Help: Selection Criteria & Processes

[decadence]

Hi! I’m part of an interest group that aims to petition a (professional) fraternity for a charter. To gain essential university recognition, we have to supply a constitution/objectives etc, for them to check the selectivity stuff is acceptable/non- discriminatory etc.

This is a request for help/comments/advice: On things to look for in members/things to select on, or any other comments. We're looking to ensure a) we have a great group of members and b) policies used to select them don't clash with equality. Below is what we have so far that I think we’d look for in PNMs; we thought we could also hand it to members during voting so they knew what they should be voting on - like as a checklist?

Membership voting at the end of the "new member orientation" process (still considering length of process) will be: a majority for pnm = application successful. Existing members'd have to give reasons if voting a pnm not become a member of the group. This'd be recorded for use in event a complaint of discrimination was made - so we could prove it all was all hunky dory, as it could be us who’d have to do the proving. Obviously we’d have to stipulate that "just because" is not a valid/satisfactory reason. 'Checklist':

• Willingness to participate and share ideas: Any mandatory meetings/events attended & any required participation completed. Obviously we can just check the roll-calls of meetings.
• Knows the history of the organisation at the international level.
• Active on campus: e.g. member of at least 1 other student org, participates in campus media, student leader etc.
• Interpersonal skills, like they would be examined upon in a job interview e.g. approachable
• Confidence that this person shall act with integrity and in accordance with the aims of XYZ and shall protect the confidentiality of information at all times.
• Confidence that person shall act with appropriate personal behaviour.
• Academics. Minimum grades required attained (returning students). Extenuating circumstances may be taken into account.
• Paid all chapter dues and international fees.
• Any application form info. on why PNM member wishes become a member of XYZ / what they feel they'd bring to the group.
• Is a student in good standing with the University.
• Been supplied with and completed Equal Opportunities information form (the ones with tickboxes for ethnic group etc)

Any further elements would have comply with the university guidelines (on discrimination etc). Anyone confused over what’s permissible to exclude a PNM over, could discuss the issue with say the Chapter President or Chair of the Membership Committee.
*Thank you* for any and all help offered.

[Tom Earp]

Yo Dec, is there no Proffesional type group on campus?

Depends on what type of group you are looking into I would think!

From what I have read on Schools formats, that if: You are of sound mind, and have a proposal that is meaningful, you can petition the said School for recognition! As long as there is not another group from the same catagory!.

[decadence]

We'd be the only professional fraternity on campus if chartered. The type of group (we're an interest group at the mo) we are going to petition for a charter eventually is a professional fraternity in the field of... social sciences (I'm being vague as I always feel uncomfortable throwing names around where I feel I don't have a 'right' to name them not being a member yet!)

Darn Tom!! Sound mind?? Now I've no chance

The school'd want to know criteria we'd select on/how we'd select, mainly to see we conform with equality issues - they're covering themselves really . In essence that's the main reason for this exercise. There's no similar group on campus, apart from technically a society in the same field (non-Greek) but our activities/aims are so different to it, for it to be no prob. whatsoever.

[Tom Earp]

Sound mind, you or me!

If the school wants criteria and what your purpose is, then you must give it to them!

Why: Do you and your group want to be noted as a Special Group Listed with the U!

Who would be qualified, criteria, members # of that intrest group, GPA, what they will do to project this group above other groups of maybe the same thoughts.


While you mentioned one thing, is it intertwined wth anyothers?

Yes Actually, most schools want to have Groups who profess the Acedemic asspect of a school Department! Is there one in excenstants? Y/N?

That may be the question and sounds like it is not!.!l

All I can do is wish Ya good Luck! Dont give up, I didnt!

[decadence]

Originally posted by Tom Earp: While you mentioned one thing, is it intertwined wth anyothers? Yes Actually, most schools want to have Groups who profess the Acedemic asspect of a school Department! Is there one in excenstants? Y/N? That may be the question and sounds like it is not!

If I understand your question correctly you're asking whether there’re any other big things we need to get straight on/sort out, as a group, before we try to get college recognition. Nope. This is the key issue we need to focus on; there aren't any other weighty matters to deal with. There's lots (!) of work still to come, but other stuff the college requires for a proposal for a new student org like aims/objectives, names of officers etc are all fairly straightforward so it's just this matter that I need help with @ the mo.
If I read your other point right, you're asking if there's *already* a student org at the school professing the academic side for the subject in question. There isn't no. 'Though most dept.'s have (non-greek) student groups e.g. Psychology society, Economics soc. etc, the one that exists for the department our student group would have a relationship with... is not really an academic group it's pretty much exclusively a social group people in that department join to go on social events with other students in that department. We might both have the name of that department in our full group names but the groups will be completely different :0). Like more than one sports group with the word "ball" in the title! There aren't any clashes I see with the two groups, we do different things, the professional programming, the leadership side, philanthropy, the academic help and programmes etc. Obviously we shall 'socialise' with each other lol to create a cohesive group but it isn't the reason for our being! Thank you for your kind wishes too Tom, it gets hard sometimes when the tasks seem to fall down to one person sometimes so I appreciate the constructive feedback and help I get here.

[Firehouse]

If you are a professional society, as opposed to a social one, I think your approach should be different. First, you need to separate two different issues: considering who will be asked to join vs. determining who among the pledges might not be initiated. You seem to have a good list of criteria for determining who might make good members. You might want to make a second list to be used during pledgship, outlining any reasons that might be grounds for termination. I strongly recommend that you keep no written records of any discussions regarding status of individual members/pledges. I also recommend that as a matter of policy you not pledge anyone that you do not intend to initiate. If they are voted out, let it be for not meeting the standards that you have already laid out. And, if you do vote someone out, you should make no announcement - keep it all in-house and allow the individual to leave quietly and with dignity. Especially make no announcement as to the reason. As a professional society, your membership criteria are more structured. A social organization enjoyes wider latitude in deciding who gets in and who stays in.

I thought I had posted to this thread, maybe I posted to one similar from you re: selecting and retaining pledges.

Please read, reread, and commit to memory what Firehouse said above. This is the KEY INFORMATION for maintaining a social atmosphere within a professional fraternity or sorority.

I don't wish to go into our selection and removal process in this public forum, but if you'd like to PM me please feel free.

[decadence]

You seem to have a good list of criteria for determining who might make good members.
Thanks Firehouse! That [above] is what we have so far, anyone who thinks I’ve left anything else out which would be a good idea to include/has comments on the existing items, please share.

You might want to make a second list to be used during pledgship, outlining any reasons that might be grounds for termination.
So far the list of criteria for determining who might make good members … is the same list that PNMs would see as the list of things *they* have to “do”, to become a full member … is the same as the ‘chapter’ would have in front of them for voting & when were told: “vote on basis of the criteria in front of you and whether the pnm has complied with those conditions for full membership“.

I strongly recommend that you keep no written records of any discussions regarding status of individual members/pledges.
I assume this is to ensure the voting process is not a farce with all the decisions having in reality been made beforehand! Good suggestion. Someone recommended we note instances where we needed to inform ‘PNM’s’ that they were acting in such as way as to affect their chances of membership e.g. “‘warned’ x about y on such date”; to refer to if necessary. It made me a little uncomfortable - the idea of doing it, though I see the logic.

if you do vote someone out, you should make no announcement - keep it all in-house and allow the individual to leave quietly and with dignity. Especially make no announcement as to the reason.
One idea suggested was we should tell them reasons. My idea was if they themselves asked why they were unsuccessful, just to tell them they were found to have not fulfilled one or more of the obligations and expectations made available to them during the time before voting. On your point that no announcement or reasons given (to other members or non-members), of course yep. If I was asked by a third party in the general run of things, we’d just tell them no info. could be given as it was confidential.

A social organization enjoyes wider latitude in deciding who gets in and who stays in.
Presumably this means in relation to social fraternities e.g. ***** **, who require a 100% ‘yes’ vote on a member to admit him into the fraternity?

[decadence]

Woo, this is a really pivotal point for our interest group. In a few weeks, there's the new students' orientation fair where all student orgs have a table to meet prospective new members. Though we're not a ready-affiliated group the student union will look at allowing us to have a table there too! My deadline to submit to them a new student org. proposal is really soon. They want a constitution + our aims/objctives (that's the initial stuff they need to decide whether they're likely to give us recognition). That and at least 15 interested people (we have that too). It's a big hurdle for us. If they're happy with the proposal we get to be at the fair and get hopefully a nice list of names of people interested! Official recognition like assigning of a budget etc comes later but this is the big thing right now.
One of the major focuses for them is how we'll select members so we (our interest group) need to get that done for the submission; hence this thread.

It doesn't all depend upon one lil' orientation fair I suppose but in practice most of the people who're gonna "join" student groups be they clubs/societies or anything else like greek orgs, "join" them at this fair within their 1st few weeks of school. So if we can get a table at the fair it'll be cool. If not, our future is: uncertain.

Whether you're in an NPC, NIC, Professional Fraternity Assoc, NPHC, NALFO or, of course, local/regional group I'd love to hear from you whether active, alum or even if just a random interested party. Doubtless as members of a greek community overall most of us have thoughts on selection/procedures one way or another - those thoughts could really make a difference.

In unity,

decadence.

p.s. I seem to have commented in this thread a lot. Whoops. Ahem.

[Senusret I]

decadence:

I think you have most of your bases covered....all I would add is that during selection and pledge education, you document EVERYTHING. You don't want it to seem like you voted a pledge down out of nowhere.

For example, Pledge #1 attends only 50 percent of the events, and he/she knows full well that they need to attend 75 percent of events to be initiated. Document the abscences and present the data if any questions arise.