Closing chapters/revitalizing chapters

[TKEmanKM]

Fraters,
I know we have gone though a great many trials with staff being moved around so much and going through CEO's like Voldemort cursed the Dark Arts position, but I come from a recently closed chapter, who had a high amount of debt, low numbers, and little hope. We had a few alumni fraters who were willing to help and even more older (60's and70's) alumni who wanted to see some sort of results before they would commit any resources to the fledgling chapter. Now I have been on the "regional" volunteer side so I know a bit about what goes on at the OGC and I respect them highly, and count many a staff member among my personal friends.

That being said working in greek life professionally now for a number of years, I have seen many other fraternities who send their professional personnel out for more than a week + where TKE tends to send people out for only a few hours.

Ideally the volunteer staff (GPA, PA) would be able to pick up the ball and run with it but I am wondering why we as a fraternity tend to spend time and money in places where it realistically isn't needed (large chapters, financially solvent chapters, chapters who need no assistance in recruiting, etc) and why we do not tend to assist the chapters that could use the most help by having a staff man there to ensure success. It was my experience that I could only help so many of my men in my professional capacity where a staff man who could keep them on the ball, make sure policies are followed, and generally assist chapters in making sure they survive and thrive instead of die and get closed.

I will mention that I was the professional university person who agreed with my home chapter's closing, only because it was the absolute last option we had, they had been given a number of chances and failed to capitalize on those chances given, however I do believe that if someone on the professional staff had been there for more than just a pep talk I think we could have done more.

Overall I see this as a failure on all sides more so the active chapter and alumni who could have stepped in and done more, but also on the part of the professionals because it seems as if we only care about big donors and large chapters.

Thoughts?

[TKEmanKM]

I guess what I am really asking is should we go to another model where lower performing chapters get a longer visitation where all concerned parties ( chapter, staff, volunteers, and alumni) work together to ensure viability? As far as I know, this does not happen very often where all available resources are brought in except in a reopening or expansion case.

[AnchorAlumna]

It has certainly worked for our sorority.
But you have to remember....that one professional is going to HAVE to move on, sooner or later. It's got to come from the local members. They're the ones who will be there now and several years from now.

[TKEmanKM]

Oh that I understand. As I said I believe that there needs to be a high amount of collaboration among staff, volunteers, and alumni to ensure viability. What I am noticing is that many of the "more successful" chapters that I have worked with from other organizations have staff members that stay longer than just a day. I am not saying that success is correlated by a long visitation, but I do believe that it helps. I know we do what we can, I am just wondering if there is an aspect that we can change to ensure growth and viability.

[FSUZeta]

Originally Posted by AnchorAlumna

It has certainly worked for our sorority.
But you have to remember....that one professional is going to HAVE to move on, sooner or later. It's got to come from the local members. They're the ones who will be there now and several years from now.

^I agree with my panhellenic sister^

While the desire to change the direction the chapter is headed ultimately lies with the current chapter members, often traveling leadership consultants (TLCs) can help get the chapter started in the right direction. They typically stay for a couple of days to a couple of weeks and then are a ready source of contact via email or phone conversations after the visit is over. I have often wondered why fraternities don't model traveling graduate member programs after the NPC sororities programs-we seem to have it down pat. Not that we never have to close a chapter-but I do feel that with intervention from IO, those closures are significantly less than they would be otherwise. I don't see how problems that could lead to a chapter's closure could be addressed and remedied in a few hours.

[Cheerio]

Originally Posted by FSUZeta

^I agree with my panhellenic sister^

While the desire to change the direction the chapter is headed ultimately lies with the current chapter members, often traveling leadership consultants (TLCs) can help get the chapter started in the right direction. They typically stay for a couple of days to a couple of weeks and then are a ready source of contact via email or phone conversations after the visit is over. I have often wondered why fraternities don't model traveling graduate member programs after the NPC sororities programs-we seem to have it down pat. Not that we never have to close a chapter-but I do feel that with intervention from IO, those closures are significantly less than they would be otherwise. I don't see how problems that could lead to a chapter's closure could be addressed and remedied in a few hours.

bumping

[TKEmanKM]

Originally Posted by FSUZeta

^I agree with my panhellenic sister^

While the desire to change the direction the chapter is headed ultimately lies with the current chapter members, often traveling leadership consultants (TLCs) can help get the chapter started in the right direction. They typically stay for a couple of days to a couple of weeks and then are a ready source of contact via email or phone conversations after the visit is over. I have often wondered why fraternities don't model traveling graduate member programs after the NPC sororities programs-we seem to have it down pat. Not that we never have to close a chapter-but I do feel that with intervention from IO, those closures are significantly less than they would be otherwise. I don't see how problems that could lead to a chapter's closure could be addressed and remedied in a few hours.

I agree with your assessment. There are many things that Panhellenic does that NIC Fraternities could do, albeit that they would have to be adapted for men's groups. There are many chapters, not even in my organization that if they were healthy and vibrant would contribute to the overall health of the Fraternity and Sorority community but those chapters can't do that if all they are worried about is their survival.