Struggling Chapter

[Alumna2]

The Panhellenic responses to Momoffour’s concerns have been amazing.

Momoffour, if your daughter's university is geographically near you, you have the opportunity do something I wish I could have done for my daughter 8 states away. You can do "goodie bags" for all in the new member class. Perhaps they could be distributed at a regular NM meeting that is before a calendar event - midterms, a tabling week, home football game, fund raiser or a NM project. The bags could reflect sorority colors, school colors, a healthy snack, microwave popcorn, if you are lucky a trinket of the sorority mascot is findable. Add a note of congratulations and encouragement for the selected calendar event (you can get sorority graphics from websites). A folded note, individualized with each name can be hole punched on the outside of a goodie bag and tied with curly ribbon. I do not think we outgrow these “thinking of yous”.

I don’t think of surprise cupcakes or seasonal treats as just missing home room or the birthday parties I gave my daughter; it is a great way to show kudos and encouragement because I am positive about my daughter's decisions and friendships.

A question I would ask the new member advisor is, "may I have a way to contact the NM moms?" "Is there a way to know if other new members are from my area so I may contact their mothers about a mothers club?" The distance was great in my case but there was one girl in her NM class from our city and my daughter put me in touch with the other mom.

[QueenD]

A question I would ask the new member advisor is, "may I have a way to contact the NM moms?" "Is there a way to know if other new members are from my area so I may contact their mothers about a mothers club?" The distance was great in my case but there was one girl in her NM class from our city and my daughter put me in touch with the other mom.[/QUOTE]

I appreciate what you are trying to do here, but the job of the New Member Adviser, or any other adviser, is to guide the *chapter officers*, not to interact with member parents. Outside of housing contracts that are co-signed by parents, major risk management / health of member issues, or an event such as homecoming or parents day, most chapter advisers will not interact much (if any) with parents. I had to adhere to some pretty strict guidelines about parent interaction when I served as a chapter adviser, in the name of protecting member privacy and also to protect the collegian's ability to own their chapter experience.

Now, if there is an existing parent's club, or if the chapter wants to provide such a forum for parents, that's a great way to accomplish something similar.

[TXDG]

Originally Posted by Alumna2

The Panhellenic responses to Momoffour’s concerns have been amazing.

Momoffour, if your daughter's university is geographically near you, you have the opportunity do something I wish I could have done for my daughter 8 states away. You can do "goodie bags" for all in the new member class. Perhaps they could be distributed at a regular NM meeting that is before a calendar event - midterms, a tabling week, home football game, fund raiser or a NM project. The bags could reflect sorority colors, school colors, a healthy snack, microwave popcorn, if you are lucky a trinket of the sorority mascot is findable. Add a note of congratulations and encouragement for the selected calendar event (you can get sorority graphics from websites). A folded note, individualized with each name can be hole punched on the outside of a goodie bag and tied with curly ribbon. I do not think we outgrow these “thinking of yous”.

I don’t think of surprise cupcakes or seasonal treats as just missing home room or the birthday parties I gave my daughter; it is a great way to show kudos and encouragement because I am positive about my daughter's decisions and friendships.

A question I would ask the new member advisor is, "may I have a way to contact the NM moms?" "Is there a way to know if other new members are from my area so I may contact their mothers about a mothers club?" The distance was great in my case but there was one girl in her NM class from our city and my daughter put me in touch with the other mom.

Heartfelt suggestions, but I know in the alumnae groups I've been amember of in two different cities, the things you are suggesting are taken care of by the local alumnae chapters. My collegiate chapter has a parents group but their role is very specific: 1) to raise money for things the chapter needs and 2) to provide one dinner during recruitment week and snacks during the summer recruitment workshop. Anything beyond that really starts to step on the toes of the chapter officers whose role is to offer programming and activities for the chapter. Parents should be mindful that these are collegian-led chapters....