|
Obviously, we're not an NPC organization but OPA has both a "Leave of Absence" status and an early alumna status. The early alum status is automatically granted when requested in the member's final academic semester. LOA status is only given one semester at a time, and the member must petition the chapter standards board to get it. It's routinely given for semesters when you are still an enrolled student but away from campus, like a study abroad or internship. Or it might be granted in unusually stressful circumstances like the member is recovering from a serious illness and making up a great deal of missed classwork in a short time. It depends.
We don't have a flood of people who opt for the early alum status, but it's a welcome option when people are frantically finishing up graduation requirements, interviewing for a job, applying for grad schools, and just figuring out their future life plans. And since our chapters don't have the financial obligations that many NPC groups do (read: no chapter house) the implications to the chapter are really just about missing those sisters' company a little earlier than we would have otherwise.
|