Post by greeky on Dec 28, 2010 19:13:18 GMT -5
UNC-Chapel Hill wants to hold its fraternity and sorority members to higher academic standards.
Officials are developing a performance-based recruiting system aimed at providing more structure to the traditional fraternity rush, the period at the start of the semester when fraternities find new members.
The standards, which have not yet been ironed out, likely would touch on academic performance markers such as grade point averages, progress toward graduation, and academic retention, as well as proper social behavior.
The movement toward higher standards was prompted by two incidents last year that drew unwanted attention to the Greek system.
Delta Kappa Epsilon's president, Courtland Smith, was shot dead by an Archdale police officer during an October 2009 encounter along Interstate 85. It happened hours after Smith had left a fraternity party.
The fraternity was later sanctioned for alcohol violations stemming from that party.
A month later, four UNC-CH students with fraternity or sorority ties were arrested on cocaine charges.
Those incidents led to an analysis of the Greek system that, in part, recommended greater participation from alumni.
That exercise, in turn, led campus trustees to look at how fraternities at other universities recruit new members.
At the outset, some trustees expected to find reasons to push recruitment back from fall to spring to let new students get acclimated to college before joining Greek organizations. But the analysis turned up mixed messages. Some universities have successful fall recruitment, while others do well in the spring. No clear direction emerged.
What did become clear was the need for higher academic expectations for fraternities, which currently must maintain a 2.5 GPA, said Alston Gardner, the UNC-CH trustee who led the committee that conducted the analysis. "That standard of 2.5 has been the same standard we've had for 50 years," Gardner said. "And we've had significant grade inflation."
So student affairs officials are now working on a new system that will limit the amount of time spent on rush and Greek education activities, provide more information on Greek life to incoming students, and address cultural issues related to hazing and alcohol abuse.
The carrot here is what is called "official recognition," which fraternities and sororities must maintain from the university in order to stay in the good graces of their national chapters.
Fraternities and sororities that meet the new standards will receive the recognition, and those that don't may have limited recruiting.
"The university is currently trying to make sure our groups maximize their potential in terms of character development, student involvement and academic performance," said Brent Macon, a Sigma Chi member and head of the university's Interfraternity Council. "I appreciate their willingness to help facilitate academic development."
Campus trustees will discuss the matter in January.
www.newsobserver.com/2010/12/28/884864/unc-ch-considers-new-rules-for.html#
Officials are developing a performance-based recruiting system aimed at providing more structure to the traditional fraternity rush, the period at the start of the semester when fraternities find new members.
The standards, which have not yet been ironed out, likely would touch on academic performance markers such as grade point averages, progress toward graduation, and academic retention, as well as proper social behavior.
The movement toward higher standards was prompted by two incidents last year that drew unwanted attention to the Greek system.
Delta Kappa Epsilon's president, Courtland Smith, was shot dead by an Archdale police officer during an October 2009 encounter along Interstate 85. It happened hours after Smith had left a fraternity party.
The fraternity was later sanctioned for alcohol violations stemming from that party.
A month later, four UNC-CH students with fraternity or sorority ties were arrested on cocaine charges.
Those incidents led to an analysis of the Greek system that, in part, recommended greater participation from alumni.
That exercise, in turn, led campus trustees to look at how fraternities at other universities recruit new members.
At the outset, some trustees expected to find reasons to push recruitment back from fall to spring to let new students get acclimated to college before joining Greek organizations. But the analysis turned up mixed messages. Some universities have successful fall recruitment, while others do well in the spring. No clear direction emerged.
What did become clear was the need for higher academic expectations for fraternities, which currently must maintain a 2.5 GPA, said Alston Gardner, the UNC-CH trustee who led the committee that conducted the analysis. "That standard of 2.5 has been the same standard we've had for 50 years," Gardner said. "And we've had significant grade inflation."
So student affairs officials are now working on a new system that will limit the amount of time spent on rush and Greek education activities, provide more information on Greek life to incoming students, and address cultural issues related to hazing and alcohol abuse.
The carrot here is what is called "official recognition," which fraternities and sororities must maintain from the university in order to stay in the good graces of their national chapters.
Fraternities and sororities that meet the new standards will receive the recognition, and those that don't may have limited recruiting.
"The university is currently trying to make sure our groups maximize their potential in terms of character development, student involvement and academic performance," said Brent Macon, a Sigma Chi member and head of the university's Interfraternity Council. "I appreciate their willingness to help facilitate academic development."
Campus trustees will discuss the matter in January.
www.newsobserver.com/2010/12/28/884864/unc-ch-considers-new-rules-for.html#
