Reducing barriers to GLO membership

[33girl]

That goes back to the national organizations. There are always awards for making quota and/or total, but I have yet to hear of a GLO that gives awards for retention, either till the end of pledging or till the end of members’ college careers.

[honeychile]

Originally Posted by 33girl

That goes back to the national organizations. There are always awards for making quota and/or total, but I have yet to hear of a GLO that gives awards for retention, either till the end of pledging or till the end of members’ college careers.

This would be well mentioned to each GLO, as it's more important to retain membership than to bid 1,000 women.

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by 33girl

That goes back to the national organizations. There are always awards for making quota and/or total, but I have yet to hear of a GLO that gives awards for retention, either till the end of pledging or till the end of members’ college careers.

AST has an award for this - the Growth & Retention Excellence award - and it is given to both collegiate and alumnae chapters. Multiple chapters can win the award at Convention (which just ended today). I can't quite remember the minimum requirements to earn it, but the handful of collegiate chapters who just won were announced as consistently meeting quota, total, and each of their retention rates are at 100% or VERY close to it.

[Gamma Xi Phi]

Originally Posted by andthen

I know many of us have seen changes within GLOs to make membership more inclusive and reducing barriers to potential membership, some of those general changes to some groups included removing legacy policies, and opening up the pool of membership to others who might have been previously excluded because of sexual orientation, gender identity, race/ethnicity etc...

Now I know there are differing opinions on these matters but I've been hearing talk in my circles that now GPA is a barrier to membership and perhaps there is a shift towards eliminating a GPA requirement?

I'm all for making Greek life more representative of the general population but honestly I just feel like throwing out a GPA requirement just seems a bit much, I'd be curious to see if others have been seeing anything similar or what thoughts the chorus might have.

GXP is a professional fraternity for artists and creators that was started on a college campus but has primarily a professional membership. Professional members do not have to have a college degree (although there are probably less than five who don't possess one).

Given that context, we still have collegiate chapters, and have made the decision that setting a national GPA requirement does not have value to us. Instead, our minimum standard is that students have the minimum GPA required by that campus for participation in campus activities. We value artistic aptitude, commitment to justice, and personal temperament more than grade point average, understanding that GPA is not just influenced by academic aptitude, but also mental health, adjustment to campus life, prior exposure and access, and in some cases, racist professors.

Chapters have the right to raise the minimum GPA in their local bylaws, so long as doing so doesn't create an arbitrarily small chapter size.

[carnation]

As a long-time professor and teacher, here's what I will take into account regarding GPA and any kind of recommendations.

Do you have a low GPA because of something that happened quite a while ago and are you taking steps to bring it up? Because if said situation happened some time ago and you are still demanding mercy for it while not studying or going to class, then don't come to me. I have had students who thought I should pass them or even give them a high grade because of something that happened to them years before or because they have a bad situation at home.

Many Greek women have had requests for recs for PNMs who have very low grades. Usually, the requester says that the girl has had XYZ bad thing happen to her so please give her a rec anyway. Then half the time, we find out that it happened years ago and the girl has made no effort to change/study/do better. Why should I recommend someone for any situation who is just going to drag down the group GPA or group morale, or constantly announce that she should be excused for jerk (or worse) behavior because of (insert reason that gets lamer every time she uses it)?

RESILIENCE. Are you making strong efforts to climb out of your hole? Because sh___ happens in life to all of us, be it disease or tragedy or evil bosses or professors, and you will not get far in life at all if you refuse to try to bounce back; no one wants to give you a pass or recommendation if you're not showing signs of recovery and/or resilience.

Unfortunately, most students I've had who have come in with a low GPA don't change that. They haven't learned how to or cared enough to learn how to study, even though colleges have tons of people and ways to help them. Some can be found in bars late into the night. Others show up for their first mental health appointment, then never again.

And all of this is why minimum GPAs need to be retained...because if you think someone with a 2.0 high school GPA is going to explode into academic brilliance, think again. That person is dragging other factors into college with them.

[FSUZeta]

Originally Posted by Gamma Xi Phi

GXP is a professional fraternity for artists and creators that was started on a college campus but has primarily a professional membership. Professional members do not have to have a college degree (although there are probably less than five who don't possess one).

Given that context, we still have collegiate chapters, and have made the decision that setting a national GPA requirement does not have value to us. Instead, our minimum standard is that students have the minimum GPA required by that campus for participation in campus activities. We value artistic aptitude, commitment to justice, and personal temperament more than grade point average, understanding that GPA is not just influenced by academic aptitude, but also mental health, adjustment to campus life, prior exposure and access, and in some cases, racist professors.

Chapters have the right to raise the minimum GPA in their local bylaws, so long as doing so doesn't create an arbitrarily small chapter size.

But here we are talking apples and oranges, as your org offers membership to people in the creative arts only (most chapters being professional, not collegiate), while NPC, IFC, NPHC, and MCGLOs have members from a multitude of disciplines who are still in college. GPA for GXP would be a moot point for most members.

[Gamma Xi Phi]

Originally Posted by FSUZeta

But here we are talking apples and oranges, as your org offers membership to people in the creative arts only (most chapters being professional, not collegiate), while NPC, IFC, NPHC, and MCGLOs have members from a multitude of disciplines who are still in college. GPA for GXP would be a moot point for most members.

The topic and original post said GLOs and we responded as such. That's fine if our situation doesn't apply to you, but it does to the topic.