Campus Involvement

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Campus Involvement

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Campus involvement is something that can make or break a chapter on campus. It’s one thing to run a great fraternity, but it’s another to take it a step further by plugging men in on campus so they can grow outside of the chapter. Additionally, when your chapter is represented on every corner of campus, it brings prestige to your organization. It’s best to think of this area of programming as cultivating leadership on campus, which takes some ongoing planning.

ORGANIZE THE COMMITTEE

The structure for our recommended committee consists of multiple “organization captains”. These captains serve as the primary organizers of chapter involvement with organizations on campus. There should be an organization captain for each organization on campus, especially for the more high-profile organizations. If you are unable to identify enough chapter members to be involved with the committee, it is recommended to work to combine the outlined positions so that every event will have oversight and be successful. For example, if you only have five chapter members involved for 10 organizations, you can then combine the responsibilities of two organizations to each individual in the committee. Also, if you are able to identify more than enough chapter members to be involved with the committee, you may work to add positions so that you are not turning away help. For example, if you have 12 chapter members involved, you can give each person oversight of an organization and add more positions such as another organization captain for each important organization on campus to ensure these more important organizations are successful. The committee structure is very flexible and primarily used to ensure all of the responsibilities associated with the campus involvement program are completed. As long as you ensure that all responsibilities are accomplished and you are effectively engaging more chapter members, the campus involvement committee and program will be successful.

IDENTIFYING MAJOR STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS

There are always opportunities on campus to get involved. Many times, once a new member gets initiated he is hesitant to join another campus organization because of his newly established membership with PIKE. The reality is, any member who decides to join another organization is, in turn, doing PIKE a great service. By becoming involved in another organization that member is not only gaining additional benefits he would not be getting through PIKE, but he is extending the external value of the organization. Simply put, joining other student organizations will help a chapter with recruitment as well as public relations. For example, if a chapter has members who receive a student orientation position, they now have an untapped market of students to pull from that has not been utilized by other fraternities on campus. Orientation leaders are some of the first students who get face to face interaction with incoming freshman. Essentially, they can be the face of the school for these young men while establishing themselves as a resource. In time, this freshman will come to realize the reality of Greek life on campus, and eventually connect the dots between his orientation leader and PIKE. There are many important organizations on campus to consider being involved in including:

  • Inter-Fraternity Council
  • Student government
  • University affiliated clubs
  • Campus politics
  • Varsity athletics
  • Homecoming board
  • Band/choir/theater
  • Campus newspaper
  • Major-specific clubs
  • Volunteer service clubs
  • Student activities board
  • Professional fraternities
  • Residence hall assistant
  • Ethnic clubs
  • Spirit committee
  • Campus religious groups
  • ROTC
  • Honor societies

This list is non-exhaustive, and you likely have other organizations on your campus that are high-profile or prestigious. The name of the game is identifying what those are and building out the framework to establish regular representation within. To gain important campus positions, the chapter must start early. Top positions on campus require years of involvement to qualify, meaning that PIKE must motivate their new members to join these organizations early. Also, these positions are very competitive and it is often best to hedge your bet by motivating several members to go for them. PIKEs have the responsibility to lead their campus and it is important that everyone take this proactive approach to leadership. Finally, the easiest way to quickly get involved in these organizations is to recruit the men that are already involved in them. By recruiting these men, the chapter is a place to recruit more members from that organization and to help younger members achieve future leadership roles.

DOCUMENT CAMPUS INVOLVEMENT

A chapter’s campus involvement spreadsheet is designed to track all campus involvement of all members of the chapter. It is important to document this information because the chapter will only be able to identify which organizations it should strategically focus on if the chapter tracks the data.

 

For a more comprehensive look at the job description/responsibilities of an organization captain as well as additional support such as goal setting and budgeting, take a look at the campus involvement handbook.

By |2020-12-09T15:50:36-06:00December 9, 2020|President|0 Comments

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