Looking to help out
 

Greetings sisters,

Couple months ago I was contacted by someone from ADPi asking if I could help out for Recruitment. I responded and said sure no problem, Susquehanna U., Penn State or Pittsburgh...I didn't care I just wanted to help out.

After that I didn't hear a word. I'm kind of mad but I'm over it.

Now I'm ready to help out. But I need someone to throw me a line here.

If you can, PM me and let me know. Or just IM me at any time. The SN's are in my bio.

Love and Loyally

Laura Loner-Rutkowski

Oh sweetie I feel you.



((((((laura)))))))))

Brianna

P.S. I pm'd you sweetie.

My response is to make sure that you fill out the will serve profile on pride online... If you have done that already and are not getting anywhere then I don't know what to say... I am in a similar position as their advisor seems to think I live too far away... But with talking to the rvp of the chapter i wanted to help directly I did get up there for two days to help out... Really other than offering your time there isn't a lot else you can do...

Laura, I've PM'd you a few email addresses from Alpha Iota and alumnae.

I would agree that volunteering on Pride Online is the way to go, also!

Really? I found volunteering on PO didn't do me any good.

I'm serious too. I filled out the form, listed the chapters in Arizona and NO ONE called me about it. It's like the chapters here don't want any help (unless what I said in my first post). And it's so annoying. I am always asking myself "why do I bother". And I hate thinking that way because I love ADPi, but it is just soooo annoying.

Hmmm... couple of thoughts on that.

1) If it was within the past year, that's when the website has been being "updated" (I know), and I'm not sure if a lot of real business has been getting done from there.

2) There's a time gap of five years that EO would prefer for actual Advisors to be out of school.

Maybe that would help?

If you're being jilted in your attempts to volunteer somewhere-- be with your sorority, pet charity, the PTA, Humane Society, local hospital, etc., it may be an indicator your time would best be served elsewhere by a group that is more organized and appreciative of your time. You can still support that other group through sending encouraging letters, monetary donations, or getting involved with another level of that group.

If you're continually being snubbed with your only intent to offer your time... it seems like they either don't have it together or aren't interested in more volunteers, so why should you make yourself feel bad over it? It's not your fault!

honey,

actually on my volunteer thingy I didn't even mention doing advising, mainly because I haven't been out of college for five years (fyi that five year rule is completly bogus, impo. I know for a fact that the recruitment advisor at a particular chapter hasn't even been out of college for more than two years. She graduated after me and I will be out two years in December).

My main problem is that I was blackballed by the chapter I tried to affiliate too, so my collegiate experience was taken away from me, which takes away any sorority "leadership" experience. The problem is is that is what the Province director wants "sorority leadership experience". It's stupid because if they would look at people's resumes or whatnot you could find out that sisters are going to gain leadership experience in whatever they do OUTSIDE the sorority. That is my problem, I have leadership experience, but it's "NOT WITHIN THE SORORITY AS A COLLEGIAN". So I have quite a few obstacles to overcome for something that a chapter did to me, not the other way around.

If you're referring to me when you mention the recruitment advisor at a particular chapter, yes you're right that I have been out for over 2 years now and I am on an advisory board and now chapter advisor.

The 5 yr rule actually pertains to your own chapter. Because you may still be friends with girls in the chapter when you graduated or still have close relations with the chapter where the girls may not necessarily see you as an authority figure, they usually won't select you to help your chapter out until you're out 5 yrs.

However, there are exceptions to that rule. In cases where there is a lack of interest to become an advisor or the chapter's need to have someone fill the advisory position is more important than how long they have been out or if your qualifications are far better than any candidate who has been out 5 yrs, you can become an advisor. In these situations, the DTD normally has to approve you before you can become an advisor.

Hope that clears things up.

Just a random question, but are ya'll (LauraPhoenix & ASUADPi) involved with local alumnae associations?

Alumnae associations could probably help you find ways to contribute as an alumna. In fact, many of them volunteer around recruitment time to help chapters serve ice-waters or things like that as a group. (At least our chapter had several alumnae help us a couple years ago with things like serving ice-waters..)

Oh sweetie, I wasn't referring to you. I'm so sorry you thought that. I was referring to the recruitment advisor at one of the Arizona chapters.

Two questions, what does DTD stand for? The second question, how does it work if you know for a fact that a chapter doesn't have all of their advisors, that no one in the city is willing to step up to the plate but when someone does want to step up to the plate to help the chapter out the PD says no? (I ask because this actually happened to me).

That makes sense with the five year rule, but why would a chapter elect to have an advisor who is fresh out of college ADVISE the chapter she graduated from? I totally get a different chapter, you don't know the girls. Someone please explain this to me, cause I'm having a serious blonde moment.

Wow. Since I have no understanding of the "why" in this case, I'm going to stay out of it.

FWIW, I was on the advisory board for my own chapter within two years of graduation. IT WAS A HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE!!! Being an advisor usually means making tough decisions that don't exactly endear you to the chapter, and I would NEVER, EVER suggest to someone that they try it!!

DTD = District Team Director, I think you know who D6's is.

As far as your situation goes, I don't know. Have you considered speaking with the PD about this? I don't know the full story but I know you mentioned earlier in the thread that the PD wants sorority leadership experience and you were unfortunatly not able to have that. Perhaps offer to shadow or help out one of the current advisors so you get a feel for what being an advisor is like and the PD sees that you can do the job. Plus you'll be gaining that sorority leadership experience. I wish I had some better advice.

Well the decision to bring on an advisor isnt left up to the chapter but the PD and DTD. If you are in that five year bracket, whether or not you end up being an advisor for your own chapter I guess depends on whether they need you and your adpi experience. Because we were out in the middle of nowhere we never had a visual advisory board so one year we had one of our sisters graduate and become our social advisor within months of graduating. In that particular situation, and every situation is different, we needed someone who was familiar with venues we had used in the past, with the fraternities we had mixers with, and the most important reason being that she was willing to drive 2 hrs from Pittsburgh to see us when we needed anything. Plus we all respected her and so the age issue and the fact that she was still friends with a lot of us ended up not being a serious concern because she was capable of maintaining the required level of maturity and authority. I guess it really comes down to your personality, there are a lot of women who graduate and are already mature beyond their years and that could contribute a lot to the organization. But on the flip side, as chapter advisor I've had alumnae of this chapter approach myself and the PD about interest in advising and we've had to unfortunately turn them away because they were still looking to be involved with the sorority to socialize not advise. I dont know if I answered your question, but I was a little lost on what you were asking. Sorry if my sentences were a little run on it's been a long day! 2 hrs till happy hr :)

No, totally makes sense :)


As for the advising situation, I actually sent a letter to the PD, explaining the situation with the chapter (because being that she lives in a different city she really wasn't aware of what happened). I explained that I do have experience with other things I did in college and that I would be more than willing to "shadow" an advisor so that I could gain the skills. Yeah, she never responded.

I don't want to disrespect my PD's but the last two we have had seriously "don't do their job". I mean in my eyes if a collegian or an alumnae is emailing, calling, writing to you, you should reply. This is seriously the biggest frustration myself and other alums have. We all want to become more involved, possibly be advisors but getting a hold of our PD is a nightmare. I hate to say this but really start "losing faith in the system". Even my DTD is impossible to get a hold of (emails and leaving messages don't work).

AHHHHHH. Brianna is ready to pull her hair out.

Have you tried maybe contacting the chapter advisor first and explaining things to her? I understand your frustration with the PD and DTD, I'm constantly on the phone with one or both of them. So if they are spending even half the amount of time on the phone with other advisors as they do with me I'm sure they are pretty busy just maintaining every chapter's daily stuff. Not to condone their behavior but I'm sure they've got a lot on their plate.