academic policies... help!

[deltadarlin]

hey everyone,

So I am completely redoing my chapters policies, because the current ones are terrible. We are raising the minimum gpa to be in good standing from a 2.25 to a 2.5 (which is obviously not ridiculous). But I am getting a lot of complaints from girls that this is not fair and that we should take into consideration member's major when outlining the gpa requirements. I go to a school that is definetly known as a science school and the programs are hard. But I don't think that its fair to differentiate, saying one girl's major is harder than another, because it's like saying, "im smarter than you, and I work harder than you"

Any ideas? Does anybody else differentiate gpa requirements based on major? Please help!

[33girl]

I've never heard of differentiating GPA based on major. If you can't handle your major and your sorority, one of them has to go.

[TSteven]

You are already receiving complaints about this. So are there other reasons - other than the current GPA being viewed as perhaps "too low" - as to why the GPA should be raised? For example, does it adversely effect your recruitment? Has membership suffered? Is it in line with your international policies?

If you do decide to raise the minimum, then I would suggest that you grandfather (grandmother?) in all current members and pledges. Otherwise, current members in good standing (maybe have been members in good standing for three plus years), who also happen to have between a 2.25 to 2.49 GPA, would suddenly find themselves on academic probation/not in good standing. (Or what ever it is y'all call it.) And that would not be fair to them.

[skylark]

I think that having a different GPA requirement with certain majors listed is a rule that will cause CONSTANT bickering over which majors should or should not be on the "difficult major" list.

The bottom line should be whether your school recognizes the discrepancy between majors and GPAs. For instance, does the school kick people out or put people on probation on different GPA scales based on majors? What about academic scholarships that are major-neutral but have a GPA requirement? Only under those circumstances would I suggest having a discrepancy for the sorority GPA standards, but even then the majors should identically mirror the same standards the school has.

[VandalSquirrel]

My University publishes GPAs for academic honors based on the college. It is the average GPAs for the past five years and they use it as a basis for graduation. Perhaps those numbers would better reflect the differences in GPAs for someone who is a Family and Consumer Sciences major, than to the sister who is an Electrical Engineering major. This only covers the top 3, 6 and 10 percent of students, but you could extrapolate downwards from there.

http://www.registrar.uidaho.edu/grad...ic-honors.html

[KSUViolet06]

I've never heard of any sorority doing this. No matter what major, sisters are expected to manage their time approriately so that they can meet the GPA requirements. We had sisters who were in a ton of different majors (from intense ones like Architecture to less intense like General Studies) and they were all expected to meet the same minimum.

[ree-Xi]

I think it is absolutely nuts to have different GPA requirements for different majors. If a major is "too hard", then maybe it isn't for them. For some people, science is very difficult. For others, English is very difficult. Some people can write computer software without too much struggle, but ask them to write a 3-page essay and they freak out.

This is one area where things should be black and white. One cut-off, no exceptions.

If there is really an issue, let someone make a motion and bring it to a vote. Otherwise, it's your job to be the enforcer. Not fun, but important.

Good luck!

Originally Posted by deltadarlin

hey everyone,

So I am completely redoing my chapters policies, because the current ones are terrible. We are raising the minimum gpa to be in good standing from a 2.25 to a 2.5 (which is obviously not ridiculous). But I am getting a lot of complaints from girls that this is not fair and that we should take into consideration member's major when outlining the gpa requirements. I go to a school that is definetly known as a science school and the programs are hard. But I don't think that its fair to differentiate, saying one girl's major is harder than another, because it's like saying, "im smarter than you, and I work harder than you"

Any ideas? Does anybody else differentiate gpa requirements based on major? Please help!

[Drolefille]

The engineering students in my chapter did not have a different GPA requirement. Our engineering program, like all engineering programs I'm sure, was TOUGH. Many of the juniors did the bare minimum when it came to chapter events, and were given a bit more leeway in excused absences. However they were required to keep their GPA at the same level as everyone else. I've always thought this was the best, and fairest, way to handle the situation. It allows the sisters in charge of "excusing" absences leeway to work with girls who are tough situations and yet doesn't set different standards for any group of girls.

[Canadian]

I went to a party school, known for International Business majors and took Political Science. If I had taken an easier major like HR or Geography, I probably would have my pick of grad schools and would have avoided a lot of fraternity mandated study hours.

What we do in my chapter is that if you do not meet a 3.0, you have to spend so many study hours in the library doing supervised study work. There are computers, quiet alcoves so it's very efficient, but it made the difference for me from a 1.5 to a 2.35. Yes, that's nothing to brag about, but I had a semester in my sophomore year where I spent more time in the student pub than class, and frequently combined the after effects of the pub with class.

But yes, grandfathering is the way to go if you must really raise the GPA.

[deltadarlin]

Thank you for all your answers! I personally agree that we shouldn't differentiate, but I wanted to see if it had ever been done before. Our chapter has consistetly had the worst gpa of all 9 chapters on campus for 5 quarters running, so we are really trying to make a push to raise our gpa. The new policies that I am trying to present is this:


2.8-2.99 girls have 3 study hours per week
2.5-2.79 girls have 6 hours
2.49 or below girls have 8 hours, have to check in after midterms, and have to work with the academic chair.

we currently have no required study hours. Any thoughts or advice?

[MandyPepperidge]

Originally Posted by deltadarlin

2.8-2.99 girls have 3 study hours per week
2.5-2.79 girls have 6 hours
2.49 or below girls have 8 hours, have to check in after midterms, and have to work with the academic chair.

I would suggest going even farther. What is the average Greek-women GPA on your campus? You should start at that GPA and work down.

For example, let's say the average Greek-women GPA is 3.3. Then all chapter women below this would have some form of proctored study hours. So let's say women with a GPA in the 3.3 - 3.0 range would be assigned 2 study hours, and so forth.

Get the women who consistently have the highest GPAs involved in proctoring. Maybe you could start a peer-tutoring or peer-paper editing system. Start a library of old notes, tests, and so forth for sisters to reference.

Consider implementing a higher minimum GPA requirement during rush as well.

[PhiRhoSister]

Engineering majors are some of the most time consuming degrees, because rather than memorizing info you are solving problems. At universities that do not inflate grades, the average eng major GPA can be less than 3.0.

My chapter did not have study hours. Some of the things that did help sisters get their grades up:
study buddies - sisters in same major or class studying together each day
sister tutors - a sister who did well in a subject tutoring a sister who is having trouble in the subject
passive/academic status - a sister is only required to attend certain events for a semester so she can concentrate on grades

Originally Posted by deltadarlin

Thank you for all your answers! I personally agree that we shouldn't differentiate, but I wanted to see if it had ever been done before. Our chapter has consistetly had the worst gpa of all 9 chapters on campus for 5 quarters running, so we are really trying to make a push to raise our gpa. The new policies that I am trying to present is this:


2.8-2.99 girls have 3 study hours per week
2.5-2.79 girls have 6 hours
2.49 or below girls have 8 hours, have to check in after midterms, and have to work with the academic chair.

we currently have no required study hours. Any thoughts or advice?