questions
 

I'm confused as to how some chapters are part of their university's Greek system, and some are even on the Panhellenic Board. It seems strange to me that Sigma Alpha is part of PFA, yet some chapters have representation with the Panhellenic sororities. Also, I'm interested in the process you go through to get a house. How do you plan/receive funding? How do you buy property? Oh and one more thing - Do any chapters receive funding from their university?

Some Universities may require that all sororities on campus belong to panhellenic council to exsist there. At other Universities the Chapter may join to increase the women who hear about and Rush Sigma Alpha, or to become more involved on campus. Other Chapters may belong to a Multicultural Greek Council or even have a non-voting representative at the Interfraternal Greek Council with the fraternities. Most of our Chapters chose to stay independent of the panhellenic sororities in order to maintain the freedom of Rush activities and to focus on different goals than the council.

Sigma Alpha is a very unique group in that we have professional and social goals. On the national level we are part of Professional Fraternity Association with many groups which are purely professional and others who have goals of friendship and professionalism, like Sigma Alpha. This allows each Chapter the freedom to develop on their individual campuses in a way that works best for them to meet their goals and uphold the pillars of Sigma Alpha.

There are many ways to plan funding for a house in the future. Many Chapters will open a savings account and place a percentage of dues and fund-raising profits in that account.

An updated version of the "Policy Statement on Housing" is out this January and will be sent to your Chapter. This contains more detailed information about leasing or purchasing a house. The first step is to contact your Chapter Contact and then inform your local alumni Chapter, whom must incorporate before the process begins.

This is a big step for any group and if you have an idea that this is something you may want to work towards let your Chapter Contact know and she can give you advice that is Chapter specific.

It would be great if you started a new thread to get ideas from other chapters about this too.

Good luck and best wishes on meeting this future goal!

Answering your last question here! Many Chapters do get money from their Universities. They may request it from the College, individual Departments within the College, or from a forum or group designed to distribute student funds to organizations on campus.

This varies widely from state to state and from campus to campus. Your best option on obtaining information about all the resources available to you is to contact your office of student activities.

Hope this answers all your questions, if not post again.

Sisters,
Jamie Foster

Thanks Jamie!