inactive

[rufio]

Originally Posted by jwright25

Never phone calls. Never never never..... OMG. Never never never call!

you make it seem like your IHQ would extremely condescending if not abrasive if someone called with a trivial question; like IHQ is an entity to be feared. i don't mean to offend by pointing that out, but I'm curious, to the other gc'ers, would your IHQ's tear your head off if you called in with a situation like this or just simply defer you toward the right answer?

i know at DU, while it is not best to constantly bug the officials with trivial questions, they wouldn't mind a friendly phone call from a member. Alot of our top directors have direct contact with undergraduate members. after all, were all supposed to be family, right?

[PeppyGPhiB]

Also, not every sorority has inactive status...mine for one. Our collegiates that study overseas are usually asked to pay international dues, but not always local dues. When anyone in my chapter asked about going "inactive" for a semester - or for senior year - the response was always the same from chapter exec/regional execs/IH: Gamma Phi Beta does not have an inactive status. All sisters are expected to be active sisters.

[Thetagirl218]

Originally Posted by PeppyGPhiB

Also, not every sorority has inactive status...mine for one. Our collegiates that study overseas are usually asked to pay international dues, but not always local dues. When anyone in my chapter asked about going "inactive" for a semester - or for senior year - the response was always the same from chapter exec/regional execs/IH: Gamma Phi Beta does not have an inactive status. All sisters are expected to be active sisters.

The same goes for Theta. All sisters are expected to be active at all times during the collegiate experience. If one is going abroad or is facing an emergency situation, it is dealt on an individual basis within the chapter. Dues are often still assessed as inactive status does not exist.

[luv n tpa]

Just to add another perspective, TPA does have inactive status, but only for very special circumstances. We also have what's called mandatory dues, in which sisters will pay a certain percentage of dues for the semester with the understanding that they are not required to attend everything; they also won't be fined [they should however still come to things when they have time]. We also have early alum status for sisters who have intense internships or who are student teaching in their last semester.

All of these must be done through application and reviewed by our Board of Directors.

[jwright25]

Originally Posted by rufio

you make it seem like your IHQ would extremely condescending if not abrasive if someone called with a trivial question; like IHQ is an entity to be feared.

Mmmmm. I can see where you would come to that conclusion. I would not say "feared." But I would say "respected" and "understood." Meaning that just like 33girl said, there is a chain of command to be followed in these procedures. Alpha Delta Pi does not employ women at its Executive Office that assist chapters with matters of policy and procedure. That is why we have a very extensive volunteer network with women who work only in specific areas: Finance, Recruitment, Membership Development, etc., as well as women who work with specific chapters and have a basic understanding of all the individual areas of chapter operations.

Had a member of a chapter that I advised called Executive Office asking how to go inactive, I would feel that I had not done an adequate job in my position. Part of our educational programming is not only to teach chapter policies and procedures (which includes being inactive) but also to educate the women on how our organization functions, i.e. the chain of command.

You wouldn't call the International Vice President of Finance to ask how much your dues are. So why would you call HQ/EO to ask how to be inactive? When collegians call HQ/EO without being specifically instructed to by someone from the chapter or another International Officer, to me it suggests that there is a serious lack of basic policy education at that chapter. (The only exception I can see is if a collegian needs to report a hazing violation.)

To answer your question, no, the women at EO would be very friendly and helpful even if they were asked a local-level question. I'm sure they get them anyway. But I for one would rather they spent their time working on the job they were hired to do than the jobs of elected chapter officers. And I think that on a public message board, we should not encourage collegiate women to just call their HQ/EO for every little thing without first speaking to local officers and advisors. Even in Tri-Sigma, as KSUViolet has pointed out, the process starts on a local level before going to Executive Council at HQ. Or at least that's how I interpret it when an advisor must first sign off on the paperwork.