Is this legal? Deactivated one NPC, now part of a new NPC.

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by gphiangel624

We went around and around with this issue a long time ago. Our recruitment registration forms have a statement, evaluated by our campus Registrar (who is also our FERPA Compliance officer), that basically states the PNM verifies the information is true and correct, and that she authorizes release of the information included on her registration form to the Student Life office, Panhellenic, and the chapters that belong to it. My office (Student Life) then reviews GPAs, past pledging/initiation data we have on file, and verifies if it's true or not. The PNMs are made aware of this entire process from the start, so we rarely get misinformation from them.

Regarding puddintane's concern about the grade report, I'm willing to share how we work our grade report process if you want to PM me. Again, it's approved by our campus Registrar and FERPA compliance officer as well.

So in your case, if the campus Panhellenic wanted too, you might be able to add to the recruitment release a release for transfer students and information about membership as well?

It's interesting how much it varies from campus to campus. At the school that won't release any information from the student file, I guess the only way a future employer can verify information about an applicant is by getting a transcript sent. (I doubt many employers verify extracurriculars anyway, but I never really thought about how people could completely make up everything on the first resume other than the GPA, but I guess at that campus, they could. )

[puddintane]

Originally Posted by Alphagamuga

Would you be permitted to answer a question like "was so and so ever a member of an NPC group?" Simply a yes or no, not even which one?

Can students sign a waiver for certain items? (I believe this must happen at some colleges because they generate GPAs and comparative lists for NPC groups which are availabe on the Greek Life page.)

It's done differently on many campuses. Each University has to decide for itself, how much information it is willing to disclose to any student organization, regarding a student's file, and has to weigh that with any potential liability issues that may pop up.

Our school has adopted disclosing information on a "need-to-know" basis, but that doesn't necessarily include everything that a student is willing to sign away.

Grades, there is a reason why a minimum GPA must be achieved. This benefits the college as well as the Greek Organization. Joining a Greek Organization involves a significant amount of a student's time, and we want to make sure that only those that can manage their time well, can take on additional responsibilities. School comes first, if you can't manage school, you can't join certain groups.

Our college, has a minimum GPA for all organizations. The organization is able to set it for themselves and set the bar higher (and we will help them in that verification process), but with us, if you are on academic probabation, you must terminate your membership, Greek or not.

The only exceptions are honor societies and scholarships, where a full transcript is needed in order to make award determinations.

Now, back to your question regarding someone being initiated into a sorority twice, and if it was in their file, could I say anything if asked.

If the situation at our school 8 years ago, repeated itself today, the answer would be no. The reason is, it doesn't fall into a "need-to-know" basis. It only benefits the Greek Organization...the school doesn't care one way or the other. Not disclosing it, doesn't raise any liability issues....disclosing it, if the student does not wish to disclose ALL of their previous organizations on their personal file, can raise a huge liability issue for the college.

I'm in no way saying that "this is the law"...it's not. This is just the way our University has chosen to handle student information.

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by puddintane

Now, back to your question regarding someone being initiated into a sorority twice, and if it was in their file, could I say anything if asked.

If the situation at our school 8 years ago, repeated itself today, the answer would be no. The reason is, it doesn't fall into a "need-to-know" basis. It only benefits the Greek Organization...the school doesn't care one way or the other. Not disclosing it, doesn't raise any liability issues....disclosing it, if the student does not wish to disclose ALL of their previous organizations on their personal file, can raise a huge liability issue for the college.

I'm in no way saying that "this is the law"...it's not. This is just the way our University has chosen to handle student information.

Hum, I think the institution is mistaken in it's impression that the situation only benefits the Greek Organization. I tend to think that your institution has to believe that the overall effect of Greek Life on the university is beneficial or you would terminate your relationships with the GLOS. A healthy balance of the university helping the GLOs and the GLOs helping the institution would be good overall. If the university takes a only "what's in it for us" attitude, I think you'll have more problems between groups and that will spill over into campus life at large.

I can see the liability point on some level, but after a person appears listed as a member in a yearbook, it's hard to make a claim about privacy. There would be ways around the idea that you got the info. only from the confidential student file.

[puddintane]

Originally Posted by Alphagamuga

Hum, I think the institution is mistaken in it's impression that the situation only benefits the Greek Organization. I tend to think that your institution has to believe that the overall effect of Greek Life on the university is beneficial or you would terminate your relationships with the GLOS. A healthy balance of the university helping the GLOs and the GLOs helping the institution would be good overall. If the university takes a only "what's in it for us" attitude, I think you'll have more problems between groups and that will spill over into campus life at large.

I can see the liability point on some level, but after a person appears listed as a member in a yearbook, it's hard to make a claim about privacy. There would be ways around the idea that you got the info. only from the confidential student file.

From an administrative point, we have to look at all student organizations the same. We can't pick and choose which ones we will protect the student's privacy on, and which ones we won't. It's an all or none deal. The only reason schools even have a Greek Advisor is because it tends to be the largest of all of the organizations, and it takes someone who has participated in the system on how it works. Other than the sheer numbers? They wouldn't bother with the staffing.

I cannot think of a single reason, how a couple of students every few years, that may initiate in in two NPC sororities, is going to destroy Greek Life as a whole at our University. In the instance that it happened at our school, more people knew that it happened rather than know who it happened with. Our school is so large these girls sometimes disappear between semesters and over the summer....they just don't re-enroll.

You make a good point regarding the yearbook, however, it has to be initiated by the students not by me. I cannot launch a campaign to apply the rules on the students that I know about. I have to be fair to all. I don't look for ways, "around the system"...we follow the rules that are handed down to me by my superiors, that is how I keep the lights on.

We have to consider all of the groups, not just Greek Organizations.

With us, even the yearbook isn't a good source. Less than 25% of the student population bother to show up to have their picture taken.

On student applications for recruitment, there is only one "status" classification: Your Class (Freshman, Sophomore, etc.). So unless a student mentioned it, you wouldn't know she was a transfer. She just puts down which class she is a member of. We participate in deferred recruitment, so Freshman have to be verified at completing a minimum of 12 semester hours in order to be considered "second semester" Freshman.

As far as my job is concerned, and my role in the process, I am not willing to put the University, or myself, at risk and gamble on whether or not someone can make a "claim" against the University.

You don't have to win a lawsuit in order to permanently tarnish a University's reputation, all you have to do is file one.

[UGAalum94]

I'm sorry for not being clearer: it didn't mean that you personally should be looking in the yearbook, just that sometimes that things that the university is presenting as matters of privacy, aren't. And I wasn't thinking of the listing of individual students, but the listing of members on the GLO pages, which I imagine most GLOs do participate in, but maybe not at your campus. The college yearbooks I've looked at list members. They may not have every member, but a girl being listed on a group's page would be reason for further review to see if she had been initiated.

I also wasn't thinking of strictly the very few students who try to join more than one group when I was commenting on the "what's in it for us" attitude; I was thinking about how ineffective that seemed to be as a leadership philosophy with Greek organizations. There's a lot that the Greek Life office really needs to handle that the only benefit to the university is the resolution or prevention of conflicts among the groups.

Other campus organizations deserve attention too, but I think it's rare that there are as many that feel they are in direct competition for members or status, etc. I suspect it's rare that they need as much supervision in terms of alcohol violations and housing issues.

It's rare, as far as I know, that as many other student orgs. have relatively powerful and wealthy national and international groups with lawyers.

Sure the cinema club may really hate sharing an office with the Objectivist society, but I'd be surprised if either were going to sue or get their alums to make a lot of noise with the fund raising folks.

The university, it would seem to me needs to handle the Greek groups well and pro-actively, so the junk doesn't blow up big.

I agree that the issue of girls joining twice isn't likely to be the think that causes the system to fall apart, but it's an area that might be important to the groups in which you've decided not to help them. In the long run, their believing that you aren't there to help them could be a big problem.

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by puddintane

You don't have to win a lawsuit in order to permanently tarnish a University's reputation, all you have to do is file one.

I'm not appealing to you to release GLO membership, but surely this is no way to run a university: setting your standards based on not what is right or legal, but avoiding the filing of suits?

Sure, don't invite lawsuits, and I think that's what you are trying to do with the "need to know" policy, but really, with the number of sue happy crazy people in the world, things are going to stink really badly really quick if they learn that your are motivated mainly by avoiding suits and staying out of the press. Will any rule stand up to a challenge and the suggestion of getting a lawyer at your campus?