Need Help: Scholarship in the Pits

[ScarletBlueGold]

My chapter's GPA is bad, and to say that it is disappointing would be an understatement

My chapter's GPA is now second-to-last among Fraternities (I don't know how we even managed to swing that, but someone did worse than us.)

Not only is it worse than the average All-Fraternity GPA, but it is worse than the average All-Male and All-Greek GPA.

We have tried multiple different kinds of legislation. Even a clause in our constitution immediately removing brothers with below a 1.0 from the chapter, but it doesn't seem to help. Our GPA used to be the highest among all Greeks and

Finally, to give you an idea of how bad I'm talking, we have 14 brothers with GPAs lower than a 2.5 and two brothers with 0.0 GPAs.

What has your chapter done in the past? What are some things you have heard chapters doing in the past?

[Smile_Awhile]

You may have the clause in the constitution, but did you enforce it? If you didn't, then they know that it doesn't matter and the behavior will continue.

Do you have sanctions against brothers who don't meet standard (2.5, I'm assuming?). And by sanctions, I mean social probation, proctored study hours, etc.

Do the brothers want this to change? There has to be some who do- you can't go anywhere if no one cares.

One program that seemed to be semi-successful for my chapter was one-on-one meetings. We had one sister who had a consistently low GPA- at midterm, we started meeting once a week. I made sure that she was staying on top of her homework. I bugged her through texting, Facebook, everything. It not only helped her grades, but it also improved our bonds as sisters. With a larger portion of brothers, I'd ask for volunteers from your Exec board, or other high-performing brothers, to perform this mentor role. It may seem like more of a pain in the butt, but if someone's constantly on them, they have no excuses.

[ToledoAOII]

There are a couple other things you can do:
Restrict social activities to members who have GPA's below the desired goal ie. below 2.5 = no social events
Also, you can reward brothers for good grades (my bf's chapter does this). 4.0 for the semester = $50 break on dues, 3.75 = $30, etc, however you want to set it up.

The biggest thing is, you have to find some older guys that are willing to lead by example and get them to show the rest of your chapter that you can have fun AND do well in classes. You may want to get one of them to proctor mandatory study hours.

Good luck!

[ScarletBlueGold]

Thanks for the advice guys

I especially liked the idea of the one-on-ones.

To answer your questions: yes, we have followed our constitution and unfortunately had to remove a legacy from our Fraternity last year because of it.

It really has been a bad year for us. Weird thing is, a lot of guys with typically good GPAs scored miserably last year.

Anyway, thanks for the tips. If you have any others I'd love to hear them

[Gusteau]

Do you have any type of study sessions for members on academic probation? We're trying something new this year where everyone is divided into small groups based on majors/discipline and those groups pick a study day each week where all of the brothers on probation are required to attend and the brothers in good standing in the group rotate to proctor and help with classwork, etc.

I know it sucks forcing brothers inactive, but you might want to consider raising the academic requirements in your by-laws or at least raising the required GPA to receive a bid.

[pshsx1]

If any of us get below a 2.6 (cumulative or semester), we get placed on some kind of academic probation.
If the semester GPA is under 2.6, the chapter takes away all of our letter and we can't wear any. Also, we have to meet with a member Standards Board every week.
If the cumulative GPA is under 2.6, the chapter takes away all letters and privileges to wear them, limits what social functions can be attended, and will not allow the brother to receive a Little. Also, the brother must get a progress report every week, meet with a member of the Standards Board every week, and attend 1-hour study sessions once a week.
In extreme cases, all of the above applies, just a lot more rigid.
After 2 semesters of a GPA under 2.6, the brother is expelled from the chapter for 2 semesters.
Also, when on academic probation, some or all stipulations can be lifted after midterm grades come in and the brother is doing well.

[lucgreek]

Enforce your academic requirements in your constitution. Kick brothers out that do not meet the GPA standard. It's harsh, but being touchy-feely (no offense to the person above, but i don't know how punishing a brother by not letting them wear letters would do anything) about it and having empty threats does nothing. When people joined your org they knew all the requirements going into it (and if they didn't then you should review your membership education process).

Consider having a tiered system where if you fall in certain GPA ranges you have to do a certain number of study hours or meet with a designated brother to go up to date on progress. i.e. between a 3.0 and 4.0 you have no restrictions. 2.5-3.0 you have 5 mandatory study hours a week. 2.0-2.5 10 mandatory study hours, social event restrictions, and meet with a the scholarship person to report progress on grades for the week. 2.0 and below you are removed from the fraternity. If the people under certain restrictions don't do what they are required then also remove them.

Also, reward brothers in some way who have great GPAs, like maybe a drawing at the end of the semester for a $200 scholarship or something.

[VandalSquirrel]

My school has an office that puts on workshops all semester for study skills and test taking, and some people are eligible for more tutoring (TRiO and SSS) so I'd definitely check into those offices and resources on campus. This office also runs study groups for groups of students, so outside help could count and not burn out members. I've seen in various groups those with varying study styles, or higher grades proctoring all those hours can lead to resentment and scheduling conflicts. Using these workshops or study groups, or utilizing the writing center, TAs, and professors office hours should count as well.

I'd also like to point out that sometimes a student has a learning, or other disability they don't want to tell people about, or haven't been diagnosed. A lot of psychological issues start to show in young adults and can cause low academic achievement, or just regular issues like being homesick, substance abuse, adjusting to college, family problems at home and so the like. It is a very sensitive subject, but it is something to keep on the radar and should be offered as a campus resource. SoandSo may be partying a lot and missing class as a way of self medicating, and the campus counseling center is equipped to handle that.

[perfectinpurple]

My chapter has a rule that if your GPA drops below a 2.5 you go on probation (no social events) and you must complete so many hours of supervised studying (I think its 10) with our Scholarship chair per week.

We also implemented a really fun, and motivating scholarship program this year. We called it scholarship baseball. How it worked was we were split up into teams and each team had a captain. Throughout the month you would report your good grades on papers, exams, quizzes, midterms etc to your team captain. As on an exam or midterm counted as a "homerun", while As on other assignments counted as a "triple". Bs on exams and midterms were "dounles" and Bs on other assignments were a "single". At the end of each month the team with the most points got a prize, and at the end of the semester the team with the most points got an even better prize!!

It takes some cooperation, and effort to tally up the points and even just to send them in but it was a great success in our chapter; We went from 17/19 for sorority GPA to 9/19!!! Maybe something similar would work well for you guys too... For some reason making it a competition always seems to kick people into high gear.

[XO Love]

my chapter's gpa was pretty low, but we had a really good scholarship chair that helped us turn around. one thing she implemented as "the a list" it was posted in a main hallway and whenever someone got an a on a test/quiz/paper etc they wrote their name and the assignment. she announced them at chapter every week and made a big deal out of it. i think it was pretty motivating.

also, we passed a jar around each week where girls would write their name and if they skipped none or one class that week. at the end of the semester the girl who skipped the least amount of classes got a prize. (and negatively, you saw who just passed the jar each week and it was kind of embarassing if you always skipped class)

and we did the usual things like study hours, etc.

[perfectinpurple]

Originally Posted by XO Love

my chapter's gpa was pretty low, but we had a really good scholarship chair that helped us turn around. one thing she implemented as "the a list" it was posted in a main hallway and whenever someone got an a on a test/quiz/paper etc they wrote their name and the assignment. she announced them at chapter every week and made a big deal out of it. i think it was pretty motivating.

also, we passed a jar around each week where girls would write their name and if they skipped none or one class that week. at the end of the semester the girl who skipped the least amount of classes got a prize. (and negatively, you saw who just passed the jar each week and it was kind of embarassing if you always skipped class)

and we did the usual things like study hours, etc.

We do this too, in an empty Skippy peanut butter jar. We call it the "No Skippy" jar.

[pearlbubbles]

Originally Posted by perfectinpurple

We do this too, in an empty Skippy peanut butter jar. We call it the "No Skippy" jar.

Hahaha, we have an empty Skippy peanut butter jar too. But ours is you and your roommate/a study buddy. It's a nice way to hold other people accountable, I think.