Becoming a Chapter Advisor
 

I finished school last May and I have mored far away from Indiana University.

Becuase my strong chapter leadership history, and my external experiences with greek systems, I was asked to entertain the idea of become a chapter advisor for a nearby chapter.

I'm pretty confident that I will do a great job, I'm just concerned becuase the group that I will watching over is a real mess.

Financially they are very stable, but everything else is a total toss up.

Have any other chapter advisors out there inherited a mess before?

How do you fix it?
Do you have any key suggestions?

Are groups (specifically fraternities) that resistent to change, even if it may cause initial discomfort, but it in the long term will be for the better?

Yes, a lot of times they are that resistent to change. If they feel things are working fine as is, you'll have an uphil battle full of "baby steps" and it won't be an overnight process.

In Gamma Phi, chapter advisors usually have to be out of school for a number of years so that they are "removed" from the college scene.

Definitely don't expect things to change overnight. And, though it may be difficult at first, try not to compare this new chapter to your chapter. Offer advice from your experiences at your chapter, but don't attempt to turn this chapter into your old chapter--that is something that is still not always easy for me to remember.

Try and figure out where the problems lie--is it attitude, scholarship, recruitment tactics, all three and then some? Then take each one by one. If necessary, get assistance from other chapters and your headquarters through consultants, leadership seminars, even putting them on a warning of some sort may be enough for them to take notice and try to change.

I'm coming at this from a sorority point of view, so hopefully some of these suggestions are still applicable. I'm sort of clueless when it comes to the world of boys.

You definitely need to take inventory of the "mess" and then prioritize which issues need immediate attention and which things can wait. Anything related to risk management or hazing are NOW issues. I'd put recruitment and scholarship next. Set attainable goals, get them involved in how to achieve them and hold them accountable. You have to achieve a balance of making sure they are doing the "right" things without taking over and doing too much for them. Teach them to be leaders and empower them to make changes.

Dee

The best bits of advice I can give are:

1) In any given situation, get as much feedback from as many sides as possible, take the time to make a rational (not emotional) decision, then state it firmly.

and

2) Pick your battles.

As has been said, nothing will change overnight, and you can't correct everything with a giant eraser. Prioritize and get others involved with the decision making process.

Good luck!!

As a former chapter adviser, I would say get a good lay of the land. Find out what the dynamics are in the chapter before coming in and making changes. You need to find out who really holds authority within the chapter, is it the elected officers, or is it someone else? Talk with the members and get a sense of where they think the chapter is heading; their likes and dislikes, etc.
Talk with the University Greek adviser to get his/her take on the chapter and what their history/relationship is. Make sure you will have backing from your national, the alumni,etc. If you do your preparation and homework, it makes a change initiative easier, but still not easy.
Good luck.

What is your fraternity rule on how long you must be out of school to be an advisor, much less the chapter advisor? With us, CAs have to be out of school 5 years; a regular advisor 3 years.

Even though my GLO officers have been great, I really don't see them as being mature enough to be a Chapter Advisor no matter if they are at their own school or not.

Is the chapter in such a dire need of advisors that you can't start off as xx Advisor and grow into the job??

I was placed on our AB about a year and a half out of school and I already started advising them as their recruitment advisor one semester after I was done with school. I think it is a shame that so often young advisors encounter reverse age-ism because of how long they have been out of college.

I agree with everything that's been said as far as especially not trying to transform them into your chapter, prioritizing the mess, picking your battles.

Don't go in there with your guns blazing, become someone they can trust, meet a few at a time maybe the president, then the executive board and slowly introduce yourself to the chapter without introducing your opinion. Depending on their biggest issue you will encounter resistance, especially if it is hazing. I can tell you though that you are VERY lucky to have a chapter with good finances - make sure they keep it that way, that seems to be the issue that puts the "nail in the coffin".

My two giant pieces of advice
You can't help people that don't want help - but you can be there for them when they are ready to ask for help

If you believe in them - they will believe in you.

If you ever need anything, as a fellow young advisor please pm me!

i hate to highjack but what exactly are advisory boards? are they for each chapter or are they for groups of chapters (like provinces or regions)? I don't know if AEPhi has something similar or not. If they are chapter based other chapters may have them but we made not need more than one advisor b/c we are small chapter at commuter school.

just curious..

AEPhiSierra

Advisory Boards (or ABs) are groups of alumni that help keep things running smoothly with a chapter. Almost every chapter is "supposed" to have an AB that act as mentors and connections between the chapter members and HQ. I say "supposed" because at some chapters there is not the alumni base at hand from which to pull advisors, so some chapters will only have one adviser or share an AB with another chapter that's nearby. Ideally, at a large chapter, you would have one adviser for each office plus an AB Chairman (who oversees the AB) and a Chapter Adviser (who oversees the chapter officers as an entire council). You're probably correct in saying since your chapter is smaller and at a commuter campus, you only have one adviser and that suits the needs at your chapter.