By Samantha Sock, FAU College Panhellenic president
Like many College Panhellenics, here
at Florida Atlantic University we are continuously trying to advance our
community. In spring 2016, then Panhellenic President, Ashley Nalven, saw many
areas for growth and improvement but didn’t know where to start. With the help
of our advisor, who suggested we apply for a Consultant Team Visit (CTV), a
request was made at the end of the spring semester for a visit for fall 2016.
Consultant Team Visits are a resource offered by NPC where members from the
team visit your campus and talk to stakeholders in the community. They evaluate
what is working well and what could be improved, and provide you with on-site
suggestions as well as a full report of recommendations after the visit.
In November 2016, we welcomed Julie
Bunson and Betty Quick to our campus for the CTV. They spoke to active members
in the community, including new members, chapter officers, recruitment chairs
and recruitment counselors. They met with IFC members, chapter advisors,
university staff and administrators, including our vice president for student
affairs and others that interact with our Panhellenic community to give them a
full picture of the College Panhellenic Association at FAU. From these meetings
and discussions, they gave us some immediate feedback in the form of an executive
summary of things we could begin working on right away, and later we received a
comprehensive final report on the visit that outlined their suggestions in
multiple areas such as recruitment, inter-sorority relations and marketing. We
began implementing some items immediately and the new executive board that took
over in the beginning of the year was able to continue working on these areas
for improvement using the CTV report recommendations.
The CTV also had some additional ripple
effects. After the visit, the Panhellenic chapter advisors scheduled another
meeting of their own to continue discussing things that were brought up in the
meeting they had with Betty and Julie. Our Panhellenic strengthened relations
with university administration since their involvement in the CTV, as they saw
the efforts of our Panhellenic officers in not only coordinating and hosting
the CTV but also the implementation of the recommendations that came from
it.
One of the first recommendations that
Betty and Julie provided was for the Panhellenic executive board to conduct
introductory visits with each member chapter. What amazing advice! This allowed
women in our community to meet the executive board officers and know who they
are and their roles, which started off our term on a positive note. Other ideas
that came from the CTV included the creation of a Junior Panhellenic and
development of what we call an ‘All for One’ program. Junior Panhellenic (or
‘JPAN’) got started in spring 2017 and allowed new members to get involved in
leadership and cultivate Panhellenic spirit. JPAN hosted a Panhellenic Pride
Week (another recommendation from the CTV!) in the
same semester. Through JPAN, I have seen so much growth in these
young members, and as a result of their efforts, an increase in
Panhellenic unity among our member chapters. The ‘All for One’ program was
designed to help all member chapters satisfy a core requirement of their
national organizations; for the first one, we hosted a Panhellenic self-defense
class where we brought together members from all chapters to bond and
receive some safety tips and training.