Summer Preparations for Fall 09
 

Hey everyone! Hope all your summers are fab!

I'm the president for the upcoming academic year and I was just wondering how you are all preparing for the fall semester. I know it's kind of a vague question, but any insight would be great. I'm just a little nervous because I don't know if there are usual preparations for the beginning of the academic year.

You all don't participate in an officer transition workshop? Your past president should have given you information to assist you with planning.

When I was rush chair, my assistant and I met at the end of the semester and a few times over the summer to pick dates, reserve rooms at the student center, pick a theme, etc. I planned things and sent letters and calendars to the sisters a few weeks before fall semester started to give them a heads-up. I was never on exec council, but I roomed with the VP and Treasurer. All of the exec officers went on a retreat together over the summer (I think it was a weekend) to get their ideas together for the upcoming year. Maybe you and the other officers or committe heads might want to plan something like this? It doesn't have to be that formal.

Sororities usually have multiple recruitment workshops during the summer.

Sororities with upcoming Fall Formal Recruitment are busting their behinds over the Summer preparing. Because of that it is very easy to get so wrapped up in Recruitment that you forget about all the other stuff.

Every year we have an Exec Retreat at a semi-central location so most if not all officers can attend. They review the calendar for the Fall, make sure all philanthropy/social/etc events have been planned (reservations made, etc.), address any outstanding financial issues since the fiscal year is closing soon, make sure the new member education program is thoroughly planned out, check the status of the goals they set when they came into office back in Spring, etc. Of course there are also reports on the Recruitment, Bid Day, and Chapter Retreat planning which are the very first things on the calendar and their success is critical.

Not only is this a "work weekend" but they also have fun activities for bonding amongst the officers. We find this to be very helpful in motivating the officers to "hit the ground running".

Before we started doing this it was common for everyone, especially officers, to get so wrapped up in Recruitment, that afterwards everyone is worn out and (as I call it) "XYZ'ed out". Then classes and football season get rolling. In the blink of an eye it's Initiation time. The next thing you know it's the end of September or October and the chapter hasn't accomplished much else. Midterms, Homecoming, officer elections, etc are all right around the corner and there is little time left.

If your Exec board is really spread out like mine is you can go to a website and set up a conference call line for free so you can have monthly meetings. Right now we're working on scheduling rooms, preparing for Rush, and freshman move-in. We're also working on some programs that we're revamping that have a series of deadlines throughout the summer, so we all report back and give input so its all ready for the start of the semester. We're also planning our fall retreat.

A lot of stuff is just keeping up the momentum we had last semester. For example we had a chapter retreat in May where we set goals and then as an Exec Board we put dates and deadlines on the goals to make them measurable and achievable so we're just pretty much continuing on with everything. Unfortunately, it seems like you don't get a vacation from your position.

I'll let you know how the conference call thing works out after our first meeting!

I am recruitment/membership & panhellenic advisor to my sorority chapter in addition to being the Facility Corp. President.


Over the summer recruitment workshops should be implemented and preparation and planning for fall recruitment in place (this means a preferably finalized plan before coming back to campus). Recommendations need to be getting to the correct people in the chapter. If renovations need doing in a house or dorm floor, that should be completed over the summer if at all possible. Scholarship people need to have a scholarship plan in place to be implemented immediately upon returning to school for both the chapter and those who didnt do well with grades in the spring. New Member Educator needs to make sure she has all of the materials she needs for the pledge class. Finance needs to make sure a plan is in place to deal with delinquent members (especially if recruitment is the first week or week before school starts and if there is a requirement that dues must be paid in order to participate in membership selection). Those kinds of things.

I also would like to add that communication between you and your other officers is key over the summer. Use facebook, use email, use the phone, whatever works, but keep communication going.

Normally, I would have someone to go to. I'm a rising Junior, and the the girl who was president in the Fall went abroad for the Spring. I was VP, so I was the interim president, so there was no one there in the Spring to talk about it with.

Im VicePresident of my fraternity. I just recently got elected obviously at the end of the school year. Ive been pretty much working alongside our chairs and the president regarding financial issues, recruitment, public relations etc. Essentially finetuning our chapter and making sure that we go into next year as strong as we finished last year.

I'd say better late than never. If she is unavailable, go to a past president.