Strategic Plan

Strategic Plan Information

Current Progress and Future Directions of Greek Life Task Force

In the spring of 2005, the Fraternity / Sorority Community at Western Illinois University participated in the AFA / EBI Assessment. WIU was one of 27 participating institutions for the 2005 assessment period. This tool is a benchmarking assessment that measures the perceptions that fraternity and sorority members have of the Greek Community in 15 areas. The results to this assessment were received in the summer of 2005 and showed that according to student perceptions of their experience, the Greek Community has much to be proud of in several areas.

Highlights

  • Ongoing Quantitative and Qualitative Assessment
  • Recommendations and Strategic Plan are based on A Call for Values Congruence
  • Each council endorsed the consultant report and the creation of a strategic plan in the spring of 2006
  • Strategic plan will be created in the fall of 2006 with implementation to begin immediately

This assessment also provided comparative data to six self selected institutions, institutions with the same Carnegie Classification, and all institutions that participated in the study. The information provided in the results of the AFA / EBI Assessment provided the institution with direct feedback from students regarding their perceptions of the fraternity / sorority experience. However, there were and continue to be several areas of the fraternity / sorority program that need to be explored in order to best understand the needs and options for moving forward together with all constituencies to create a benchmark fraternity / sorority community.

In the fall of 2005, as a supplement to the AFA / EBI Assessment, it was determined that in order to continue the process of gathering information and identifying a future process, the institution should contract with two outside consultants who would be charged with facilitating a series of focus groups and developing a comprehensive report that would synthesize information from these focus groups and the EBI / AFA Assessment into a series of procedural and programmatic recommendations to consider during a community wide strategic planning process. Ultimately, the report and recommendations were structured to support the University's strategic plan and to mirror "A Call for Values Congruence" which is attached to the end of this report. This report was submitted in December 2005 and was reviewed initially over the break between the fall 2005 and spring 2006 semester.

Following the initial review of the report, it will be critical to accomplish several things before moving forward in the spring 2006 semester. Primarily, the report and the recommendation therein needs to be endorsed by not only the Office of Student Activities and each of the three governing councils, but just as importantly, the Office of the President and the Vice President of Student Services. Additionally, a Fraternity / Sorority Advisory Council that will serve as a strategic planning and implementation team should be created to provide guidance, direction, and recommendations to the Office of Student Activities as well as the Fraternity / Sorority community. The remainder of this document will focus of the role, structure, and timeline for creating and utilizing that group.

Role and Charge of Fraternity / Sorority Advisory Council

Preface

Western Illinois University is committed to maximizing the educational benefit that students receive from involvement in various co-curricular opportunities. To this end, the university is invested in working to develop the best possible leadership development and educational opportunities throughout the undergraduate student experience. The Greek Community has a rich history of providing these experiences and opportunities to students and it is the wish of the university that this tradition be continued for future generations of students at WIU.

This long tradition of producing and molding model student leaders comes from the quality of the educational experience that occurs not only inside the classroom, but also as a result of the fraternal experience that is available at Western. Recent events and the assessment process that the university and community has participated in over the past nine months has shown that while the community is still playing a role in creating excellent leaders, many parts of the foundation that creates the Greek Community at WIU has been eroding over time. This erosion has manifested itself in several areas including, among other things, academic success, social responsibility, and relationships within the community.

Furthermore, the Greek Community at Western Illinois University should and can be one of the singular best opportunities for any student looking to improve themselves and become connected to a smaller community at WIU. The stated and implicit values of each fraternity and sorority on this campus parallel the values of the institution. In order for the Greek Community to fully realize their collective potential, there is a need for a recommitment and reinvestment in the community by all relative stakeholders. While this responsibility most certainly extends beyond WIU and ultimately relies very heavily on the students in the community, no single unit is better poised to take the important first step to building this guiding coalition than the institution. For the Greek Community to begin to do more than simply survive in its current pattern, it is essential that the university reaffirm its commitment to working on behalf of the student experience and be a partner in identifying and producing positive and long lasting change in the Greek community. By recommitting to the future of the Greek Community in both word and deed, the institution will not only be furthering its mission and values, but more importantly infusing and connecting those values to the student experience.

Therefore, it is imperative that a coordinated effort to be made to utilize the assessment data and recommendations that have been obtained to benefit the community and its current and future students. To this end, and with the support of the offices of the President and the Vice President of Student Services, respectively, an advisory council should be created that will serve as an advisory board to Greek Life Programs and the Office of Student Activities in relation to the management and advising of the fraternity and sorority program at Western Illinois University.

Fraternity / Sorority Advisory Council

The creation of an advisory council to assist with the long term enhancement of the Greek Community at WIU is a natural follow-up to the AFA/ EBI Assessment and the consultant visit that occurred in 2005. The intention of this advisory council will be to serve as a permanent addition and resource to the Office of Student Activities with the initial purpose of processing, prioritizing, and recommending methods in which to implement the outcomes and provided recommendations that have been provided by Kaye Schendel and Steve Veldkamp.

The initial charge of the advisory council will be to prioritize the recommendations in the report and develop strategies for the implementation of the recommendations. The advisory council will be divided into five subcommittees with each committee being tasked to a specific area of operation. The subcommittees will focus on the following areas: intellectual development, values integration, leadership development, positive relationships, and citizenship / service. Each subcommittee will be tasked with developing an implementation plan and timeline based upon the priorities they have identified and recommendations they have reviewed. The final strategic plan will be developed in consultation with the entire advisory council. As the plan is developed and progress is made, each subcommittee will continue to provide advice, counsel, and further recommendations based upon the success of the plan, future assessment, and their own personal experience.

The permanent purpose of the advisory council will be for the group to provide consistent advice and counsel to the Office of Student Activities, Greek Life Programs, and the Greek Community. This will promote continuous assessment within the community and provide opportunities to make meaning of any assessment information that is obtained.

The short and long term benefit of this model and their work can not be underestimated. While the initial work of the group will be to serve as a team with the specific purpose of creating and implementing a strategic plan for the benefit of the Greek Community, the long term will provide opportunities for various and extremely important constituencies to have a formal role in shaping the environment of the Greek Community and the initiatives that will contribute to its continued development. A permanent advisory council will afford the Office of Student Activities and Greek Life Programs the opportunity to be very meaningful and purposeful in their work to continually develop and enhance the fraternity and sorority experience at Western.