Going alum

[chideltjen]

What are the requirements that need to be met in other orgs in order to gain alumni/a status?

I know some have to be active for a certain number of years, or if someone graduates, they can go alum, or if they get married, etc etc.

I ask because we have a requirement that a sister must be active for 4 years before going alum. The exception is if she graduates before 4 years or gets married or has some strange circumstance (like moving across the country for a family emergency) occur. Lately though, I think we have been granting early alumnae status way too easily. I have seen sisters receive early alumnae status when a) she was never active in the house (never came around etc) b) was in it for a semester and decided to take off and I have seen situations where girls really want to go alumnae because they really can't come around anymore, and it's not granted, so they either disafiliate or pay for the next semester and don't come around at all.

Point is, how can I express that alumnae status is a really high honor and can't just be given to girls on the basis of convenience?

We grant alum status if a girl has:

-graduated
-been active for a minimum of 5 semesters (not counting pledge semester, and we have deferred recruitment, so that puts you in senior year)
-gets married
-drops out of school
-tranfers to a school with no DO chapter
-extreme hardship

We had a used and abused early alumnae status as well... we eventually took it out of the bylaws for the reasons you listed above and added "extreme hardship" to the regular alum status.


Edited because the posts below reminded me of some other reasons we ok alum status

[aephi alum]

For us, you become an alum when you either graduate, drop out of college, or transfer to a school that doesn't have a chapter of AEPhi - provided that you're an active in good standing at the time of graduation/dropout/transfer. I think you also get the option to go alum early if you get married.

You can be temporarily inactive if you're doing a JYA, taking a semester off, or if there's a medical reason. You don't pay dues, and you can't vote, hold office, or attend most functions. There has to be a legitimate reason, though; you can't just say "I don't feel like being active this semester."

[ISUKappa]

Alumnae status is granted if/when a member:

* graduates
* gets married
* is a 5th year senior
* transfers and there is no chapter there
* transfers and decides not to affiliate with the chapter
* leaves school permanently

We also have Special Active status where a member can apply if her courseload or job is too much for her to be an active participant or for other special circumstances. It's reserved for upperclassmen--especially seniors--and has to be approved by the Advisory Board for a member to receive it and is not supposed to be granted very often (but can be, and has been, abused)

[Speechpath]

Pi Phi has a similar process and requirements to those listed above but in hardship cases we also vote as a chapter as to whether or not that person is granted alum status. It was fairly hard to get when I was active because I do recall girls who were up for it but didn't get it b/c the chapter voted no.


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Pi Beta Phi
Georgia Alpha Alum

[XOMichelle]

We had some problems with girls going alum early to get out of dues. You are allowed to go alum when you graduate, but lots of people here gradute a quarter (or even two) early and stay on campus until June. They'd also do it to get out of rush (which is the first week in April). our chapter put a stop to it by ammending our bylaws. We defined "graduated" as someone who has a BA/BS diploma and lives off campus.
-M

[sairose]

We dont have early alum status; you become alum when you gradutate. Period. And you can only participate in alum chapters once you've paid your life membership.

HOwever, we have 3 types of membership in the college chapter:

1)Active. You pay dues and participate in weekly meetings and other mandatory events.

2)Marginal. This means you're only required to attend formal meetings (once a month) and rituals; everything else is optional. You still pay dues. This is meant to be for one semester only but can be granted for longer. This is usually granted when a sister has too many things going on academically or personally.

3)Inactive. You don't pay dues and aren't required to attend anything. Granted when there's a financial hardship or another hardship.

Perhaps your sorority (since it is a local) could try having a Marginal membership. Would that help?

I've sat on numerous Executive Councils as both an officer and an advisor. In order to gain alumna status, the member must first notify the EC in writing.

Alumna status is granted immediately and unanimously if the member:

-graduates
-transfers to a campus without an AGD chapter
-withdraws from school completely
-gets married or pregnant

Consideration is given if she's a 5th year STUDENT. I don't say "Senior" because at my campus, moving up a classification is a bitch and a half, so being a 5th year student sometimes doesn't necessarily mean you're a senior.

What really irritates the fcuk outta me is seeing some of these 'problem' girls dig through the chapter's azz just so they can find some kind of loophole to go alumna early. It irritates me even more when the EC votes to grant this girl alumna status just so they don't have to deal with her and her fines anymore. FCUK. That just sets the precedence telling the entire chapter that "we'll gladly make you an alum just so we don't have to deal with your drama anymore"...and that's why a lot of girls like to jump on the alumna boat ASAP.

chideltjen, I think our chapters are similar. There were lots of sisters who wanted to take alumna status because they were dissatisfied with being in the chapter. Being granted alumna status is a PRIVILEGE, not a RIGHT!

[Speechpath]

I couldn't agree more, it's sad to see girls granted alum status just so they go out of sight and out of mind. We had many juniors who were just 'tired' of being active and didn't want to pay or participate anymore apply for alum status. Thus, many of then didn't get it because the chapter voted no. Then they generally stopped paying and disappeared anyway!

Originally posted by Speechpath
I couldn't agree more, it's sad to see girls granted alum status just so they go out of sight and out of mind. We had many juniors who were just 'tired' of being active and didn't want to pay or participate anymore apply for alum status. Thus, many of then didn't get it because the chapter voted no. Then they generally stopped paying and disappeared anyway!

I have seen instances where, after a point, some sisters were better suited for the alumnae chapter...it was then that we'd vote them through.

But then you have the juniors (I've seen sophomores, even! ) who just need a copout excuse to stop being an active.

I love my sisters and I love my alumnae chapter, and it's a shame that some of them eventually disappear, but when we become alumnae, we make a promise to continue that CIRCLE of sisterhood -- being active in the alumnae chapter is one way of doing so.

But that's another story...for another thread.

[Speechpath]

And it is fair to say that some girls had circumstances that really warranted them going alum. Those girls were voted through without any problem.

And I agree totally that being an active alum is great!

[chideltjen]

Originally posted by sairose
We dont have early alum status; you become alum when you gradutate. Period. And you can only participate in alum chapters once you've paid your life membership.

HOwever, we have 3 types of membership in the college chapter:

1)Active. You pay dues and participate in weekly meetings and other mandatory events.

2)Marginal. This means you're only required to attend formal meetings (once a month) and rituals; everything else is optional. You still pay dues. This is meant to be for one semester only but can be granted for longer. This is usually granted when a sister has too many things going on academically or personally.

3)Inactive. You don't pay dues and aren't required to attend anything. Granted when there's a financial hardship or another hardship.

Perhaps your sorority (since it is a local) could try having a Marginal membership. Would that help?

We have a status similar to Marginal status. It's called Senior status. It's meant for girls who are supposed to be graduating THAT semester and it's their last semester in the sorority already. But girls who happen to be on their 6th-8th semester apply for senior status because they have Monday night classes and can't make meetings. They pay less dues and aren't required to go to as many events.
I mean if you are graduating early, good for you. It's the girls that you don't see at any events throughout the 3 years they are involved and with 2 semesters to go, they apply for alumna status because the house means a lot to them. Yeah, hun, you sure showed it. I mean they still want to wear letters and stuff. That's great, but then you never see them after that.

[mommag2]

It's called Senior status. It's meant for girls who are supposed to be graduating THAT semester and it's their last semester in the sorority.



The girls that apply and are granted Senior Status only have to do half of the community service hours that the house does and we are allowed to miss 4 meetings for any reason and will not recieve ANY points. But usually a Senior goes on Senior Status because of class load, family issues, work, marriage and or pregnancy.None of our girls have abused it yet (chapterwise or Nationally).

For going alum you have to graduate from said school,and be in good standing with the chapter, otherwise you will only graduate with GAO distinction, but will never be recognized as a GAO ALUM.

ME I will graduate in May but will still be considered an undergraduate because of my second major, so alum status will have to wait until DECEMBER.

and as others have stated ALUMNI STATUS is a huge PRIVLEGE !!!!

[Kevin]

My thought is, that if someone no longer has dedication to the organization, why keep them around? It's bad for morale. You don't want them around for Rush when you can't trust them to tow the party line, in our case, they count against us when they don't show up to Greek Week and Homecoming events, so what is the point in having them around.

I wrote the bylaw in my chapter's case referring to early alum status:

ALUMNI STATUS
A. Alumni status shall be conferred upon a brother upon his graduation or leaving school.
B. Early Alumni status may be taken under the following circumstances:
a. Marriage
b. Completing 4 years of school
c. By a 2/3 vote of active brothers

The 2/3 vote of the active membership covers the extreme hardship thing. The chapter loses your financial contribution and therefore has a stake in what's going on -- they get the final word if you don't qualify for either a or b.

In any case though, if your remain a student at the university, you must still pay insurance and national dues. Our HQ doesn't have an "early alum" status. Either you're a member or you're not.

[AchtungBaby80]

I think our requirements for alum status are pretty much the same as other NPC groups. (Where's KillarneyRose? I bet she knows! ) My chapter introduced "senior status" during my last year as an active, and it was awesome...seniors were eligible if we were graduating that spring, and if you were granted senior status you didn't have to get a certain amount of points to attend formals/date parties/other functions. It was great...it took some of the pressure off of trying to juggle the sorority stuff and all the junk I had to do in my last year, but strangely enough it made me just want to come to events if I could. I knew I didn't have to, but I also knew it was my last chance to do those things so I went anyway.