Future President

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by PhiMuAlum

Only YOU will know your chapter and what is going on (and they will all bring their "stuff" to you because they will want you to be on their side.

As far as having a Pass the Gavel bi-monthly, I personally think that is a bit much. Trust me, you will instinctively KNOW when the time is right. I think once you get through your first one and sisters feel comfortable sharing, more will speak up the next time.

The suggestion box is good, but who will be responsible for reading all the suggestions? I guess it all depends on the size of your chapter. But for a large chapter with 100+ women, you may not have the time to read all the suggestions.

Another suggestion I would make would be to create a Yahoo Group for your members to join. This way, you only have to send out one e-mail.

As far as a box, I've not seen everyone put suggestions in the box. It's more of a "if you have questions/problems feel free" thing. And if everyone IS putting something in there, you probably have issues to address anyway.

[PhiMuAlum]

Just out of curiousity, do you currently hold an office that is currently part of the Exec. Board?

What is the size of your chapter?

[SigKapChatter]

I am not currently on Exec. I was studying abroad last term and couldn't run for an office, but I was PanDel the year before. Currently we are at our largest membership in about 20 years at 95 women.

[FSUZeta]

many times the president's duty is to supervise and to make sure that the other officers are doing their job. sometimes the inclination is to "just do it yourself" because the person who is supposed to complete the task is dragging her feet-don't fall into that trap, or you might find yourself doing your job and theirs! a good president is on task and makes sure that the other officers are too.

delegate.

don't be afraid to ask for assistance when you need it.

engage your advisors-they're not paid for their time, are there because of the love they have for their organization and truly do have the chapters best interests at heart.

[skylark]

Originally Posted by AlphaFrog

I do agree, however, that there will be people that procrastinate their entire lives, and someone will have to pick up the slack, but again...no different that the "real world".

My comment about a sorority not being like a business is focused on this point that Alphafrog and I both agree on. I agree with her comparisons that sororities ARE like businesses in other ways.

My main point is that in business, if someone isn't carrying their weight they get fired or disciplined. I tried to instill increased accountability as chapter president and it backfired into lowering morale and in the end, the same people were accountable and the same people were unaccountable. Unsuccessful ways of doing this were: not letting officers add last minute things to nightly agenda meetings because it is supposed to be pre-approved by executive council; refusing to fax paperwork for an event to headquarters because an officer ALWAYS turned in the paperwork at the last minute (2-3 days before the event) instead of weeks in advance so that HQ can review it; refusing to delay a committee meeting 10-15 minutes because half the committee shows up late. Positive reinforcement (recognizing the people who do their job well) only worked so much... so as chapter president I initially thought that if you just refused to cooperate and clean up after others' irresponsibility that eventually people would learn to be punctual and responsible. I wish that instead I would have focused on other things entirely during that first semester of being President because it zapped so much of my energy putting out the hurt feelings it caused and I doubt it improved the chapter at all.

If you (or AlphaFrog) can think of ways to get people to be more accountable without doing lowering morale, that is great -- please share because I'd love to pass anything on to the chapter now that I am an advisor.

[skylark]

Originally Posted by SigKapChatter

Is there anything specifically that would make more frequent meetings with the recruitment chair helpful? Is it to ensure that progress has been made so that Work Week and Recruitment are less stressful? Or that we are on the same page for the kind of members we wanna recruit and how we can improve our strategy as a chapter for recruiting those girls? Something else?

I think the point of having more frequent meetings is so that there is good communication between the two offices. Many years it seemed like the Pres. and Recruitment chair were operating on different wavelengths with very different ideas about how to achieve certain goals. Think how much stronger two dedicated officers can be when you're focusing and prioritizing the same things! Is the priority goal to have more publicity about the chapter for the next recruitment? Is the priority goal to have better events planned? Is the priority goal to have a better recruitment workshop to help make chit chat less awkward? In an ideal world, we'd do everything, but the reality is that there need to be priorities and I think that the recruitment chair and president should make sure they are supporting eachother rather than zapping steam and chapter involvement from what the other officer sees as important, too.

[FSUZeta]

[QUOTE=skylark;1534774

My main point is that in business, if someone isn't carrying their weight they get fired or disciplined. I tried to instill increased accountability as chapter president and it backfired into lowering morale and in the end, the same people were accountable and the same people were unaccountable. If you (or AlphaFrog) can think of a way to get people to be more accountable without doing this, that is great, but I couldn't ever do it.[/QUOTE]

putting them in charge of planning and implementing an event can sometimes get thru to them. they begin to understand how much work planning and event takes and how good it feels when people participate in an event that they have planned(or how bad you feel when you do all this work and participation is minimal).

[AlphaFrog]

Originally Posted by skylark

My comment about a sorority not being like a business is focused on this point that Alphafrog and I both agree on. I agree with her comparisons that sororities ARE like businesses in other ways.

My main point is that in business, if someone isn't carrying their weight they get fired or disciplined. I tried to instill increased accountability as chapter president and it backfired into lowering morale and in the end, the same people were accountable and the same people were unaccountable. If you (or AlphaFrog) can think of a way to get people to be more accountable without doing this, that is great, but I couldn't ever do it.

Our chapter didn't hesitate to pull people out of postions (including Exec) who were not doing their job. Yes, those people probably got pissed, but we were a small chapter and couldn't afford to have officers not pulling their weight. Also, it IS the President's job to designate, but that doesn't mean that those officers can't designate further down the line. Not to say that you should get someone to do your job FOR you, but if you're the Rush chair, and you need to cut out 200 Dove nametags by tomorrow, and you've also got a physics test and an english paper due, it IS ok to pass the task on to someone else, rather than screwing yourself or it just not getting done. That would be a suggestion for the President to bring up at exec, or with a person privately who's not getting their job done. Something along the lines of "Rhonda Rushchair, why was there no maroon punch? If you don't have time to go to the store, it's OK to ask another sister to do it for you. We are all here to help you."

[skylark]

Originally Posted by skylark

My main point is that in business, if someone isn't carrying their weight they get fired or disciplined. I tried to instill increased accountability as chapter president and it backfired into lowering morale and in the end, the same people were accountable and the same people were unaccountable. Unsuccessful ways of doing this were: not letting officers add last minute things to nightly agenda meetings because it is supposed to be pre-approved by executive council; refusing to fax paperwork for an event to headquarters because an officer ALWAYS turned in the paperwork at the last minute (2-3 days before the event) instead of weeks in advance so that HQ can review it; refusing to delay a committee meeting 10-15 minutes because half the committee shows up late. Positive reinforcement (recognizing the people who do their job well) only worked so much... so as chapter president I initially thought that if you just refused to cooperate and clean up after others' irresponsibility that eventually people would learn to be punctual and responsible. I wish that instead I would have focused on other things entirely during that first semester of being President because it zapped so much of my energy putting out the hurt feelings it caused and I doubt it improved the chapter at all.

So this portion was an added edit a couple minutes ago.. I assumed that my edit would copy before the last two people read the comment or responded... sorry! Next time I will just respond again instead of assuming no one is reading the post yet.

[skylark]

Originally Posted by AlphaFrog

Our chapter didn't hesitate to pull people out of postions (including Exec) who were not doing their job. Yes, those people probably got pissed, but we were a small chapter and couldn't afford to have officers not pulling their weight.

I think this is an excellent point. How small of a chapter were you? I think the reason we never did this was because we had too many officers for the amount of people in the sorority and most had at least 2 offices already and so electing to remove people from office would have meant someone else in the chapter would have had to pick up a 3rd office. Just one more problem in chapters that is solved by having good numbers... (sigh)

[AlphaFrog]

We were around 30. And yes, at some point we had people in 2 exec offices AND a chair or officer position. But, that's where the designation comes in...one person doesn't have time to do all of that themselves, but most could get the sisters who weren't responsible enough to have the postion themselves to do things to help out.

ETA: SigKapChatter - it sounds like you DO have good numbers, so DO NOT let a sister sit in a postion and not do her job. Yes, that girl will probably be pissed when she gets kicked out of office, but it's better than letting the rest of the chapter get pissed at her for things not getting done (and you for letting her not do her job). Her pride will heal faster then the rest of the chapter's resentment.

[Tom Earp]

Passing the gavel can cause a lot of problems.

While what is said is to stay in the room with no hard feelings is not true.

The Human ego will not let that happen and it can fester into a bigger problem than is wanted or needed.

It is true, that if a person is not doing thier job, then sit down with them and discuss it with them. If that doesn't work, the total chapter knows and it will become a hardship on the chapter. If that is the case, they need to be removed for the betterment.

[SigKapChatter]

When I was talking about regular short sisterhoods, I didn't necessarily mean one as intense as pass the gavel every time. I think that would be overkill. And pass the gavel is not intended to solve person-to-person problems but rather air out some issue that is weighing down the whole chapter.

I don't just want to be a maintainer president that keeps the chapter from going down hill. I think we're really strong as we are, but that of course, we could use some improvements. I want to build people up, especially the officers.

Some issues that I see in the chapter are:
1. Respecting officers.
2. Participation in chapter events--whether philanthropies, community service, school pride events, everything except social events
3. A few officers not living up to their responsibilities.
4. Helping each and every member to be a better person than they were before they became Sigma Kappas.

I think these are pretty typical life issues that will never be completely solved. My girls are wonderful just as they are, but how can we make each other better? Do you have any advice for these issues?

I love the feedback I'm getting and I can really see how a lot of it will apply to our specific chapter. Thanks for the help!

[adpiucf]

Future Chapter Presidents: Rely on your adviser. You won't always have all the answers. Neither will she, but she can help you find them and the sooner you clue her in, the more quickly a disaster can be averted.

Hold Chapter-Wide Town Hall style meetings once a semester. This is an opportunity (timed -- keep it to one hour!) where everyone can speak up about issues bugging them and propose solutions that are in accord with chapter bylaws.

Be confrontational. Don't pick fights, but if someone acts inappropriately, address it.

If someone isn't pulling her weight --> pull her aside and tell her what she can do to improve. If the officer is not responsive and continues not to do her job --> take it to a standards hearing where she will have the opportunity to resign or complete a probation where she requires extra supervision to conduct her office duties. Should she fail the probation requirements, she will be removed from her office. This process allows the officers a chance to be put on notice, to get any back-up or help they need and a reasonable chance to do their job as they are expected.

Make a good impression on the new members. They see you as the ultimate ABC --> they will model your behavior inside and outside the chapter house. It's not cool for the chapter president to be carried home by a fraternity member because she got sick and embarrassed herself at a party. Get good grades. They are watching you. Act like a lady. They will follow you. Encourage them to get involved on campus and to become a sorority officer. They will listen if you follow your own example, and you will help ensure that all your hard work leaves a lasting legacy.