With discussion of expansion to beyond the borders of Canada and the USA, I think we need to honestly discuss the present and future state of the Fraternity... so here's a thread for that
With all the debate over helping the Zeta's that are struggling and honestly want help I think it's important to look at the over-all numbers and finances as one and the same...
Finanaces:
Now how many chapters out there owe money to IHQ? How much is owed?
These chapters are not only hurting themselves, but hurting others by depriving them of resources from IHQ. Even from looking on this site in the chapter operations section one can see how often finances comes up... we (LCA) need to do something to crack down on chapters that let finances slip.
At the GHZ level we also need to look at cost saving methods for running the overall Fraternity... I'm not talking cutting services at IHQ, because that'll hurt the Zeta's in the long-run... but holding conferences and assemblies more with an eye to being more cost-effective - central locations within reach of most Zeta's, held at maybe secondary population centres were venue costs may not be a high.
Finally at the local Zeta level, we need to ensure that finances are kept in order, and payments made to IHQ in a timely manner. We can also aid IHQ by helping ourselves; we need to take advantage of qualified alumni or actives to aid not only their chapter, but others in the immediate area... develop more of a "regional" support and communication network.
Numbers:
Yes the actives need to replace themselves, but there are somethings that the number's chart doesn't show. When chapters are shutdown, not only does it dissapear from the chapter roll, but their future numbers dissapear. So it is quite possible for the Zeta's to be doing their part, but closed chapters making a serious dent in the numbers...
Which also leads to the subject of discipline, post initiation if a member is lost due to disciplinary action, that loss doesn't show on recruitment numbers... but we can all agree that is an acceptable. We constantly talk about quality over quantity at the Zeta level, so why not at the international level? I have no problem seen numbers diminish if it means that we are "cutting the slack", because while it will look bad shorterm, in the longrun it will only strengthen the fraternity.
There have been periods historically when numbers dropped significantly, but the Fraternity not only surived but grew significantly after the downturn. During the War years, the numbers were greatly reduced, and an emphasis was placed on the quality of men recruited in order to ensure a strong rebirth of the chapters and the Fraternity. Why should we not borrow some lessons from that period? Was there any practices that we can now use?
All in all I believe that there are four (well for now) things vital to the future of the Fraternity:
Finances - we need to impress upon Zeta's the importance of the financal contibution to the whole Fraternity, and reduce the amount of monies not paid to IHQ.
Numbers - growth is important, but should not be the focus. Quality over quantity should always be the motto, for having great numbers but weak members is no way to ensure the future.
Communication - There needs to be more effective communication between IHQ and the Zeta's, as well as between the Zeta's themselves. This is something that needs to be implemented on many levels, and is something that we all can help make work.
Honesty - We need to admit our failings and come to terms with them, just as we need to trumpet our sucsess. To that end I'd like to see faulty chapters as well as success stories listed in communications; they will serve as examples, as well as show that IHQ has a definite interest in the Zeta's.