CONTENT Priorities AFLV
HEALTH & Saftey
Issues that impact the health and safety of members and guests are the most critical issues facing today’s fraternity & sorority experience.
Do we have the knowledge and experience to address health and safety issues appropriately… at both the student and institutional/organizational level?
IS WHAT WE'VE BEEN DOING WORKING?
If we need to discontinue ineffective practices, let’s do it. And let’s look beyond the fraternity/sorority ecosystem to identify the public health strategies that are proven to be effective and apply them to our experience.
HOW PEOPLE Join
With the changing landscape and demographic shifts within higher education, it’s critical that we evaluate the systems and structures by which people join fraternities & sororities.
We should ask ourselves...
WHO ARE THE SYSTEMS DESIGNED FOR?
WHO ARE AVAILING THEMSELVES OF THESE SYSTEMS?
AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, WHO ISN'T ACCESSING THEM... AND WHY?
Our systems need to be reevaluated and built with a minimum expectation of access and inclusion. The language we use and how we describe the fraternity/sorority experience should reflect today’s college students with clarity a main priority.
PRIORITIZING Belonging
The fraternity/sorority experience should exist in a manner that prioritizes and reinforces a sense of mattering and belonging for its members.
Feeling connected, accepted and included can impact our members in many positive ways and strengthen the bonds we hope to create through membership.
On the other hand, an experience where members feel excluded or ignored can cause negative emotions that can lead to increased feelings of anxiety, depression, and loneliness…all of which already impact college students in disproportionate ways.
Campuses need communities of students that support individual well-being and create equitable avenues for individuals to participate. ; let that be us
Mattering+
Basics COVERING THE
The past few years disrupted the normal operations and interactions of the fraternity & sorority experience. And while the transition between officers and leaders has often been a needed area of improvement, that process just simply didn’t happen far too often during this time.
How can we create next best practices at the organizational level when our leaders haven’t experienced a simple practice yet?
HOW MUCH INSTITUTIONAL MEMORY HAVE WE LOST?
DO WE KNOW HOW TO FACILITATE A MEETING? PLAN AN EVENT? HOW TO BUDGET?
HOW DO WE CREATE A PLACE FOR ACTUALIZATION BEFORE WE TEND TO THE NEGLECTED SYSTEMS THAT BUILD OUR COMMUNITY FOUNDATION?
LEVELS OF Accountability
An accountability cycle exists within the fraternity & sorority experience with several levels; peer accountability, organization to organization accountability, and campus/headquarter accountability. Each level requires additional clarity and resourcing for issues to be addressed as early in the cycle as possible.
STUDENTS ARE STRUGGLING WITH EFFECTIVE CONFLICT RESOLUTION AMONG THEIR PEERS.
Structures of self-governance are outdated and not effective. When we view accountability through situations where University or Organizational conduct processes will apply and ultimately outweigh individual or organizational decisions, it creates uncertainty about the roles councils and chapters can play in holding each other accountable.
Campuses should have a clear, demonstrated system of organizational conduct, that includes prioritizing partnering with fraternity & sorority national organizations and educating student leaders how to effectively hold their peers accountable.
STUDENT Success
Fraternity & sorority should be a process where thinking is clarified and skills are developed. There needs to be a stronger emphasis on identifying and supporting students' skill development, in a way that translates in college and beyond, into the professional world. It has to be more than “ we planned events”.
CAN WE BETTER BALANCE CHAPTER OUTCOMES TO REFOCUS AND REFRAME THE INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT OF SKILLS TAKING PLACE IN THE EXPERIENCE?
Skills like: leading teams, communication, facilitation, conflict management, budgeting, time-management.
And isn’t career mentorship a better way to engage alumni than the weekend BBQ? More than ever, college students prioritize opportunities to support and enhance their progression and career trajectory.
THIS MUST BE AN EXPERIENCE WHERE OUR MEMBERS DEVELOP CORE SKILLS
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