I want to be a Greek Advisor or Student Life Administrator!

[southernbuff]

I have a question that hopefully can be answered here....I am wondering if there is any policy or practice regarding Greek life advisors. What is standard staffing goal in Greek Life offices for colleges with
a. colleges and universities with 1-5 Greek chapters
b. colleges and universities with 6-10 Greek Chapters
c. colleges and universities with 11-20 Greek chapters
d. colleges and universities with 20+ Greek chapters

If there are large numbers of chapters, both sororities and fraternities, do Greek life offices employ both an advisor for sororities and for fraternities?

What about half time employees...could one staff member working half time manage a Greek life office where there are 8 or more sororities (with each chapter at or above 180 members)?

Also, are students allowed to work in the Greek life office as well? Seems like student workers would pose a conflict of interest especially of the student workers are also Greek.

Thanks for any input. I've been having discussions with several Greek alumnae from various chapters about this issue and thought I'd come to this forum to get more info.

[ta kala]

Originally Posted by southernbuff

I have a question that hopefully can be answered here....I am wondering if there is any policy or practice regarding Greek life advisors. What is standard staffing goal in Greek Life offices for colleges with
a. colleges and universities with 1-5 Greek chapters
b. colleges and universities with 6-10 Greek Chapters
c. colleges and universities with 11-20 Greek chapters
d. colleges and universities with 20+ Greek chapters

If there are large numbers of chapters, both sororities and fraternities, do Greek life offices employ both an advisor for sororities and for fraternities?

What about half time employees...could one staff member working half time manage a Greek life office where there are 8 or more sororities (with each chapter at or above 180 members)?

Also, are students allowed to work in the Greek life office as well? Seems like student workers would pose a conflict of interest especially of the student workers are also Greek.

Thanks for any input. I've been having discussions with several Greek alumnae from various chapters about this issue and thought I'd come to this forum to get more info.

From my experience, there is no standard. From the four universities I've either attended or worked at, all had communities had over 20 chapters and each had a different model:

1. Two staff members, two graduate assistants, multiple student interns/workers (2 councils)
2. Five staff members, three grad assistants, multiple student interns/workers (4 councils)
3. One staff member (me), 1/2 grad assistant (shared with coworker) (4 councils)
4. Five and a half staff members (shared with leadership office), no grad students, multiple student interns/workers (3 councils)

Where I have seen the need for more staff is the size of the community (percentage of students who join) and if there is housing. For example, the #3 school was only 3% Greek, while the #4 school is closer to 40% Greek. That school also has a live on requirement for sophomore year and the fraternities/sororities are a large part of that.

Hope that helps!

[33girl]

Originally Posted by ta kala

From my experience, there is no standard. From the four universities I've either attended or worked at, all had communities had over 20 chapters and each had a different model:

1. Two staff members, two graduate assistants, multiple student interns/workers (2 councils)
2. Five staff members, three grad assistants, multiple student interns/workers (4 councils)
3. One staff member (me), 1/2 grad assistant (shared with coworker) (4 councils)
4. Five and a half staff members (shared with leadership office), no grad students, multiple student interns/workers (3 councils)

Where I have seen the need for more staff is the size of the community (percentage of students who join) and if there is housing. For example, the #3 school was only 3% Greek, while the #4 school is closer to 40% Greek. That school also has a live on requirement for sophomore year and the fraternities/sororities are a large part of that.

Hope that helps!

I take it #3 had many NPHC and MC GLOs to have that many groups and only be 3% of the student body??

Southernbuff - has the system grown rapidly in a short period of time?

[ta kala]

Originally Posted by 33girl

I take it #3 had many NPHC and MC GLOs to have that many groups and only be 3% of the student body??

Southernbuff - has the system grown rapidly in a short period of time?

You're right - 8 NPHC, 3 MGC

Southernbuff, a lot will depend on the school's goals for their community. Depending on what they are trying accomplish, the school may not see the need for additional support. I think the students can start by benchmarking other schools with similar chapter numbers/size and see if there are programs happening at other schools with more support that will allow their school to succeed.

[southernbuff]

Thanks ta kala. So according to what you have suggested, a half time staff member with no student intern help would likely not have enough time to support a school with 9 sororities with houses that accommodate 80+ members and total of 180!

Next question...how do students begin to affect change on campus to get more support from university officials?