Alumnae Involvement: What are you doing now?

[groovypq]

Are you active in your alumnae chapter? I belong to one (i.e. pay dues), but it's an hour away and the meetings are always at 6 p.m., so I never make them. I wish I could be more active. Sort of noodling the idea of starting a chapter around here...
Are you an advisor? Yes! General adviser - and since the only other adviser is our financial adviser, my sister who's two hours away, I'm at everything!
Are you part of a chapter's housing corp? No
Are you a regional/province/whatever officer? No
Are you a national officer of some sort? No
Something else? I am a "Key Woman" for my area - a contact point for recs.

[kddani]

Are you active in your alumnae chapter? If we had one that actually functioned, I would be. I tried to restart it after I graduated college, but it never got off the ground, and still isn't.

Are you an advisor? Yep. I am CAB-Standards (i.e. Risk Management). I have mostly enjoyed it, because I think that the standards process has really made a difference (for the good) in several members' lives.

Are you part of a chapter's housing corp? No, we have suites.

Are you a regional/province/whatever officer? No. I'm probably too much of a rabble-rouser and ask too many questions, though I am very pro-KD. And now that I have a family I don't have that kind of time and don't want to do the travel.

Are you a national officer of some sort? See last answer.

Something else?

[AOEforme]

Are you active in your alumnae chapter? Yes.
Are you an advisor? Yes- Public Relations for Beta Alpha Chapter at Texas Tech.
Are you part of a chapter's housing corp? No
Are you a regional/province/whatever officer? No
Are you a national officer of some sort? No
Something else? I just donated a bunch of fun bid day pins and funds to my undergrad chapter. Not a big deal, but they were cute and the girls loved them.

[Fleur de Lis]

Are you active in your alumnae chapter? Yes

Are you an advisor? I have done this in the past but don't anymore

Are you part of a chapter's housing corp? Yes, I don't interact with the actives much due to my role (next question) so this keeps me connected with them.

Are you a regional/province/whatever officer? Yes, I oversee alumnae associations in two states.

Are you a national officer of some sort? No

Something else? That is more than enough. :P

[thetygerlily]

Are you active in your alumnae chapter? Yes, somewhat. I co-chair the evening group & help out with some of the communications (evites, contacting younger alumnae, etc). I can't attend the normal monthly meetings or most programming because they're during the workday.

Are you an advisor? Nope. I would like to at some point but just don't have the time/energy right now.

Are you part of a chapter's housing corp? Nope.

Are you a regional/province/whatever officer? Nope.

Are you a national officer of some sort? Nope.

Something else? Yep. In addition to my local alumnae association, I'm part of another association that focuses on historical preservation & knowledge sharing- especially of our badges. The Keepers of the Key group falls within this association.

[KSUViolet06]

^^^Where do you advise, Mel? You're in DC right?

[littleowl33]

Are you active in your alumnae chapter? Soon! I just moved to a new city and I'll be attending their first event of the year this month (they take a summer hiatus). I can't wait!

Are you an advisor? No, but I'd like to be - there are two chapters in my city and even though they're very different than mine, I'd love to get involved and give back. Kappa requires that you be several years out of college and/or over 23 before you can advise, so I have a little ways to go before I'm eligible.

Are you part of a chapter's housing corp? Nope.

Are you a regional/province/whatever officer? No, but again, I'd like to be someday. I was super involved as an undergrad and would like to continue that as an alum as much as I am able!

Are you a national officer of some sort? Nope.

Something else? Mmm, I don't think so.

[ADqtPiMel]

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

^^^Where do you advise, Mel? You're in DC right?

Yup. George Washington University.

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by ADqtPiMel

Yup. George Washington University.

Cool. I didn't know if you advised IN DC or a surrounding area like VA/MD.

[LucyKKG]

Originally Posted by ADqtPiMel

Yup. George Washington University.

I know a couple of Kappa alumnae helping out with recruitment at GWU this weekend! You might bump into each other.

[Morag]

Are you active in your alumnae chapter? Yes, I am VP Membership and have previously been AP a number of times
Are you an advisor? Yes, Colony Adviser
Are you part of a chapter's housing corp? Yes ... sort of. I am on the Corporation Services Committee
Are you a regional/province/whatever officer? I was. I served as a network specialist and as a network director.

[Lyrebird]

Are you active in your alumnae chapter? Yes, I'm actually a member of two alumnae groups. I'm on the board of one, and am a general member of the other.

Are you an advisor? Yes. I'm the Philanthropy Advisor for our chapter at a nearby university.

Are you part of a chapter's housing corp? No.

Are you a regional/province/whatever officer? No.

Are you a national officer of some sort? No. Maybe someday.

Something else? No.

I was surprised to find after college that the bonds of sisterhood remained so strong. I think I may be even more active as an alumna than I was as a collegian! Being the first Greek in my family, I had no idea what to expect after college.

Side note: I recently found my high school English teacher on FB and wrote and thanked her for encouraging me to go Greek. I hadn't considered it seriously before she talked with me, and now I couldn't imagine my life without it.

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by Lyrebird

I think I may be even more active as an alumna than I was as a collegian!

Me too. I was initiated as a junior (got my bid at the end of soph year) so I was only active for 2.5 years. I held several chairs, but I was never an officer (I was trying to do way too much in undergrad and didn't want to get too overwhelmed).

Since graduation I've done a lot more for Sigma than I probably did in undergrad (probably because I didn't get burned out due to only being active a short time).

I think it just shows that you don't necessarily have to have been past president, 4 year active, super Suzy sorority in order to contribute as an alumna. There are some alumnae who are reluctant to volunteer because they weren't in big leadership roles in undergrad and think the sorority can't use them. Not true!

[Gusteau]

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

I think it just shows that you don't necessarily have to have been past president, 4 year active, super Suzy sorority in order to contribute as an alumna. There are some alumnae who are reluctant to volunteer because they weren't in big leadership roles in undergrad and think the sorority can't use them. Not true!

This is so true. A lot of times when I try to recruit alumni to be involved in my chapter they say "Oh, well I was just a regular member/lowly committee chairman/whatever, I don't think I know enough about how the Fraternity operates to contribute." OK, so they don't usually admit to not knowing how the Fraternity operates, but it's an underlying factor. Its frustrating (I think more so in fraternities. because we often have less advisors than NPCs do) because most of the time we just need a body who's willing to be physically present for us and contribute an adult member's opinion. I would rather get a blah advisor who's willing to show up to things and have him turn into a superstar during his term of service than a undergrad rockstar who's too busy to actively support the chapter as an alumnus.

[RaggedyAnn]

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

I think it just shows that you don't necessarily have to have been past president, 4 year active, super Suzy sorority in order to contribute as an alumna. There are some alumnae who are reluctant to volunteer because they weren't in big leadership roles in undergrad and think the sorority can't use them. Not true!

Originally Posted by Gusteau

This is so true. A lot of times when I try to recruit alumni to be involved in my chapter they say "Oh, well I was just a regular member/lowly committee chairman/whatever, I don't think I know enough about how the Fraternity operates to contribute."

I agree with both of you. I've recruited many alumnae volunteers and often that is a big fear factor, or the fact that they've been out of touch for a while. I always try and get them to realize that they're a sister and that's the biggest requirement. Everything else really can be learned. Often I talk to them about their out of school experience and how I can see them in certain positions because of that. People often don't think of how their out of GLO experience can greatly contribute to a chapter or their organization.