Standards of Excellence

Chapter GPA should be at or above the All-Campus (male or female) GPA. If the national organization requires a higher GPA, that must be adhered to.

New Member GPA must be at the All-New Member (male or female) GPA. If the national organization requires a higher GPA, that must be adhered to.

Chapter members failing to meet the academic standard for one semester will be required to meet to develop an academic improvement plan, to include working with the Academic Skills Center. This plan should be discussed and approved by the Scholarship/Academic Chair (or applicable position), chapter advisors and the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life.

Each Chapter will have and adhere to a minimum academic standard to hold an executive officer position.

Each organization shall engage in a minimum of one community service project, as a chapter each semester. This should be organized or planned by the chapter for the membership. While no minimum percentage of the membership is required to be in attendance, a majority of your chapter is expected to be in attendance with roughly equal representation from each class year.

At least one of the service projects should relate to or be for the organization for which your chapter raises money or goods.

Each organization shall initiate and implement a minimum of one philanthropic event during the course of each semester. This project can be in support of your national philanthropy or another cause that is important to your organization.

• The cause that you are raising money or goods for, must relate or be the same organization for whom your chapter organizes at least one of the yearly services projects
• A clear goal for fundraising efforts and opportunities for achieving it must be defined ahead of time
• The membership must be educated on the organization/cause for whom they are raising money or goods.

All chapters are required to complete a total of 6 educational programs during the academic year.

• One program topic must be alcohol/drugs; a second program must address sexual assault prevention education.
• The remaining 4 programs should be determined by the chapter, based on the needs and interests of the membership.
• Organizations will utilize the Chapter Development Plan for outlining program topics and ideas.
• Each organization is required to have at least 75 percent of their chapter attend each program to receive credit, unless the Director or Assistant Director of Greek Life approves an exception. (An example for an exception would be targeted programming for a specific class year.)

Each program should be interactive and roughly one hour in length. For each program, the Standards of Excellence Chair (or President) must complete the Program Evaluation following the conclusion of the event (found in OrgSync).

As one of the pillars of our community, each chapter is expected to demonstrate this key value through the following areas:

• Engage in leadership retreats and opportunities offered through the University of Richmond and respective national organization.
• Update OrgSync profiles to reflect vibrant and engagement membership experience
• Engage and support campus-wide programming and events
• Presidents will meet regularly with Director/Assistant Director of Greek Life, as well as being present for council meetings and all retreats
• Chapter will be educated on and adheres to the Greek Life Code of Ethics

It is expected that all chapters will comply with all University policies and maintain proper communications and behavior to support positive and interactive relationships with the University.

Chapter Compliance: The chapter must comply with the University, IFC/PHC/NPHC, and/or National policies that govern its members; as well as all federal, state and local laws and regulations.

Member Accountability: Chapter must establish and implement a member accountability program where members are held responsible and accountable for their behavior on or off campus. The chapter must be able to demonstrate a process of accountability through an active and engaged internal standards board.

Participation in University sponsored Risk Management Program: All organizations will have presidents, executive boards and any additional chapter members that could/would participate in the risk manager position, attend risk management training each semester.

Each organization is expected to prepare their New/Affiliate Members for membership through an appropriate and supportive educational process. The goal of each of the educational processes is to develop strong, informed and dedicated chapter members.

Expectations include:

• New/Affiliated Member Programs will be submitted for review to the Greek Life Staff prior to the process starting (deadline listed under SOE Important Dates)
• No process will extend beyond 6 weeks
• A letter to the family of the new/affiliate member will be sent within 2 weeks of joining the organization and must be reviewed by the Greek Life Staff prior to being sent.
• Each member and new member will sign the Anti-Hazing Statement. This will be kept on file with the Greek Life Office.
• Each new member will fully participate in the Academic Skills Support Program during his or her New Member Educational Process.

In order to best support new members during this process, Greek Life has partnered with Academic Skills to provide strong oversight and support for the new members choosing the join one of our Greek organizations. This process requires each organization to:

• Host a minimum of 1 educational seminar presented by the Academic Skills Department
• Should chapters choose to have this program presented to the entire chapter it can count as 1 of the 6 required educational programs for the year
• Have each new member meet for 1:1 counseling with the Academic Skills department no less than 2 times during their new member period.
• Any New Member achieving less than a 2.75 during the fall semester prior to recruitment must attend 3 sessions with the Academic Skills department.

To have a space designated specifically for your organization is a privilege and a responsibility. As such the expectations around management of such facility are as follows:

• Actively participate in all University inspections
• Create a set of Lodge/Cottage rules that will be agreed upon by all members and will be reviewed each semester.
• These rules will be kept on file with the Greek Life Office, but should be actively enforced by chapter members. Those organizations found to be negligent in their attempts to treat their facilities with respect and enforce the Lodge/Cottage rules will face potential loss of space privileges.
• These rules are in addition to the Cottage Court Community Regulations that all sororities must uphold.
• Be current in all financial obligations (rent, bills, etc)

Advisors are critical to the success of the undergraduate chapter and enrich the experience for all those involved. For these reasons we expect our chapters to fully engage with their advisors through the following avenues:

• Update contact information for advisors each semester with the Greek Life Staff.
• Have advisors up-to-date with training and requirements through National/International HQ
• Meet regularly with the advisory board team, ideas include:
• Attend Alumni Board Meetings
• Have each advisor meet monthly with their corresponding positions (ideally each leadership position is working with a specific alum advisor)
• Invite advisors to attend chapter meetings and other relevant events
• Host Chapter/Exec/Leadership retreats with Advisors