Accountability and Monitoring the Health of the Chapter

There you are, filling out the “Chapter Needs Assessment” again and asking yourself, “What good does this do?” Betty Jo Evers, International Vice President for Membership answers that question.

Why assess? Assessment is more than important; it is critical. The purpose of the Chapter Needs Assessment, a formative assessment, is to monitor success and give timely, up-to-date, action-orientated feedback. It helps identify strengths and weaknesses and targets areas for improvement. It provides unique and specific directions for chapters. Assessment is critical to the success of an organization whether formative, summative, or reflective.

There are at least nine benefits of formative assessment: 1. Defines Goals: Provides information upon which to set

S/P/N and/or chapter goals. 2. Need for Action: Acknowledges the need for growth and provides a pathway for growth. 3. Bonding: Provides a foundation for TEAMWORK. 4. Engagement: Identifies areas of interest of S/P/N and/or chapter members, which ensures participation in activities and projects. 5. Energy and Involvement: Increases motivation of members when they know where they are and where they want to be; then, they can decide how to get there. 6. Feedback: Focuses on positive and targets areas for improvement instead of negative, “what went wrong” statements. 7. Personalized: Receives information for individual S/P/N and/or chapters that is beneficial to them regardless of the size or location of their chapter. 8. Reflective: Determines individual S/P/N and/or chapter strengths, identifies what went well, what went “not so well” and why. 9. Data-Driven Decisions: Analyzing and using the data empowers members to make sound decisions in order to move forward.

Our members share their thoughts on the benefits of Alpha Delta Kappa’s assessments.

Fran Mitchell, PA Gamma, states, “It begins with completing the Member Needs Assessment (MNA) on pages 32-33 in the Membership Development Manual (MDM). The results represent the concerns and suggestions from each member in the chapter. It lets us know how we are doing, what is working best, and what directions might we explore. All the information from the MNA is examined, tallied and considered so we may move forward with programs of interest, altruistic activities, recognition of our members’ special achievements, educational excellence, etc. Completing the Chapter Needs Assessment was relatively easy using the MNA data as a basis. The overall results have shown that we can be diverse without being divided, each voice will be heard, and every sister is valued.”

“The Chapter Needs Assessment (CNA) is a thermometer of what is happening in a chapter,” states Beverly Fletcher, IA Vice President for Membership. “I summarized the chapter reports and used the information for two newsletter articles. My findings are clear with data information, summarizing both positive and negative statements, along with giving suggestions for chapter issues. Chapters have the responsibility to look within themselves in order to have growth and make any changes.”

“The CNA is a good record of the past year’s program strengths and weaknesses. Strong concentration in one area is a boring scenario for a chapter and leads to boredom and lack of interest for the members. Without diversity of programs in various areas, the chapter can become ineffective as it no longer offers meetings that are meaningful and engage the membership,” are words of interest from Sue McDowell, NJ Lambda.

Immediate Past NCR Membership Consultant Mary Ann Gerdes states, “Analyzing the CNAs helped me establish the regional goals, gleaning ideas for recruitment, retention and leadership from chapters. This information helps us keep our mission alive.”

OH Vice President for Membership Denise Sheely explains two benefits of completing the CNA. First, “The CNA asks for the average attendance for chapter meetings for the year. Many chapters were proud that this percentage didn’t decrease much from the previous years, especially during the pandemic. It is also a great indication whether programming is varied and interesting. Another positive reason for the CNA is to share resources. If a chapter didn’t include fraternity education activities often, the S/P/N membership consultant can recommend the resources on the Alpha Delta Kappa website.”

Past Gulf Regional Membership Consultant Debby Stubing says, “The CNA identifies chapters that may be struggling or