mandatory study hall for all brothers?
 

My chapter for the past semester or so has had a "mandatory" study hall for all brothers. Pledges are actually not included in this. And it is ALL brothers, not just those with low GPAs.

It is a 1 1/2 hour weekly mandatory study hall in an effort to get our chapter cum GPA up.

Do fraternities typically do this? And do you think that this is a good idea?

The problem that I have with it is that my GPA is above a 3.0 and is among the higher GPAs in the chapter. I often have conflicts with study hall (other activity events and meetings), so I have to skip it and I get fined.

Is this right? What should I do?

I'd say most fraternities do mandatory study hours. We do ours on a sliding scale though.

Say the all male average is a 2.85

2.9 and over No study hours
2.89 - 2.75 = 1 study hour
2.749-2.65 = 2 hrs
well you get the idea. If your GPA is above the all male average at your school than you are capable of learning on your own without the support of the fraternity. We ask our officer and academic leaders to "host" a block of study hours and just monitor and check people in and out.

Wow, is it only some fraternities or all of them that have to do that ^ amount of study hours?

For my sorority, we have to do way more study hours
>3.0 = 2 study hours
2.7-2.9 = 4 study hours
2.5-2.7 = 6 study hours
2.0-2.5 = 8 study hours
academic probation/new members = 10 study hours

What do your chapter bylaws say?

i'm also surprised bythe low number of study hours he posted...

my own chapter worked similiarly to WDC's. There were study hours for everyone that were mandatory.. you just got more study hours if your GPA wasn't that great. And like Day13's chapter, there was a "host" that would check people in/out of study time.

I liked them... it helped me buckle down and focus when I needed it the most :)

I had no idea that sororities had to do so many study hours.

The only thing said about study hall in our bylaws is that the scholarship committee is responsible for setting up a weekly study hall. No other guidelines.

It used to be that everyone under a 3.0 did not have to go to a study hall at my chapter. And it used to be 1 hour.

Now it is everyone, regardless of GPA. The all Greek Male GPA of my school is a little over 3.0.

that's impressive - being over 3.0!

and yeah, except we dont have to do it all at once!
it's throughout the week, whenever we want to. and there's no "host", we sign in in a binder ourselves... so yeah, it's pretty easy to lie about how many hours you've studied, but I don't think anyone ever has, so it's all good :)

During pledging, all sisters and pledges must attend study tables, I think it worked out to like 2 hrs a week. Other (non mandatory but suggested) study tables can be organized whenever needed. Often, we used it as a "hey, let's get together, study a bit, then go for pizza/half price appetizers/ice cream" thing. It was especially nice after Pledging and after Greek week to pull everyone back together. If a member is on/in danger of academic probation, the scholarship chair works with her to find her a tutor either within the sisterhood or outwith, and generally supports her.

I think at one point, our chapter GPA was something ridiculous like 3.5. My sisters are smart kitties :).

I've heard of many situations where fraternities and sororities have instilled that policy. I don't believe it's right that you get fined if you have other conflicting schedules. What does that say about the organization...that the fraternity should trump all. No organization is of such. But, if you GPA is up there as well, obviously you're doing something good.

Didn't mean to scare you all. I don't have to go to study hours and am not very familiar with the policy, those are just random numbers I threw up there to explain my point.

FYI, I ended up looking up the actual numbers, its 4,6,8 etc..

oh you didn't scare me
I was just really surprised.. and kind of jealous.. lol jk :)

we had mandatory study hall hours when i was a pledge and then they changed depending on your gpa when you were active. it was a lil annoying to have them because we had to be in the library and sign in and most of the girls would sign in and then go sit at the computers and mess around on myspace or messenger for the whole time and not get any work done. i got more work done on my own time then at study hall always. im not good at being forced to study on someone elses terms. i also had a gpa that was over 3.5 almost every semester so i guess i didnt really need the mandatory hours. its a good idea for some people though. we had a certain number of hours but you could do them over the whole week so i dont understand how the op cant get to any of the study hall hours? we didnt all go do our hours in one day so you should be able to spread them out over the week and be ok. you shouldnt be fined for it though ever if theres a real conflict with your schedule.

My chapter doesn't have mandatory study hours (although other GLO's on campus do). The only time this is put into place is if a sister is on academic probation and the academic chair as well as the standards committee feels that it is necessary for the sister to do study hours.

xoheatherxo - because my fraternity chapter doesn't have a set number of hours a week, it is a once a week set time.

But you bring up another problem I have with it - when I can attend it, I don't get much done. Forcing me to sit down and do work doesn't really work with me either. All the other brothers can be distracting during them as well.

Getting my work done on my own works for me.

So study hall is a major frustration in my life, gets me fined, and the chapter is always mad at me for missing it (when I have to).