help with attendance!!!

[vickitoria]

So what have been the results of adding a points system?

Has the points system backfired on anyone?

[vickitoria]

Also, my chapter doesn't fine... nor do we want to. There's another sorority on campus that fines and just added a points system.

I've heard that its helped a little... but members still complain.

Well, we won't fine... but I'd still like to know how effective the points system is.

[KatieKate1244]

Ours wasn't that effective. When we wrote our points system, we messed up on giving out points and not taking enough away, example: If I went to an event, I'd get 5 points. If I missed the event, I would still get 2 points. So people would end with massive numbers of points and not have enough taken away. Do take your member's lives into consideration when you write a points system. When we wrote ours, 80% of my chapter was working full time as well as going to school full time. When you only have two days off, do you really want to drag your ass into some speaker about date rape, especially when you have a lot of homework to do? No. So we had to take that into account. But points didn't help our attendance at all.

[fantASTic]

We don't do points. We just say, you show up and that's good. If you don't show up, and it's mandatory, then you are on social probation and can't go to any socials or anything for three weeks. This includes formals and date parties. If you get on social probation twice, you have other punishments. More than twice and membership can be brought up to the chapter. It works well.

We also have a rule that anything mandatory must be submitted to the programming director [who writes the calender] 3 weeks in advance, or it can NOT be mandatory. If it is 100% mandatory, then you must come or submit an excuse beforehand. If it is just 50 or 75% mandatory, then we take a signup sheet and if it is not filled then we start with excuses.

[Faith4Keep]

Originally Posted by KatieKate1244

Ours wasn't that effective. When we wrote our points system, we messed up on giving out points and not taking enough away

I am the points chair for my chapter, and while I finally got the system in working order (i.e., someone is actually keeping track of points, using a workable spreadsheet, and enforcing consequences), we also do not have enough negative points.

In my chapter you must maintain 20 points each month or you are on social probation for the next month. We have positive events (IM games, going to a PAN meeting, going to a philanthropy, etc) and negative events (initiation, other ritual services, our own philanthropy events, etc). Unfortunately the negative point events are few and far between, so they are not really effective. Plus, for a girl who plays an IM sport, they get 2 points per game, so if they miss a recruitment workshop (-4 points) it doesn't hurt them... at all in maintaining their 20.

Worst of all- my chapter has a weird policy of voting on some things and exec just making decisions on other things. Anytime we make a change to the point system it has to be voted on, so if I get up there and say "I think we need to make philanthropies a negative point event (mandatory)", really, how many people are going to vote for it? Negative point events basically force you to go to that event, so if the event wasn't negative previously, why would it be now? It bothers me that Exec can't just say "okay, here's what's required and here's what is not".

But yeah, our point system is not that effective due to the lack of negative events.

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by vickitoria

So what have been the results of adding a points system?

My advice about points:

In order for a points system to work, the consequences for NOT making points need to be relevent to your chapter and the things they find most enjoyable about being a part of the sorority.

For example, if your chapter doesn't really do socials, giving girls social probation for not making points wouldn't be effective because you don't HAVE those anyway.

My chapter was really into Big/Little. Everybody wanted a Little Sis, so everybody made sure they made points because if you missed points, you couldn't take a Little Sis.

[Faith4Keep]

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

My chapter was really into Big/Little. Everybody wanted a Little Sis, so everybody made sure they made points because if you missed points, you couldn't take a Little Sis.

Wow, that sounds like something that would really work in my chapter, although our chapter is SO into big/little that they would probably rip my head off if I told them that!! But that would definitely ensure attendance to events, lol.

[SDT@CofC]

I was just elected standard chair and my chapter doesn't have an established points/standards system. Our biggest problem has been that nothing is actually in writing so sisters get confused which makes them bitter.

Does anyone have a copy of their system that they could send me? I’d also like to know what works and what doesn’t for the systems.
Also, what do people do about bringing sister before standards?

Thanks for your help!

[AlethiaSi]

Originally Posted by SDT@CofC

I was just elected standard chair and my chapter doesn't have an established points/standards system. Our biggest problem has been that nothing is actually in writing so sisters get confused which makes them bitter.

Does anyone have a copy of their system that they could send me? I’d also like to know what works and what doesn’t for the systems.
Also, what do people do about bringing sister before standards?

Thanks for your help!

I would look around the threads instead of asking people to repeat themselves when the information is right there if you look hard enough.

I don't mean to be mean, but you know how to use the search button, so just take what others have said and modify it as needed.