired all of the time.
3. It's a problem across the board at my school. I was just talking about this with my other order of omega members. One of the other side effects is that since the chapters we would social with, every one goes TA or stops participating, there's really no reason to go to socials becuase then you just hang out with a bunch of freshmen. What's left of sorority membership? Meetings. Ugh.

It would help if we had more interaction with our alums, if they did something, anything in terms of helping us with the great job hunt. They started a senior committee my sophomore year, but they just give out awards. No one's really given me any reason to stick around, and in the chapter now there are only about 40 of the ones who were in it my sophomore year. I'm sorry, but I just can't relate to a group of mostly freshmen.

It would also help if they were a little more lax on attendance policies with the older girls. We have senior status too, but it just gives you the right to miss one meeting a month. When ritual workshops are 5 hours nlong, and meetings are 3 hours, plus monthly 2 hour anti-alchohol videos, time can be sucked dry senior year, and when your classes get hard, and you have this little time already, you really can't do that.

I think my chapter does a relatively good job of keeping seniors involved, although I've noticed the most involved seniors come from the oldest pledge class (right now, '04) since they have been around the longest. Seniors that come from younger pledge classes (right now, those graduating from PC 05 or 06) seem to have less of an attachment to the chapter and therefore care less.

Some things I've seen work in my chapter and other chapters:

Give seniors incentives- we let seniors grab their food 15 mins before anyone else at chapter dinner since the line is always enormous. They also get to leave recruitment workshops early, etc.
Have half semester positions- in a fraternity I know of, in addition to the calendar-year positions, they have additional half-year positions, typically running Greek Week/Homecoming, planning a formal/semi-formal... it's a really great way for seniors to give their last 'horrah'.

This is simply by my chapter's nature, but we have several committees that comprise of one (or two) people from each academic class, meaning we need seniors to be involved. By their senior year, members can see how important it is to be on these committees and will fight to be on them.

These are excellent ideas! I especially like the half year positions.

Some of our chapters are piloting a program called The Delta Program which is geared toward increasing senior retention. None of the chapters that I oversee are part of the pilot but I'm anxious to hear how it went, what it included and whether it was successful. I believe it does have some focus on the "great job hunt" and meeting the seniors' needs in a chapter. I have no statistical basis for this, but my gut instinct is that seniors who stay involved are more likely to be alums who stay involved.

But don't you see the problem here? It's a never ending circle. If no seniors ever stay active and the chapter is mainly freshmen and sophomores, then at some point a group of upperclassmen has to take the bull by the horns and say they are going to stay active their last 2 years or the cycle will never break. That goes for the whole school.

Doctor D -- is there anything you can share with me as to some ideas for Senior specific programming that has been implemented by your organization?

Thanks so much in advance!

I'm not DoctorD but I am her sorority sister. One piece of the program is that seniors can opt out of certain chapter events and attend some alumnae club/chapter events instead. This part is to transition them into being involved as an alumna! I'm really excited about that part of it because I think it will put more emphasis on lifelong membership. DoctorD knows more about the programming aspect.

I'd like to hear more about that. But attending alumnae events...what if there isn't an active chapter/club intown?

I guess I'll be learning soon!

Seniors meet at the beginning of the year to do a program about what kind of legacy they would like to leave the chapter... how do they want to be remembered. From there they decide what they would like to do - separate programming from the rest of the chapter [Alpha Gamma Delta has meetings set up so that some meetings are regular business meetings and others are designated solely for programming]. They are given suggestions to choose from, but they are not limited to those choices. For example, if they want to work on interview skills during one meeting, then that can be a focus - they can do mock interviews or the like. Suggestions are all programs that help transition from college to alumnae life. Since seniors decide as a group what they want to do, hopefully that improves buy in/attendance.

And yes - if there are alumnae chapters/clubs nearby, seniors have the option of attending functions that those groups hold instead of chapter meetings.

Hope that helps.

I always like the idea of seniors having to bring in a new member to replace them. This can be followed up by them having a certain relationship outside of the big-lil, but a legacy sister...
Additionally, seniors who bring in a legacy sister get a dues break (they ARE bringing in the dues from the new member!)!
This not only helps to keep seniors in connection during their senior year, but also as alumnae they may be more interested in knowing how their legacy sister ends up!

This is all good advice. I'm having a similar problem with my chapter, and as 33girl said about 9 months ago- seniors who are in their fourth year are the ones who are 'checking out' as opposed to ones who are in their second or even third.

It's frustrating for us because we have a new eboard and we're all soph and jrs, and when we plan events, we have a hard time getting the seniors to show up (dry, or otherwise, doesn't really make a difference) . Any suggestions for this?

I think that when elections are held can have an effect on whether seniors stay active, but I also think that many other things can be factors, as well.

My chapter also recently changed from school year to calendar year. I think that which system is best sometimes depends on your chapter and campus. For example: The calendar year clearly worked better for my chapter. We are a small chapter, at a small Greek-life campus, we don’t have a house, and we have deferred recruitment but no formal system.

Therefore... after elections in November, there are still plenty of committee positions available, or seniors can choose to run for New Member Director, as that turns over every semester. They can also take on ‘Greek Week/Pageant’ a year before graduation (Greek Week = fall, Pageant = spring), which is a position that we still keep based on the school year system. Also, since we don’t have a house, there aren’t any conflicts concerning E-Board members living there. The only problem is deferred recruitment... while we don’t have formal recruitment, we usually have larger new member classes in the spring, and more events. But the girls make an effort in October and November to really get things together as a chapter so that the incoming Recruitment Director will be ahead of the game.

On the other hand, for a chapter that only has E-board members living in, with formal recruitment in the fall, with a larger chapter and few semester-long positions, for example, this might not work as well.

In addition, I think that senior apathy can happen for many other reasons... slowing easing out of school, preparing for graduation/real world, tired and burnt out after 4 years, wanting to party it up the last semester, last-minute internships, taking on an extra job to start paying rent, closer friends in the sorority graduated the year before... the list goes on. For me personally, I wanted to be as involved as possible for as long as possible. But for two of my sisters, each one had served as President for 2 terms, and they just needed a break. They went into alumnae status early, and finished/is finishing an extra semester without being involved much at all. Meanwhile, another sister who is graduating this spring just took on New Member Director and VP, even though she works two jobs on top of school. So it all depends.

I’m sure that you’ll find trends among some specific chapters, but in my experience, I’ve seen different people taking many different routes for many different reasons.