Category: Uncategorized (Page 2 of 2)

Hello from College Hill.  As you undoubtedly know, the last week of the semester was a difficult one for all of us at Lafayette.  In spite of this, I want to update you as promised on the work of IAGGL since our April 19 Virtual Town Hall meeting.  In addition to the feedback from that meeting, we received 85 comments to the proposed metrics we posted. Based on the feedback, the following revisions were made:

• For “demonstrated learning opportunities,” the number of academic programs organizations are to complete annually was reduced from 5 to 2
• Only one of these two programs will need to involve faculty. The other can either involve faculty, alumni, or outside experts
• For these two programs, organizations will need to create written learning outcomes for the events
• For “academic comparison,” we are adding first term GPA to ensure Greek and non-Greek GPAs are comparable heading into sophomore-senior year comparisons

I would also like to share with you the draft of the metrics for the fourth and final objective—”an open and transparent member selection process.”  These allow each organization to have autonomy over their process without introducing homogeneity of content into the selection processes of sororities or fraternities.

1. Do Greek organizations publish ahead of time to prospective members their selection timeline?
2. Do Greek organizations publish ahead of time to prospective members their selection process details?
3. Do Greek organizations publish ahead of time to prospective members their criteria used to select members?
4. Do Greek organizations publish ahead of time to prospective members the exit points for prospective members in their process (i.e. is it known clearly when cuts are made)?
5. Do Greek organizations publish ahead of time to prospective members the criteria used at each exit point in their process (i.e. how they make cuts when they make cuts)?
6. 6. Are there documented ways that organizations recruit prospective members that are similar to current members?
7. Are there documented ways that organizations recruit prospective members that are dissimilar to current members?
8. Do organizations notify prospective members when their active status in that group’s process changes to not active?
9. If organizations weight their selection criteria, do they publish this to prospective members and make it clear which exit points in their process it applies?
10. Do organizations publish ahead of time to prospective members the range of spots available in their process?
11. Do organizations have advisers present at each meeting in their selection process?
12. Do organizations provide current members and advisers in selection meetings with written guidance as to the value of a well-balanced membership?

The last meeting of IAGGL will be this Thursday afternoon. Please complete the feedback form on the “Submit Comments” page by noon this Thursday, May 24th, so your thoughts can be considered.

Thanks for your interest and support.  We will keep you posted.

Celestino Limas
Chair of IAGGL

Please submit your comment here

An update from Vice President Celestino Limas and members of the Implementation and Assessment Group on Greek Life (IAGGL) will be the subject of a Virtual Town Hall meeting noon-1 p.m. Thursday, April 19. All are invited to participate.

Topics for discussion will include:
1)  The previously posted recommended metrics that IAGGL has developed to measure progress of Greek organizations toward the objectives set by the Board of Trustees;
2)  The next steps involving implementation of recommendations for strengthening the Greek community set forth by the Working Group on Greek Life and Campus Community and endorsed by the Trustees;
3)  Questions and answers.

A total of 69 comments were received through the IAGGL website.  A number of alumni were critical of the metrics themselves, several had good questions that IAGGL will attempt to answer, and some simply thought the entire process was aimed at eliminating the Greek system. The IAGGL appreciates these observations and will address the major themes contained in these comments in subsequent updates.

Alumni, students, faculty, and staff may ask questions in advance through 5 p.m. Tuesday, April 17. Questions may be asked during the Town Hall meeting as well, with instructions provided on the screen.  Questions will be answered to the greatest extent possible, as time allows.

A recording of the meeting will be available following it on the IAGGL home page.

March 29, 2012

The members of IAGGL have made outstanding progress this spring in establishing criteria for the objectives articulated in our charge from the Board of Trustees. We have developed proposed metrics for three of the four objectives as listed below.

As you recall, the trustees charged IAGGL with developing metrics in these four areas:

• Fraternities and sororities must facilitate demonstrated learning opportunities for students and provide benefits to the College as a whole.
• The academic performance of students affiliated with fraternities and sororities must be comparable to the student body as a whole.
• The disciplinary profile of members of fraternities and sororities, as well as the individual organizations, must be comparable to the student body as a whole and other student organizations.
• Fraternities and sororities must provide open access and engagement opportunities to all students at Lafayette (non-discriminatory in selection of members).

IAGGL has developed metrics on the first three objectives listed above and is working on the fourth.  At this point, we seek feedback from alumni, parents, students, faculty, and staff on our work thus far. I would ask that you follow the link below to the comments page of this web site as soon as you can prior to our April 13 meeting as we plan on finalizing the metrics for those objectives at that time.

Integration with Campus Learning Opportunities (Greek organizations and students where applicable):

• Does each Greek organization plan/host five academic programs per year?
• Do each of the five programs meet the following criteria: open to campus, have faculty involvement, not social as primary focus, directly planned by Greek organizations, approved by the director of fraternity and sorority life, have active member participation?
• Are Greek members actively involved in a leadership role of one non-Greek organization (total cases and ratio of leaders to membership)?

Academic Performance  (Greek students to non-Greek students, separated where possible by Greek organization and also by gender):

• GPA 3rd semester students
• GPA 5th semester students
• GPA 7th semester students
• Major distribution (numbers and ratio)
• Academic probation (total cases and ratio)
• EXCEL Scholar (total cases and ratio)
• Thesis participation (total cases and ratio)
• Departmental honors participation (total cases and ratio)
• Study abroad participation (total cases and ratio)
• Other honor recipients/Dean’s List (total cases and ratio)
• Co-curricular (academic major) organization membership (total cases and ratio)
• Internship participation (total cases and ratio)

Disciplinary Profile  (Greek students to non-Greek students where possible, separated where possible by Greek organization and also by gender):

• Conduct probation of individuals (total cases and ratio)
• Conduct violations (total cases and ratio))
• Individual repeated offenses (total cases and ratio)
• Sanctions issued
• Administrative hearing cases by group
• Administrative panel cases by group
• Sexual assault Public Safety Reports (total cases)
• COMPASS compliance

These proposed metrics are designed to facilitate the evaluation of the progress of our Greek organizations toward the objectives outlined by the Board of Trustees rather than serving as an evaluation of the Greek system in its entirety. Please keep that in mind as you share your comments. Our plan is to discuss your feedback at the April 13 IAGGL meeting and consider it as we finalize the metrics for these three areas.

I also would like to invite you to attend our next IAGGL virtual town hall in mid-April. Originally this was planned for April 13 but we will now be hosting it on April 19 from noon-1 p.m.  Instructions for how you can participate will follow in the near future.

My thanks to you for your continued interest and support of IAGGL and Lafayette College.

Best,
Celestino Limas
Chair, Implementation and Assessment Group on Greek Life
Vice President for Campus Life & Senior Diversity Officer

Please submit your comment here

February 8, 2012

To Lafayette alumni and members of the on-campus community:

Greetings from unseasonably warm College Hill. I am writing to provide an update on the work of the Implementation and Assessment Group on Greek Life (IAGGL) and to invite alumni and the on-campus community to the first of our Virtual Town Hall meetings on Friday, February 17, from noon to 1 p.m. Eastern time. This event will provide a rich opportunity to be briefed on our work and to ask us questions.

In accordance with our charge from the Board of Trustees, the members of IAGGL have been working to establish clear metrics for evaluating the progress of our Greek organizations toward the objectives that were outlined by the board in October. We expect to have these metrics, including interim benchmarks, established by mid-March. Following that, the remainder of the spring semester will be devoted to planning the implementation of recommendations designed to improve Greek life that were proposed by the Working Group on Greek Life and Campus Community and endorsed by the board. At the second Virtual Town Hall meeting, on Friday, April 13, I expect to spend time discussing the metrics that will be used to evaluate the chapters’ progress.

We will host Virtual Town Hall meetings twice a semester, giving alumni and the campus community the opportunity to interact with three or four IAGGL members and to ask questions about our efforts. The meetings will be broadcast from the campus via the internet in a webinar format. First, group members will discuss our progress during a slide presentation. Then there will be plenty of time for questions, and we will answer as many we can during the meeting.

To participate in the meeting, simply click on the Virtual Town Hall link, found on this page, while the meeting is in progress. Our software will allow up to 100 people to participate in this way.  To allow for broader involvement in the dialogue, we invite you to submit questions for the meeting in advance. You may do so from now through Monday, Feb. 13, via a link also found on this page. If you can’t join the meeting in real time, the entire program will be recorded and will be available for viewing at your convenience via a link on this page.

I sincerely appreciate and thank you for your support of the work we are doing through the IAGGL, and for your interest in our current students and the College. We will host the Virtual Town Hall meetings this spring on February 17 and April 13 from noon to 1 p.m. Eastern time. I hope you can join us for these events.

Best regards,

Celestino Limas, Ph.D.
Vice President for Campus Life & Senior Diversity Officer
Chair, IAGGL

December 19, 2011

As many of you know, on December 13, 2011, President Weiss sent a letter to students, faculty, staff, and Greek Alumni announcing the membership of the Implementation and Assessment Group on Greek Life (IAGGL).  In a few short weeks, the response has been very positive.  All nineteen members of IAGGL are committed to a thorough and objective examination of Greek Life. We held our first meeting on December 19. President Weiss joined us at the beginning of the meeting to express his thanks to everyone, offer his support, and also to affirm how important our work is to the College and our alumni community.

We discussed the role of IAGGL and our charge, and also addressed the membership construction/rationale for the group.  From there, we outlined our labor sequence for the coming months, which will be to:

1) Establish metrics by which we can evaluate the Greek system’s ability to meet the four objectives spelled out by the Board of Trustees after their October 2011 meeting;

2) Discuss how to best implement the twenty-three Board-approved recommendations from the previous Working Group on Greek Life study and also the six recommendations that needed further clarification;

3) Transition our efforts to that of an oversight group that can receive data/input and assess how well the current Greek system is meeting the four goals outlined by the Board of Trustees.

From here we will be able to provide the Board of Trustees with regular updates enabling them to make informed decisions.  We also discussed our meeting frequency.   We will meet every three weeks for 90 minutes beginning in mid/late January.

An important communication tool will be our use of virtual town hall meetings to keep students, alumni, and faculty informed of our progress.   Twice a semester, IAGGL will sponsor an hour-long discussion with several Group members on campus, broadcasting via the internet in a webinar format.   We will provide the link in advance that will allow you to listen and ask questions.  If you can’t listen in real time, we will archive the program so you can download it from the website and listen at your leisure.  Tentative town hall dates are February 17 and April 13, so mark your calendars and we will have more information on these in late January.

I want to publicly thank all of the members of IAGGL as they are giving so much of their time, effort, and expertise to help make this process successful.  I wish you all a safe and joyful holiday season and happy New Year from College Hill.

Celestino Limas

Daniel H. Weiss, then president of Lafayette College, sent the following email to the campus community today:

As most of you are aware, at its October meeting the <a href=”http://sites.lafayette.edu/greek-life-wg/recommendations/”>Board of Trustees voted to implement a series of recommendations proposed by the Working Group on Greek Life and Campus Community</a>. While these recommendations, to be implemented over the next three years, were designed specifically to improve Greek life, the intended outcome is to provide every Lafayette student with more – and better – living and learning opportunities.

Lafayette has long been characterized by a living-learning community that fosters students’ development as leaders and as campus and community citizens; that promotes high academic achievement, nurtures a lifelong love of learning, and fosters the development of close friendships and a sense of shared purpose. These are ideals that our Greek community has historically championed and that our faculty consider essential to a first-class liberal arts education.

Both the Working Group and the Board acknowledge the value of Lafayette’s Greek tradition and the noteworthy contributions that many fraternity and sorority members make to campus life. There were, however, serious concerns expressed about the differences between the records of Greek members and the general student population in such fundamental areas as academic achievement and student behavior. The Working Group’s report also notes the degree to which the Greek system falls short as model for diversity and inclusiveness.

Since October, I have received constructive feedback from many alumni, students, faculty and staff. Taking this feedback into consideration, we have been working hard to develop a plan to guide the campus through a transparent implementation and assessment process. If successful, the process will support a Greek system that complements and enhances the living-learning environment that characterizes Lafayette at our best.

As a result of our planning, and at the direction of the Board, an Implementation and Assessment Group on Greek Life (IAGGL) has been formed to develop specific metrics for improvement, and to oversee and measure progress between now and June 1, 2014, the end of the review period. Celestino Limas, Vice President for Campus Life and Senior Diversity Officer, will chair the Group.

In order for the work of IAGGL to be successful, all constituencies must work together toward the common goal of strengthening our community through a Greek system that reflects and embraces the characteristics I described earlier. The Group must be representative of those constituencies in its membership and must communicate openly, clearly, and frequently.

IAGGL includes members of the four faculty governance committees that touch most closely upon Greek life: Student Life, Student Conduct, Academic Progress, and Diversity. In addition, for their general perspective beyond committee charges, two at-large faculty members are included.

The Group also includes key administrators who work with students: the Director of Fraternity and Sorority Life, the Associate Dean of Students and Director of Religious Life, and the Associate Dean of the College.

There are five student members, two of whom are members of Greek organizations, and three alumni members, two of whom belong to Greek organizations. This corresponds to the proportion of Greek affiliation within the current population of students on campus and also within the alumni population.

The Group also includes one Trustee. A complete list of members can be found at the conclusion of this letter.

IAGGL will establish clear metrics – including annual benchmarks – for evaluating progress toward the objectives for Greek organizations outlined by the Board. I am committed to making the process as open and transparent as possible. Progress reports will be shared with alumni, students, faculty, and staff on a regular basis through emails that will point to updates on the IAGGL website (http://sites.lafayette.edu/greek-life-wg/). That site will also contain information about the original Working Group, its recommendations, and the Board’s response. Input and feedback will be sought from faculty, students, staff, and alumni through a series of quarterly, live “Town Meeting” webinars, beginning in mid-February, that will be recorded and posted on the IAGGL website for future reference. Further details about these will be available on the IAGGL website beginning in late January.

I am confident that, with a successful implementation and assessment process, Lafayette can become a model for other American colleges by offering an even more welcoming, inclusive, and supportive community that provides an exceptional residential experience for all of our students. The Board and I are committed to this vision, and we look forward to the assistance and support of our Greek students and alumni in achieving these important goals.