Integrate a “Leadership” Framework for Intentional Student Development
What leadership competencies do students need to develop to best leverage their capacity for getting a job and being successful in the world of work? For impacting their communities? For engaging in global leadership? The Student Leadership Competencies® have been mapped to a variety of career, service, retention, learning, and leadership frameworks. For example, if you use the Social Change Model in Fraternity and Sorority Programs, just use the SLC Social Change Model of Leadership Development framework and design your programs around the competencies linked to that model. Using these frameworks allows you to narrow your focus to the competencies that matter for your programs and offers a universal language across multiple frameworks so your approach is consistent regardless of the frameworks you use.
Easily Identify Curriculum You Need
There are many leadership curricular resources available, sometimes making it difficult to decide the best curriculum for achieving the outcomes you want. Using the Curriculum Index, you can find a comprehensive index of every leadership curriculum module in a variety of leadership books aligned to the Student Leadership Competencies®. No need for sifting and sorting through an entire book to find what you need. Simply select a competency and find all related curriculum across a variety of resources.
Assess Leadership Development Through Participation in Fraternity and Sorority Programs
There are often organizations, retreats, and campus-wide events offered specifically for fraternity and sorority members and can range from social to educational to recreational to cultural. Yet, we often have a hard time assessing the impact of these programs other than through head counts and satisfaction surveys. What about the leadership learning and development that is occurring with the students who participate? Align your existing campus-wide fraternity and sorority programs with the competencies so you know what students should be developing as a result of participation. Use SLC Self-Evaluation Measurements to provide consistency in measurement and compare data across programs.
Market the Leadership Development Value of Fraternities and Sororities
Students want to know what they are getting with their time and energy when deciding whether to join a fraternity or sorority. Have chapter members identify competencies associated with their organizational mission and include these in written form or using the SLC icons in the organization description for marketing and outreach. In addition, by creating a database of all fraternities and sororities and their associated competencies, prospective members can search chapters by competency to determine a fit for their needs and interests.
Use a Common Leadership Language with Chapter Advisors
Chapter advisors can have a major influence in the development of the students in their chapters. With many campuses already holding chapter advisor training or meetings, consider sharing with them how to align what they are doing programmatically and in their one-on-one advising using a leadership competency approach. This can help everyone use the same language and give advisors more tools to foster leadership development.
Help Students Identify Leadership Roles that Fit
We know that some students excel at roles such as secretary or treasurer whereas others find a fit with roles working in areas focused on scholarship or risk management. How can we help students determine chapter, council, and other leadership roles that are a good fit for them? By defining leadership competencies associated with each council and chapter role, students can be made aware of the competencies they need to be proficient in those roles. This can help them determine which roles align with the competencies they have or would like to acquire, and ultimately select roles that best fit for them.
Infuse Intentional Learning into the Fraternity and Sorority Experience
We know that students learn and develop by participating in fraternities and sororities. But, how can we help make this learning intentional and then accurately measure it? Have council and chapter leaders along with general members take the Student Leadership Competencies Inventory to self-assess their competency proficiency and create a competency-based professional development plan related to their roles and organizational involvement. In addition, using the Student Leadership Competencies® assessment tools can provide insight to help advise and coach students on their leadership development.
Intentionally Design, Deliver, and Assess Student Leader Training
How can we make sure that our student leader training is designed to help students be successful in their specific roles? Using pre-established curriculum, you can design and deliver intentional training grounded in the competencies students need for their roles and use standardized assessment measurements to assess learning and development.
Reward and Recognize Leadership Development
We often reward chapters and members for what they have done as evidenced by the phenomenal award packets submitted at the end of each year. However, what about rewarding them for what they learned? Consider offering competency-based chapter recognition that rewards chapters for infusing and measuring competency development in their chapters as well as awards at the individual and chapter level for those who demonstrate exceptional competency development or proficiency.