Member Development: Pledging, Point Systems, Development Stages

Although this blog discusses the importance of having a fraternity website / sorority website, there are other important aspects of sorority/fraternity communication on which greek organization’s leaders should focus. One of these issues is ensuring that brothers/sisters of your chapter are enthusiastic members and remain very active through their senior year. How is a leader to achieve this? This entry will dicuss a few techniques greek organizations have used including the pledge model, point system, and development stages.

1. Pledge Model

The pledge model designates a period of time in which a member is on training wheels. The values of the organization, its principles and its way of operations are meant to be learned by the pledge until he/she is deemed suitable for full member status. For some chapters, this is effective by motivating the pledge to aspire to have full status so desperately that they value it for their remaining years as a full member.

The problem with the pledge model is that its traditionalism has carried over hazing practices in some circumstances. Unfortunately these methods have stigmatized the word “pledge” and induced negative connotations on greek life.

2. Point System

The point system uses a methodology to quantifying the activity and engagement of brothers/sisters in their fraternity/sorority. For example, in order for a sister to attend an upcoming social event, her sorority leaders may decide that all sisters must have a minimum of 10 points. These points can be earned through attendance at meetings, philanthropy events, intramurals, etc… This incentivizes participation in the chapter.

The problem with the point system is that by nature it prioritizes certain activities over others. Using the example above, a social event is seen as a reward whereas philanthropy is deemed as the “work” necessary to go to the social. For obvious reasons, this logic is backwards and counter-productive to the ideals of a sorority/fraternity.

Another issue with point system is keeping track of members' points. It’s not uncommon for disputes to surface regarding the amount of points members have. The system becomes complicated with taking attendance, keeping track, and having sisters keeping in-the-know on how many points they have. Fortunately there are services available that aid with organizing your point system and will be discussed in a future entry.

3. Development Stages

Some chapters have revolutionized the pledge model to make member development expand over the course of several years/levels. The idea is that member development should not be expected for only a period of pledgeship, but rather, it is a lifelong quest. Ha, okay.

The problem with using development stages is that you create a ranking system within your organization. Those brothers/sisters that commit to their organization 100% will excel and rank higher than older brothers/sisters who diversify their co-curriculars. Neither one of these personal choices is better than the other but the social hierarchy that develops can become a problem.

Communicating what is Important

As a leader of your fraternity/sorority, you must be selective in what information you communicate to your brothers/sisters. There is some information that you should communicate to the members of your greek organization, but there is also information that you should not tell your members.

Be Transparent

Your members have a right to know the status of your chapter. Be sure to communicate to them using a popular fraternity/sorority communication services. Keeping important information from your members will certainly upset them. Most importantly, be sure that your executive board and other important leaders in your greek organization are in the know with critical issues facing your chapter.

Avoid Too Much Information

At the same time, you have been elected to lead your fraternity/sorority because they think you are most capable of handling day-to-day issues, and you’re opinions and vindications are generally supported by your fraternity/sorority members. Holding long meetings and elaborating on mundane topics (which can be easily handled behind the scenes) will make your meetings insignificant and unimportant in the eyes of your brothers/sisters.

Above all, before you hold a meeting, be sure to select topics that are most important and pressing to your fraternity/sorority. Communicate these topics to your chapter using one of the communication services we discussed in a previous entry. As the message always is with this blog, communicating effectively is the most important component to successful fraternity/sorority leadership.

Fraternity/Sorority Relations

Keys to keeping your chapter happy

Most greek organizations elect a “Chaplain” or an “Internal Relations” officer within their chapter to assess and handle inter- fraternity and inter- sorority affairs. So what should does a chapter leader in a position of this need to know?

Encourage Communication!

This is most important. Most fraternity/sorority problems can be solved with some simple communication techniques and tools. Without getting into too much detail, by simply arranging for one member to sit down with another member, and you as a mediator present, most issues will resolve themselves. Trust me on this, sit both members down, face to face. This will encourage them to discuss their issues without going through other members in your fraternity/sorority. Communication and people’s true meanings always get distorted when they’re filtered through two/three members. It’s important to have the members explain themselves in a forthright manner. Once they meet eye-to-eye, all parties involved will realize how childish their disputes really are.

I found a great link for more information on communication techniques.

Facilitate Communication!

You need to know how to interpret brothers’ moods and emotions and how they work within the positive interests of your fraternity/sorority. But knowing how to read a person is easier said than done in a greek organization. So many factors will influence you: your friendships within your chapter, financial situations of brothers, hearsay and gossip, etc… For this reason, it’s very important to be objective with your brothers/sisters. I would suggest that you review information on the different types of communication (specifically nonverbal communication).