PLEASE HELP!!!! Tell me about your GLO's academic policy.

[ThetaPrincess24]

have you tried contacting other chapters in your fraternity for ideas?

Do you have an alumni advisor that is over your specific position? He may be a source of ideas.


Theta has both a chapter advisor and a district advisor that is over scholarship and they are excellent sources of information and ideas to build/improve a scholarship program.

As a former scholarship chair and scholarship advisor i can say this is one of the hardest positions you can have, but can also be one of the msot rewarding. Most people on probation are there not because they had family issues or one bad semester but simply because they dont like to study and thus dont make it a priority. You will often butt heads with those members. Probation terms need to be very clear to everyone and enforcement is key as an incentive to make people want to get off probation and stay off probation. However be careful not to be too rigid or you'll have everyone wanting to turn in their pins.

At the time i took scholarship chair my chapter was on scholastic probation. I worked closely with my scholarship advisor and district advisor and enforced existing rules with the help of my committee and the executive board. This propelled us in one semester to move from 7/8 to 2/8 overall and 1/8 with new members.

Good luck to you!

[TAPike]

Thanks Theta.

I agree it is awarding, as well as keeps me in my place grade wise.

Unfortunately we do not have an alumni board or anything of the sort. One of our goals is to start one SOON. We had nationals come in and list that as a big goal we need to accomplish so that is in the works.

I appreciate all of your comments. Keep them coming please.

Theta, anything exceptional that worked for you guys?

[PhoenixAzul]

You've gotten some great advice from the above posters.

I was scholarship chair of my sorority (although we're a local, so your mileage may vary), and what I found was that a lot of people have the smarts, but other "things" get in the way. Like we had a few people who would sometimes oversleep their 8 am lecture. At the time I was working early morning shifts at the gym I worked at, 5-8. So during my 7.30 break/cleanup time, I'd call those that requested it and made sure they got up. Just being in class improves grades by MILES.

On the incentives front, we offered a discount in dues for sisters that achieved over x GPA per semester. Dunno if this would fly in your organization because you've got a different fees structure, but it worked quite well for us, and it really upped our GPA. I know saving that 10 or so dollars at the beginning of a term was always a lifesaver for me.

[ThetaPrincess24]

Originally Posted by TAPike

Thanks Theta.

I agree it is awarding, as well as keeps me in my place grade wise.

Unfortunately we do not have an alumni board or anything of the sort. One of our goals is to start one SOON. We had nationals come in and list that as a big goal we need to accomplish so that is in the works
I appreciate all of your comments. Keep them coming please.

Theta, anything exceptional that worked for you guys?

Well the scholarship advisor set the terms of probation for each member. I enforced the existing rules that were inthe bylaws (apparently at some point before I got there the rules were less and less enforced and thus scholarship became a joke). I also made it a point to recognize both the ladies that were on probation showing continuous improvement as well as recognizing those that consistently made good grades. People like to be recognized. I think we did teams of big sisters/little sisters and the top three sets that got the highest average got a pizza party. ladies obtaining the highest GPa's for their class received a an award plaque and then we also had a semesterly scholarship banquet as well.

Alumni involvement can completely turn a chapter around for the good in so many areas. I would definitely work on getting more local alumni involved. Effective recruitment can turn a chapter around too so if your chapter is having issues with grades and cant afford risks dont offer bids to people with crappy grades.

Since you dont have a good alumni base for support right now I would emphasize the importance or contacting other college chapters and see what they are doing regarding scholarship programming. I did this as chair and it was a good source of ideas to help my chapter. You are a brother! Dont be afraid to email or contact other chapters, usually they will be happy to help you!