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Spring 2012

The Delta Chi Radford Core Competency Report Fraternity

Representative:BrettHerring
DateofReport:9/24/11

LeadershipConsultant 3196212085,BrettH@deltachi.org

DearBrothers,
I would like to thank the brothers of the Radford Chapter for welcoming me to town. I had a great time getting to know everyone and had some very productive conversations. The Chapter has done a lot of good things in the short time that school has been in session. From the sounds of it, everyone is very excited about the potential of the Associate Member Class this fall. Also, Dr. Burke and Dr. Owen led a successful officer retreat to start of the year. Keep the goals that were set in mind as you move through the semester. With that said, there are still many things to work on. First and foremost, establish a relationship with Robert, the Greek Life Coordinator. He is relatively new on campus and I challenge you to start building a positive working relationship right off the bat. He can be a valuable asset to the Chapter on its continued drive for success. I hope you found the visit helpful and that you are able to use what we discussed and the action items listed in this report to make Delta Chi something great on campus.

ImportantDates
10/13 Founders Day! 10/15 C: Hold-over & New Associate List, Fall Membership List due D: Risk Management Assessment due 11/1 C: BB Election/Reelection C: ABT List due E: Winter/Spring Quarterly Campus Scene

12/1

InTheBond, BrettHerring

You cannot expect to remain the same and for your life to be different.

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TheCoreCompetenciesModel
Whatdoesittakeforafraternitytobesuccessful?WhatdoesittakeforDeltaChitobesuccessful onourcampus? Intryingtoanswerthesequestions,weoftenfindourselvesfallingbackon,Well,itdepends. Whileweacknowledgetheuniquenessofeachcampusculture,wevefoundthatthereareeight coreareasoffraternityoperationsthatareessentialtobuildingarelevant,sustainable organization. Theseeightareas,orcompetencies,andthecorecompetenciesmodelwillbeourvehicletoopen discussionsregardingtheinterconnectednessofpreviousseeminglyseparatefraternityfunctions. Forexample,itonlyminimallyimpactsachapterorcolonyiftheyinitiate50%morementhanin thepreviousyearonlytoseehalfofthosemenchoosetobeoninactivestatuswithintwoyears. Wehavetolookattheoverallimpactofrecruitment,newmemberretention,andtheeffectof inactivemembersonthegroupsstrength.Theseare,infact,theelementsoftheManpower competency. Theeightcorecompetenciesare: Advising&Governance AlumniRelations FinancialManagement Housing

Involvement Manpower MembershipEducation Scholarship

Youmayfindthatyourchapterorcolonyisexceptionalinseveralcompetencies,butcoulduse someworkinafew.Ourstaffisheretohelpwiththis!TheOpportunitiesforImprovement sectionincludedinthisreportincludesactionitemscorrespondingwithspecificcore competencies.Duringachapter/colonyvisit,theLeadershipConsultantlearnsfrom

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conversationswithyourmembersaboutthechapter/colonyscurrentachievementineachofthe eightcorecompetencies.Hethenworkswithyoutodevelopactionitems,oropportunitiesfor improvement,toassisttheofficersandchairmeninelevatingtheirchapter/colonysachievements tothenextlevel. Youllalsofindthatwerepromotingaconsistent,clearmessageacrossourvisitationprogram, colonydevelopmentandawards&recognitionprogram.Nowyoullbeabletospeakonthesame wavelengthwithotherchaptersandusetheactionitemsfromthesereportstoprovidecontentfor yourcharteringpetitionorawardspacket.

OpportunitiesForImprovement
Advising & Governance:
Addresses opportunities for improvement regarding the Alumni Board of Trustees, BB Involvement, Faculty Advisor, by-laws, judicial board, and business meetings.

Action Item: Establish a relationship with the Greek Advisor. Who is Involved: A Deadline: Throughout the semester How: Something we discussed at length was, forming a relationship with the Greek Advisor, Robert Marias. In a time when the administration is trying to change the culture of the Greek community, its important that Delta Chi is on the same page with the University. This can only be done through regular communication and building an open line of communication with Robert. In order to create a positive relationship consider the following: Josh and/or the future A should stop by Roberts office at lease twice a month. Give him updates, come with questions, or simply chat. Allow him to put a name to a face and be a positive representation of Delta Chi.

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Invite Robert to at least one Chapter event per semester. This will allow him to meet the Chapter as a whole, and see it in action. He is also offering to lead a Chapter Responsibility Retreat that I believe will be beneficial. Any time that the University wants to implement a change, do it. Realize that the administration directly overseeing Greek Life must do something to shift the culture of the Greek community. Due to the recent incidents on campus their superiors are expecting something to be done. Look for the positive that can come out of a change being mandated by the University.

Action Item: Catch up with the outstanding PR Forms and stay on top of future initiations. Resources Needed: "C" Manual, "C" Reference Sheet, Schedule of Dues and Online Forms Who is Involved: C Deadline: 9/30/11 (If taken care of disregard) How: Currently, 16 brothers, from the fall of 08 to the fall of 2010, do not have PR forms submitted to Delta Chi. So, Delta Chi Law says that they are not Delta Chis. Please get these filled out and mailed to Delta Chi ASAP. Not staying on top of your paperwork can create many problems and results in unnecessary fines that the Chapter can easily avoid. A couple reminders: Turn in the CMRs on time. Also make sure to include the names of newly associated men so we can include them on the insurance coverage! Make sure to turn in turn in reports when they are due. The C reference sheet lists due dates, but I will include them below: October 15-- Hold-over and New Associate Member List and Fall Membership List November 1-- "BB" Election/Re-election (in non-convention years) December 1-- ABT List and Housing Corporation List February 15-- Spring Membership List April 15-- Graduates List, Associate Member Status Report and Summer Addresses for officers and house plans These reports allow headquarters to not only have accurate, updated contact information, but they also prevent the Chapter from being billed unnecessarily. Fill out PR Forms for all new members and for all members on file who do not have one. The PR Form is necessary to be officially initiated into Delta Chi. You now have a list of all members who do not have a PR Form on file, so please make sure you get those done immediately.

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o One thing we also discussed was having PR Forms for Associate Members completed at their first AM Education meeting. If a man disassociates it is easy to dispose of the form. This method will save you the hassle of scrambling two weeks before the initiation date to get these forms completed. Action Item: Create officer notebooks for all Executive Board and Committee Chairmen positions Resources Needed: http://deltachi.org/resources/reference_material.php, Chairman Plan Forms Who is Involved: All Executive Board Officers and Committee Chairmen Deadline: ASAP How: Each Officer and Chairman needs to go to the link above and print out all of the Critical and Important Information listed under their position. They should place all of this material in a 2-3 inch binder and add pages for notes and reflection. The Chapter should reimburse each member for the cost of creating the binders since they will be passed down each year. It is important that each Officer and Chairman takes notes throughout the semester on everything that they do in their position, important dates and important contacts. All Chairmen should be filling out event forms, an example was provided by Dr. Burke, but feel free to tweak the form, as needed, for every event the plan and executer. These forms should be placed in the notebooks as a tool for future Chairman to review.

Alumni Relations:
Addresses opportunities for improvement regarding the alumni newsletter, E position, alumni events, chapter website and contact records.

Action Item: Speak with Delta Chi about alumni contact information. Who is Involved: E Deadline: ASAP How: Alumni support is something that every chapter wants and needs. The first step to garnering alumni support is finding out how to get in touch with them. When we spoke, it was expressed that the current alumni contact list is not very in-depth, mainly consisting of recent graduates. We talked about getting in touch with headquarters to get a listing of alumni that Delta Chi has on file. The limitation of this is that Delta Chis

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contact list is only as good as the information that is given to us so it is not a complete list of the people who you could be reaching. A second resource would be those alumni who you are currently in contact with. They can reach out to one other person, who can reach out to another and, like recruiting, every next person you contact maybe able to reach out to someone else.

Financial Management:
Addresses opportunities for improvement regarding the budget, dues collection, financial practices & policies, savings, and tax requirements.

Action Item: Establish a new dues collection process Resources Needed: Financial Management BRIEF Who is Involved: D Deadline: The End of the Semester How: A chapter is a business; the Fraternity and its chapters cannot afford to carry a large accounts receivable. At the start of this semester, the Chapter still had nearly $2,000 outstanding from the previous semester. This is unacceptable considering that dues are only $330 for active members. Sound financial management is a key component to any successful organization. It is unfair to punish those who do pay because a couple members refuse to pay in a timely manner. A sound, but fair, collections process needs to be developed in order to make sure that this problem does not occur in the future. Some suggestion to improving your collections rate can be found in the Financial Management BRIEF. A few things to consider: Do not be afraid to be tough on members, speak up if they are falling behind. You are off to a good start with this from what I saw during the visit, but make sure you are consistent. Make sure that Associate Members are aware of their financial obligation to the Chapter from the beginning. All monetary questions should be taken care of during the recruitment process. Have members sign a contract acknowledging their financial responsibility and write out consequences from failing to meet these requirements. Offer discounts for early and/or lump sum payments.

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Make it known that a payment plan can be established. Each plan may have to be personalized, but make it so that the individual is making an honest effort, within his means, to live up to his financial obligation.

Involvement:
Addresses opportunities for improvement regarding campus involvement & leadership, philanthropy participation, community service initiatives, campus relations, and intramural participation.

Action Item: Get more involved with IFC. Who is Involved: A, IFC Delegate Deadline: ASAP How: The Interfraternity Council is the governing body of the fraternities on campus. At this is a time of change on campus, it is important to be involved in the decision making process. A goal for the Chapter should be for one member to at least run for election for the 2012 IFC Executive Board. This will show that you, as a Chapter, are serious and want to be more involved in the future of the Greek Community at Radford. There was also some concern expressed about the transparency of the IFC Board. The easiest way to know whats going on is to have someone representing Delta Chi on the Board.

Member Education:
Addresses opportunities for improvement regarding educational aspects of the Associate Member program, GreekLifeEDU, risk management education, and on-going education (RLCs, Convention, As Academy, UIFI, etc)

Action Item: Review Ritual and continue ongoing education. Resources Needed: Delta Chi Ritual Who is Involved: A, F, Dr. Burke, Chapter Deadline: Wednesday 9/28/11 and once a month afterwards How: Living the Ritual may sound clich, but our Ritual is what separates us from every other Greek and non-affiliated student on campus. Our Ritual gives us a road map as to how to be the best people we can be. The Ritual says how we should respect others and ourselves, how we should hold one another accountable, and how we should stand up

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for what is right. Therefore, review and continually educating our members about the importance of Ritual and its meaning is an important part of being a Delta Chi. An idea discussed was breaking the Ritual into small sections. At least once a month, hold a ritualistic chapter meaning and after running through the ceremony spend about 15 minutes reviewing one or two sections in-depth. This will give brothers the opportunity to ask questions they may have. Dr. Burke has made it known that he is planning on facilitating discussion on Ritual and its meaning, so schedule a time with him to coordinate the meetings. Continued education on the Ritual will assist members in appreciating the Ritual and in living its values. Action Item: Create an Associate Member Education Program based on our discussion. Resources Needed: New Member Education BRIEF Who is Involved: AMC, Chapter Deadline: ASAP How: Step one: elect an AMC. Rush is over and its time to start integrating the AMs into the Chapter. Step two: put a program in writing. Take the time to create a program that can be used for years to come. Once you have a program written out, have it looked over by both Dr. Burke and Robert to see if they have any improvements and get their stamp of approval. A couple of things we discussed were to have the F and/or the Recruitment Chair come into one of the first two meetings to speak about their roles. The Recruitment Chairman should get feedback from the AMs about: What they liked; events, conversations and selling points. What they did not like; ask for ideas from them to make them feel involved in the process What they would want to see the brothers improve on for the upcoming recruitment opportunities. Finally, remember these new guys are the ones that live on the dorm floors and most likely have the most contact with potential new members. Encourage them to be proactive in recruiting for Delta Chi and invite the people they meet to get to know the Fraternity.

Second, the F should speak at the first or second Associate Member Meeting, opposite of the Recruitment Chairman, about the guidelines when it comes to social events. If

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you start early there should be no questions of what is and is not allowed. The F should: Go over the FIPG Risk Management Policy with the AMs. o Break it down in more understandable language o Allow them to ask questions and explain the reason behind the rules so it does not just go in one ear and out the other. Explain some of the specific guidelines that you have in place for social events such as sober brothers and guest policies. Have them complete the GreekLifeEDU program. o This online course is a great opportunity to provide the AMs with educational information on alcohol and its effects, sexual misconduct and hazing. o Delta Chi is offering a $15 credit for each member of the Chapter, active and AM, who completes the program. Be on the lookout for information regarding registration and encourage all of your members to take advantage of this opportunity.

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FinalThoughts
Thankyouonceagainforagreat,productivevisit.ThemembersoftheRadfordChapterareall motivatedtomakeapositiveimpactandbuildDeltaChiintosomethinggreatoncampus. ThisfallwillbeatimeofchangefortheChapterandtheGreekCommunityatRadford.Ichallenge youalltoworkdiligentlyandformmeaningfulrelationshipsandcreatepositivechange.Theactions thatyoualltakethissemesterwillgoalongwayinsettingthefutureforDeltaChi.Imexcitedtosee whatthefuturehasinstoreforyouindividuallyandasaChapter.Stayintouchandifyouneeddo nothesitatetogetintouch.Iamheretohelp. Goodluckwiththesemesterandstayontrack!

InTheBond, BrettHerring Florida11 LeadershipConsultant Cell:3196212085 Email:BrettH@deltachi.org

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