Standards Help
 

I am the standards chair and have been having more problems then there is time. We have rules and policies, but when trying to enforce them girls get mad and have begun to say that I have turned into a evil dicating bad names.

I am not sure what to do. I have tried to plan fun sisterhood events, but no one comes to them. My sisters have started to not talk to me. And I have been told that I need to stop enrforcing the rules, even though I have only had to say something twice.

I just don't know what to do. I would really love it if some one, any one could help me.

What rules are you trying to enforce? If someone made a complaint about quiet hours, our standards chair here would go talk to the people who were being too loud, and those people would try to be less loud. If the standards chair just decided to start enforcing national rules re:drinking and boys (not that we have those, not being national, but many of my friends are in nationals and routinely ignore them), she'd get laughed out of the house.

Its just the ones that as a chapter we voted on. We dont have a house or anything like that so... But dress code and just rules for meetings, so that they dont take 2 hours.

Unfortunately, being in a standards position is never jolly fun. People aren't going to be happy with what you have to say. What I would suggest is reminding people of WHY it is important to follow certain rules. Following proper dress code, for instance does a number of things like:

• Making sorority members look polished on their way to a meeting
• Encouraging professionalism during the meeting (when you look professional, you feel professional)
• Preparing the women for their future job interviews and careers

You have to come up with your own reasons, because if there really isn't a good reason to keep doing it, why continue?

The parliamentarian should be enforcing Roberts' Rules of Order in meetings.

If the dress code was enacted many many (like more than 10) years ago, it may be time to re-evaluate it. I take it you mean just dress code for meetings, not a dress code for what people wear every day.

Do you have a fully functioning Standards Board? If not, you should. That way it's not just all on one person to be "the Enforcer."

Check with your advisor, if you have and haven't had any luck go to your District Facilitator - she should be able to give you some ideas.

Good Luck! :) If you have any questions PM me.

Sounds like you might need to ask for some help from an adviser or senior member of your organization. As a collegiate member, it is never easy to try and tell your peers what to do and how to do it (even if they themselves voted on the rules you are trying to enforce). Sometimes, having someone else assist and take away the daily drama can be a huge help. As an adviser, I tell the executive members to use me or nationals as an excuse to get things running smoothly again. I don't mind being the scapegoat if it is for the betterment of the chapter and it is usually easier for the collegiate member to tell the general membership something like, "we need to do it this way because nationals/our adviser says to."

Were you voted in? Cause it seems kinda childish if THEY voted for you.... and now they say you're doing a bad job.

Try getting a book about confrontation, or see if your national adviser/school adviser could help you with some confrontation tips. Sometimes it's not what you say, it's how you say it. We do a confrontation workshop every few semesters to bring in the new girls and to help refresh the older members.

Can I just make a slight clarification....

I think in this situation, as well as most coming before a chapter, the President is the "enforcer" -- the parliamentarian interprets the rules and advises the President. It seems like a standards person would do something similar, rather than having to come off like the bad guy, or at worst, having more authority than the president.

I agree with a couple of the previous posters - the parliamentarian should be well-versed in Robert's Rules of Orders, and should be "enforcing" them during meeting. That's not really your job.
And do you have a Standards Advisor? Or a full Standards Board? All these people should be backing you up so you're not having to "go at it alone."

The president may have to make sure it is carried out or sign off on something, but the [insert officer here] is the one who makes the decision on [insert issue here]. That's why we have other officers besides the president.

The parliamentarian is responsible for enforcing Roberts' Rules and keeping order in meetings. That's their specific job. If they have to look to the president to help them carry it out...as in if no one pays attention to the authority of the parliamentarian when she says STFU so we can go on with the meeting...then that's a problem.

Zeta13Girl - standards can mean different things with different duties in different sororities. :)

That's a misuse of what a parliamentarian is for.

The presiding officer makes the decision on what is in order or not, acknowledges the speaker, etc. The parliamentarian advises the presiding officer.

Now that I look back, I phrased that wrong. Yes, the president has the gavel and tells people to STFU. But if a discussion is going on too long then it's the parliamentarian who speaks up and tries to bring it to a conclusion. For the president to do so might be construed as her not being impartial. She backs up the parliamentarian.

All this is a moot point for what the OP is asking though, as the standards chair should have NOTHING to do with running meetings.

OP,

have you tried point charts? A little juvenile, sure, but sometimes helpful. Also, positive things our Member at Large (head of standards) does to counter act her needing to point out what you did wrong... is a sister of the week, Lovies, other ideas to bring sisters together.

But, really it's your job to enforce the rules, and if these rules were enforced last year, or by the last person who had your position, you should push them even more. Try talking to the girl who had your position last term... she may have advice

That's part of the problem. Enforcing rules regarding how meetings run ISN'T her job. If someone keeps blowing off meetings and needs to be disciplined, THAT'S her job.

The girl in my place last year didnt do anything, and everyone says that. I am doing a points system, but its not seeming to help, and everytime that i have planed a sisterhood event no one comes. What is a "Lovie"?