PLEASE HELP!!!! Tell me about your GLO's academic policy.

[TAPike]

What's up guys?

I was just elected scholarship (academic) chair for my fraternity. Basically, we never really have enforced things to begin with.. I kind of was just given the chair because I make decent grades and I'm a bright guy..

Personally I believe that grades don't really prove who you are and all that Jazz etc etc I know, I've heard all that shit before, and usually I would be pretty chill about it.. BUT we've lost two members last semester due to grades, and many members in the past had to drop out of school and transfer to a community college for a semester or something of that sort because of grades..

That and a better academic standing will give us a better reputation on campus atleast to the adminstration and teachers..

So that's why I care.

Ok here is our policies and my issues with them.

Our usual policy (i'm a new initiate so i'm kind of ..well..new with all the details) was that you can't make below a 2.5.

That's fine..It's reasonable.

The highest GPA gets a cash scholarship (a couple hundred bucks).

My problem with this is that the guy is going to make a high GPA regardless of the cash prize. A change to this can give it to the most improved..

Nationals gave me the advice of split the chapter into 5 "teams". These teams work for a scholarship of like..200 bucks each or something of the sort. That way the teams would help eachother out to get the high GPA.

This would work.. but 1) some of our guys have this mentality of thinking they are way too fucking cool than they are, thus, probably wouldn't fly for this.. 2) We probably don't have the money to give 1st 2nd and 3rd place prizes.. and all that..


Plus, I feel weird giving a bunch of grown men fucking incentives, it's kinda bull shit lol.

So, anyway guys. Please let me know what you guys do..

Any ideas or tips that your fraternity or sorority does to keep your GPA up? And what kind of rules do you enforce? (Probabtion etc..)

Thanks in advance.

[SWTXBelle]

Incentives for grown men - what, they plan to go to work for free? We all work for different incentives - salaries, perks, bonuses, fame, etc. - Money is a a great one - but is there some creative way to motivate them without the money?
And I think having a prize for "Most improved" is great - but you should also recognize those who have worked hard all along. Don't neglect those who have already achieved!

[knight_shadow]

My chapter waives semester dues for the brother who attains the highest GPA. On the national level, we have a few "brothers only" scholarships available to high achievers.

We also hold 4 study nights per week on the chapter level. Exec board members monitor the sessions (one night every other week - 8 officers), and each brother is required to attend at least one per week. I like this policy since it kind of gets me in the "groove" of studying at a set location each week.

[SoCalGirl]

Mandatory study hours. The amount depends on the grades.

I think the biggest incentive is loss of social privileges, combined with study hours, for certain GPAs. You'll find the guys who are "too cool for school" find a lot more time to study if they're not allowed to party.

[ComradesTrue]

"Too cool for school"... that was definitely me early on in college. At my high school people with good grades were ridiculed, and I very naively took that lame perception with me to college. Things that helped change my perspective were seeing older members of my chapter who were excelling academically, yet I very much perceived in a positive light. In addition... we had some young graduates come to chapter meeting that drilled it into our pea-brains that the degree/piece of paper itself was not the ticket to a job or grad school... that knowledge was. These people were young enough that we didn't think they were lame and preachy, but old enough to have not gotten the job/grad school they wanted because 2.8s are a dime a dozen. Or.. maybe they did study hard, had a 3.8 and got a great job. The contrast in the different stories began to sink in with many of us. Our chapter went from 8th in grades to 3rd to 1st over three semesters... and we still had fun. It can be done!

How involved are your alums? Would they consider donating a little cash for your scholarship fund ("scholarship" as in the office, not "scholarship" as in cash towards tuition)? I know that alums are always hit up for money, but if you honestly specify it will only be used for scholarship, then I think you should get a reasonable response. You could combine any donations from them with some of the chapter funds and create a scholarship budget.

I also undertand the "giving grown men incentives" hesitation... but if framed well, it could help change the perception of academic acheivement. Because- that is your problem... your brothers don't lack the intelligence to make good grades... they just don't *want* to. So fix that.

Throughout the semester you could offer "Bucks" (give a creative name based on your organization) for every A on a test, paper, project, etc. At the end of the semester, auction of items like dinners at local restaurants, DVDs, clothing stores, sport tickets, etc. Have a few big tickets items, like an iPod. Make the auction itself an entertaining event- this is KEY to the success. You would solicit donations from local companies, as well as use your scholarship fund to obtain the items. If grades are *really* problematic, you could even start with 1 Buck for every B and 2 for every A or something like that.

Another way to use the scholarship fund is to pay for tutors... though the "too cool" group may not be inclined much to utilize that.

The other suggestions posted are great ones too.

Good luck to you... and again... it can be done!

[ThetaPrincess24]

have you tried contacting other chapters in your fraternity for ideas?

Do you have an alumni advisor that is over your specific position? He may be a source of ideas.


Theta has both a chapter advisor and a district advisor that is over scholarship and they are excellent sources of information and ideas to build/improve a scholarship program.

As a former scholarship chair and scholarship advisor i can say this is one of the hardest positions you can have, but can also be one of the msot rewarding. Most people on probation are there not because they had family issues or one bad semester but simply because they dont like to study and thus dont make it a priority. You will often butt heads with those members. Probation terms need to be very clear to everyone and enforcement is key as an incentive to make people want to get off probation and stay off probation. However be careful not to be too rigid or you'll have everyone wanting to turn in their pins.

At the time i took scholarship chair my chapter was on scholastic probation. I worked closely with my scholarship advisor and district advisor and enforced existing rules with the help of my committee and the executive board. This propelled us in one semester to move from 7/8 to 2/8 overall and 1/8 with new members.

Good luck to you!

[TAPike]

Thanks Theta.

I agree it is awarding, as well as keeps me in my place grade wise.

Unfortunately we do not have an alumni board or anything of the sort. One of our goals is to start one SOON. We had nationals come in and list that as a big goal we need to accomplish so that is in the works.

I appreciate all of your comments. Keep them coming please.

Theta, anything exceptional that worked for you guys?

[PhoenixAzul]

You've gotten some great advice from the above posters.

I was scholarship chair of my sorority (although we're a local, so your mileage may vary), and what I found was that a lot of people have the smarts, but other "things" get in the way. Like we had a few people who would sometimes oversleep their 8 am lecture. At the time I was working early morning shifts at the gym I worked at, 5-8. So during my 7.30 break/cleanup time, I'd call those that requested it and made sure they got up. Just being in class improves grades by MILES.

On the incentives front, we offered a discount in dues for sisters that achieved over x GPA per semester. Dunno if this would fly in your organization because you've got a different fees structure, but it worked quite well for us, and it really upped our GPA. I know saving that 10 or so dollars at the beginning of a term was always a lifesaver for me.

[ThetaPrincess24]

Originally Posted by TAPike

Thanks Theta.

I agree it is awarding, as well as keeps me in my place grade wise.

Unfortunately we do not have an alumni board or anything of the sort. One of our goals is to start one SOON. We had nationals come in and list that as a big goal we need to accomplish so that is in the works
I appreciate all of your comments. Keep them coming please.

Theta, anything exceptional that worked for you guys?

Well the scholarship advisor set the terms of probation for each member. I enforced the existing rules that were inthe bylaws (apparently at some point before I got there the rules were less and less enforced and thus scholarship became a joke). I also made it a point to recognize both the ladies that were on probation showing continuous improvement as well as recognizing those that consistently made good grades. People like to be recognized. I think we did teams of big sisters/little sisters and the top three sets that got the highest average got a pizza party. ladies obtaining the highest GPa's for their class received a an award plaque and then we also had a semesterly scholarship banquet as well.

Alumni involvement can completely turn a chapter around for the good in so many areas. I would definitely work on getting more local alumni involved. Effective recruitment can turn a chapter around too so if your chapter is having issues with grades and cant afford risks dont offer bids to people with crappy grades.

Since you dont have a good alumni base for support right now I would emphasize the importance or contacting other college chapters and see what they are doing regarding scholarship programming. I did this as chair and it was a good source of ideas to help my chapter. You are a brother! Dont be afraid to email or contact other chapters, usually they will be happy to help you!

[SoCalGirl]

What do you think is your chapter's major hurtle to pulling good grades? I made an assumption that it was partying, cause who doesn't want to go to a party. It could just as easily be sports, XBox, work, etc. You mentioned that your HQ suggested splitting the chapters into teams. I think that could work but I would do a lot more teams and match up your weakest and strongest brothers. Competition for the sake of competition is a surprisingly good incentive by itself.

[AOII Angel]

Does your fraternity have rules regarding minimum GPA to be an officer of the chapter? Not being able to "be in charge" is a big motivator to some. There are some people who just want to be able to make the decisions. Do you have any consequences for low grades before brothers are kicked out of school or transfer to CC? It may be helpful to identify these brothers before things get out of hand so that they can get help improving their grades before losing their place in school. Identify brothers that do well in school and have them voluteer to tutor brothers in core subjects. Find out which brothers share classes(same teacher but not necessarily same exact class hour) and set up study sessions to help any brothers struggling. Rather than probating someone for an entire semester, you can have them get "progress reports" from their professors to earn the right to go to major fraternity events (formals, mixers/socials or whatever you call them.) Whatever you choose to do, you need to get the officers behind you 100% ! Enforcement is critical to turning the chapter's scholastic environment around.

[DUKyleXY]

An incentive my chapter uses is what we call a Steak and Beans Dinner

Basically, any guys who's GPA is higher than the chapter GPA get Steak for dinner while the others get beans. This is a really easy way to reward the men who are working at their grades and encourage the lazy men.