Raising GPAs - New VP of Scholarship and Standards
 

Hi all!

So, I'm apart of an organization at my school that mimics a sorority called Ladies Social Circle. The ladies who established it were originally AOPi, but they lost their charter. They still wanted to find a special way to hang out so LSC was established.

Anyways, I'm the new Scholarship and Standards VP and I've just been trying to come up with ways to really encouage the girls. We have study hours for girls who fall below the required GPA. They have to fulfill so many hours per week determined by how low their GPA is. We only have a few girls below it right now. Many girls were below it but dropped out due to conflicts, so I'm really trying not to let that happen again. I've tried to encourage those girls under GPA par that whenever they get an A or B on a test, project, or midterm that they let me know and there name will be put in a drawing at the end of the month, but none of them are actually taking that to heart and letting me know so I can do that.

I've thought about handing out Final Exam Survival Kits, but I think I also want to congratulate and recognize those girls who are doing well instead of just focusing the girls who have a lower GPA. I want to encourage them, but I also want to show the girls who are doing well that their work is being recognized. Any thoughts or suggestions that could work, or anything that your Scholarship or Standards chair have done in the past, I would love any feedback.

Thanks :)

Start by encouraging them just to go to class. Talk to their professors and get feedback on their performance. Find out if there are other girls in LSC who have taken the classes that the girls who need help are currently taking who can mentor or tutor them. Make sure that study hours are productive and not just a gossip fest or a chance to surf the internet.

For the entire group, you could do an ice cream social for girls that make over a 3.0 or a pre-determined GPA. We have actually given a discount on dues to members who have the highest GPA or the most improved GPA.

Be creative. It really depends on how much money you have to spend. Good luck. BTW, where are you located?

My chapter is starting to implement some of the above ideas. Each week we have the "Smarty Pi" award - randomly drawn from the pool of women who tell our VP of Internal Operations when they get an A on a test/quiz/big paper/project. We're also going to get a supervised study hours program going when spring trimester starts up.

Something I'm going to suggest to my own chapter is to have some way of encouraging women to go talk to their professors (whether it's to go over missed exam questions, a quick homework clarification, or just to say hello). Not only does it help the professor get to know you better, it shows you care.

I second my sister's "be creative" suggestion. :)

I really think that a lot of the stuff chapters due to help women with grades is a waste of time. No woman is motivated to go to more classes because she might get a raffle prize at the end of the semester. You need to approach the women who are not doing well one-on-one and find out what the root causes are. I have seen everything from clinical depression to choosing the wrong major to too many hours in one semester, etc. Everyone has a different story.

Also, I get crabby about chapters over-emphasizing GPA, as long as the woman meets standards (for example, using GPA to determine order for room picks). That is not fair to the women who are in majors that objectively award lower grades, and/or women who opt for more challenging classes in general.

I agree with that. I think that addressing the issue with your members that are on academic probation is critical, however. Part of that can be going to the appropriate resources on campus to address the issues you bring up, but many women get into trouble just because they join a chapter and stop doing the necessary things like going to class, studying enough or getting a good night's rest in lieu of going out every night. People in the wrong major will figure that out, but you can still encourage them to spend more time with their studies. No, winning a gift certificate at the end of the semester may not do it for them, but a little attention from a few sisters might.

The parties, raffles, incentives are for the competitive sisters who with a little encouragement may make a 4.0 instead of a 3.75 to beat out the competition. It's not to bring up the 0.7 GPAs. Scholarship Chairs have to find ways to raise the GPAs by targeting members in all different groups.

The above above about people picking the wrong majors is a big one. I had friends who you could see a mile away were in the wrong major (because it pays well) and they were tanking their way through college. Getting some career counseling for them would have been much more beneficial than study hours or ice cream socials.

Ah, all good points. I'm just saying that I think the most effective thing to do is meet with underperforming women one at a time and find out what is really up. I think scholarship chair, scholarship advisor, and the member should chat.

Jumping right to "we're taking away social events" or something rarely seems to work the way we hope.

Completely agree. We are sympatico!

Hi,
Thanks so much for all the feedback!!

Yeah, our original thing was if you fell below a 2.8 then you couldnt attend events, but because so many girls were below that, and we are so small, we came up with Mandatory Study Hours. However, once you fall below a 2.0 then you are under probation by the school. Luckily we haven't had any girls fall that low, but the Study Hours are there so that girls can get their hours in and still go to events and stuff.