Question on advising collegiate chapters
 

A bit of research as I lane swerve a bit:

What are collegiate advisers tasked with for their undergraduate chapters? Share what you can, from the administrative to the socioemotional, I'm all ears. I'd like to see just how apples and oranges the role is to the NPHC graduate adviser.

It's been forever since I was an advisor. Generally I would say you make sure the job is getting done, making sure she knows her deadlines for reports, how to do reports, sounding board for ideas, and yes emotional support. Advisors, especially those to the more high ranking positions, hear about not just chapter issues but the personal lives of their advisees too.

We often got pulled in to chaperone duties for socials and would help with behind the scenes stuff during rush even if not actually the Recruitment advisor.

We'd also rotate attending chapter and standards meetings.

As Finance advisor I also had to be there when the "please pay up" meetings would happen with members.

On top of that the advisors also had meetings with each other. The more I think about it the more I remember how much work was involved.

So much of it came down to communication. If you had an advisee that was not good at staying in contact, or if the advisor was not good at it, you would definitely run in to problems.

^^^ In NPHC orgs, there is typically one advisor. Could you explain the various advisors you are referring to, SoCalGirl?

With AXiD there are advisors for most exec positions; an advisory board. So there is the main chapter advisor then and advisor for financial, ritual, membership, programs. I'm currently Programs Advisor and I'm in charge of helping the Programs VP with preparing for a program if needed. Give suggestions and just provide support. I'm also assisting the Recording Secretary with taking better minutes. The advisors rotate chapter meetings. We also attend one exec meeting a month but the chapter advisor attends all or most exec meeting. We also help with recruitment.

Here is a description for Tri Sigma. I have previously advised for a colony (Scholarship/Essential Sigma) and chapter (Honor Council) that was not my chapter of initiation. I believe we have started to allow non-members sit on the CAB for some of the positions.

Chapter Advisory Board (CAB)
The role of the CAB is to guide a collegiate chapter in adhering to National Policies and Position Statements, monitor overall chapter operations and serve as a link between the chapter and National Organization. The Chapter Advisory Board may consist of a Chapter Advisor, Scholarship Advisor, Financial Advisor, Membership/Recruitment Advisor, and other areas of chapter operations - Honor Council, CAB Accreditation and Awards Advisor, Alumnae Relations, Essential Sigma, Ritual, and special projects. Advisors are appointed for a triennium.

http://www.trisigma.org//aspnet_clie...lyer(2013).pdf

In addition to the CAB, a House Corporation is the permanent group, usually comprised of three alumnae, which owns or rents the real and/or personal property to the chapter whether it be a house, lodge, suite, or room.

Sen -
Sigma Kappa tries to get an advisor for each collegiate executive council position. I'd say that 90% of my advising is done through text/ email. I am available to answer questions or concerns about pretty much anything. Frequent emails I get concern member attendance (or lack thereof) at events, inappropriate social media posts, inappropriate behavior of members, recruitment infractions/ dirty rushing, reporting, following national policy (could be regarding anything: grades, protocol in certain situations, etc.), eligibility based on grades for members to run for certain positions, appeals to run for positions without required GPA, finance questions (but I send those elsewhere), the online reporting systems, RFM, recruitment and carry figures, approving shirt designs, how to change status of members going abroad, how to return those members once they return from being abroad, how abroad GPAs figure into chapter GPAs (certain programs are taught by university professors so those grades count, but other programs abroad don't count), etc. Because I do not advise the president, programming, or executive vice president, I don't have to be present at standards council meetings, etc. I do rotate with other advisors attending certain events and rituals, and also attend events for the positions I advise if they want me to be present and it works within my schedule. I am present for all rounds of recruitment.
I'd say during the academic terms I get about 5 or 6 emails a week from collegiate members at once chapter where I advise 3 positions (scholarship, new member education, and recruitment).

Does that help?

@Sen, Like sigmagirl said we try to have an advisor for every exec position (10) and some key committee positions (social for example). If there are not enough advisors then they double (triple, etc) up.

To her point, an advisor doesn't have to be physically present. At one point, not sure about now, our European Alum chapter made up the bulk of the advisors at JMU in VA.

^^ right, social. I avoid that rm stuff SFRFs like the plague ;) But yes, definitely needing of an advisor.... PS - 11 exec positions now that VPProgramming was voted in at the last convention.

I feel so old, there were only 9 when I was in school! :)

This sounds like the way it works for us as well. I advise two chapters - one for just finance, and the other for finance, recruitment, and alum relations. We advisers meet once a month while school is in session, then we rotate attending chapter meetings and exec meetings, certain events and ritual meetings. We also act as chaperones for formal.

The finance positions are the busiest and I do most of it via email, text, phone call, or using something like GoToMeeting for my chapter that I advise remotely so they can at least put a face to a name. I work with the chapter treasurers to develop and monitor the budget yearly, approve checks and prepaid card transactions, review the member aging report with the CT and figure out next steps for those who are late with dues, fill out forms - lots of forms, for members who will be off campus, forms for IHQ, etc. It's a lot and typically I interact with the CT's every day.

Recruitment is only really busy for the week of recruitment when I have to attend all the parties and help with membership selection and submission of lists to Panhel. I do try to attend the workshops and give suggestions and comments (recently I had to give a lecture on "looking your best while wearing your letters"), we are revamping our recruitment methodology for this year so I'm anxious to see how it goes.

Alum relations is not much time - we have Founders' Day once a year and I'm the emcee for the luncheon we have - it's any of the area alums that want to come plus the local collegiate chapter. I work with the alum relations collegiate officer to get the banquet room set up and food ordered, and to put together the program.

Seriously. I had no idea what VPPS was when I started advising and I didn't know what happened to the recording secretary either..... lol

Interesting. So there's an advising team/board versus a lone adviser.

Are your advisers required to be active members? Are they typically involved on the alumni level? Tell me more about these advisor meetings - do advisers from differnt chapters meet across functions (for example, all the financial advisers from chapters in a region) or all 11 advisers for that one chapter?

On a separate note, how are advisers selected: appointed, volunteer, run in an election? Do undergraduates have any say? Are the advisers ever alum of the chapter? Are the advisers usually more seasoned in the organization (though I suppose an alumnae could have 4 years in, right?)

Also, how much do advisers get to know new member classes, or the chapter as a whole? Is she typically a name on an email, or a present and welcomed face around the house?

Soooo many questions!

Our advisers are required by our insurance and international org to be dues paying members. They may or may not be active in the alum group depending on their time availability. Normally, the board for a particular chapter will just meet together on a monthly basis, However, we do have regional/area training on an annual basis that they are encouraged to attend...along with our biennial Convention.Yes, they can be an alum of the chapter but have to be out of school for at least 3 years. For us, they have attend certain weekly/monthly meetings so some get to know all the collegiate members well and some don't. The main adviser - Advisory Board Chairman - should know all the members.

I know some chapters that have a big team of advisers and some that have just 1 or 2. Some roles need to be more involved like the Standards adviser, and some only need to meet once a semester.

With increased communication, I have seen some Skype advising, especially for chapters in rural areas. I know of several chapters that have problems getting advisers and it could be really helpful to them to have some more advising even if it is for something smaller like communications.

tld221,

To answer some of your questions:

Are your advisers required to be active members?

-- Yes. They must be members in good standing (including financial).


Are they typically involved on the alumni level?

-- Sometimes. Some women do both the alumnae chapter and also volunteer to advise collegians. Some women only do advising and some only do alumnae chapter.


Tell me more about these advisor meetings - do advisers from different chapters meet across functions (for example, all the financial advisers from chapters in a region) or all 11 advisers for that one chapter?

-- Yes to all of it. We have Regional Coordinators to help assist in specialty areas such as financial, scholarship, recruitment, etc. We also have regional and international conferences. The Chapter Adviser is especially expected to attend regional and international conferences. For us, we don't typically have all of the advisors meet with with each other regularly. Though, some do meet together as needed.


On a separate note, how are advisers selected: appointed, volunteer, run in an election?

-- Volunteer.


Do undergraduates have any say?

-- Yes "ish". Typically, they don't have a say in who is doing the volunteering. However, in the event that the collegians take issue with a particular alumna, their viewpoints and concerns will surely be considered.


Are the advisers ever alum of the chapter?

-- Sure. While advisers are generally women from that chapter who want to come back to help, advisers can be from any chapter.


Are the advisers usually more seasoned in the organization?

-- Not necessarily, but it's usually the case. In my experience, the women volunteering to advise have solid backgrounds in both professional experience and with the sorority.


Also, how much do advisers get to know new member classes, or the chapter as a whole? Is she typically a name on an email, or a present and welcomed face around the house?

-- The Chapter Adviser, Financial Adviser and Recruitment Adviser get to know the collegians quite well. In person and by name for sure. The Chapter Adviser attends the weekly chapter meetings and exec meetings and any judicial meetings. The others may or may not be as frequently seen at the house; but will still likely work directly with a small number of collegians at a minimum. For example, the Scholarship Adviser may directly mentor the 3 collegians on the scholarship committee, but may not attend the weekly chapter meetings. In any case, we are blessed in that our collegians see us as present and welcomed faces around the house.


I hope this helps!