Motivation to improve academics
 

During the past year my chapter has significantly improved our GPA, but we still have room for improvement. The way our scholarship chair motivates sisters is by requesting "study hours" at the end of every week. Most sisters don't count their hours during the week (that would make studying so much more difficult) and consequently lie about them when they have to report them to the Sch. chair. I know some chapters reward good grades on exams, papers, projects etc...Any ideas on how to motivate sisters to do well week-to-week that does not involve study hours?!?!

Sincerely,

Sick of turning in made-up study hours

My chapter had a system that we called triads. Brothers were grouped into threes and if everyone in the triad got a 3.3 or higher, everyone got a $100. Some semesters there were some rather intense motivational sessions in which brothers eager to get their money literally dragged triad members to the library. It didn't happen often, but might have been because it was such a longstanding program in our chapter. If it was new, there might be more excitement about it.

Only major drawback is that you need some sort of fund to disperse the money out of, which could be a problem for some chapters. Our alumni have a significantly sized "education fund" that pays out our rewards. Could be a nice thing to have alums donate to and feel like they know where their money is going...

If cost is a real problem, you could up the ante of the necessary GPA, making it something like a 3.5, that would be difficult for regular winnings. I think though that you have to make it attainable across the board.

*** BUMP ***

The chapter I advise got results of Fall '08 grades and I'm a bit disappointed as they slipped a bit and landed the chapter in the bottom 1/2 of sororities on campus. Currently they do weekly study hours (both monitored and on-own), give prizes weekly for A's on tests/quizzes/papers, etc. and bring speakers in to motivate and give study ideas. I would really like to find some other more effective ways to help motivate them to do well and increase their GPA.

What have your chapters done to significantly increase grades from one semester to the next?

My chapter has always had a system where if a sister skips a class during the week (for no legitimate reason), she is to give the chapter a dollar. The scholarship chair collects any money owed at the weekly business meetings. She also records any As that sisters receive on tests, quizzes and major papers. At the end of the semester, the sister who received the most As would get all of the money from the missed classes... and none of the money has to come from the chapter’s account. They also submit study hours, and if a sister doesn’t submit hers on time, she would also owe a dollar to be added with the rest of the money.

Starting this school year, the chapter has also decided to reward the sister who achieves the highest GPA for the semester. It will be $50, which will actually come out of the chapter's account.

The difficult thing with some of these scholarship programs is that you’re operating on the honor system. I know of some girls who lied their way out of giving the chapter a few bucks when they skipped a couple classes. On the other hand, I know one of my sisters who ALWAYS skipped class, and had no problem handing over at least $5 to the scholarship chair every week. Funny thing is, she always had one of the highest GPAs in the chapter.

I really like this idea. How did you group triads? Was it randomly, by major, or purposely mixing brothers with good study habits and grades with those who need improvement?

Sorority: You can make GPA a key determinant of who lives in the house, who gets better rooms, etc.

Fraternity: I know a fraternity that had a brotherhood event. If you got above a certain GPA, you got nice whiskey on the rocks and cigars. If you got below that GPA, you got carton cigarettes and the crappiest beer imaginable. Not sure if that really motivated anybody haha but I think it is hilarious!

Thanks!

I could see the Big/Little thing working perhaps with those who have higher GPA's getting a first choice. Any other thoughts?

Although the house/rooms thing could work for other chapters, we have a shared sorority residence hall that all chapters sometime struggle to fill so there's no big motivation there.

This really only works if bigs are the only ones who pick and the littles have no say. If it's a mutual matching system, giving the little a big she doesn't want just because the sister got a .5 over the girl the little really does want isn't going to make anyone happy and penalizes the little unfairly.

If it's doable and if the formal isn't included in your dues, free formal tickets for the highest GPA holder in the chapter can be a good motivator.