Preparing for Year 2
Oregon Alpha was well represented at the national GAC meeting in July
The Chapter Advisory team had a busy summer assessing our progress for the first year and preparing for a crucial second year of chapter development. Overall, the advisory team feels good about the progress for the year. Starting a fraternity chapter is a lot of work and we have a very dedicated group of brothers who are sharing the load in hopes we can re-occupy the chapter house soon.
Here is a quick summary of what the team has been doing to get ready for the 2022-23 school year:
GAC
The summer was highlighted by a trip to the national GAC meeting in July which was attended by Oregon Alpha undergraduates and alumni. The trip to Indianapolis gave the new undergraduate members a real sense of what it means to belong to a fraternity and Phi Kappa Psi in particular. Everyone returned to Oregon with a renewed energy and sharpened focus for the coming year.
Expansion Advisor
A top priority this summer was to extend the contract with PJ Sarkar to work as the chapter expansion consultant for the 2022-23 school year. At ASU, PJ was involved in starting that chapter and he is currently our resident live-in caretaker at the fraternity house, so he is a natural choice for the position.
This year, PJ will be paid a base salary plus incentives for achieving key milestones in recruitment, scholarship, philanthropy and chapter development. His main focus is to guide the chapter toward getting its charter next summer. It’s a lot of work but PJ is the right person for the job!
Chapter Kickoff
Alumni advisors Eric Mueller, Mike Billings and Steve Such organized a full-day retreat with the chapter members in Eugene to get ready for the school year. The group worked together to set out the key objectives for the year and develop a plan for achieving them.
The first and most important objective is to achieve a chapter GPA that exceeds the fraternity average of a 3.2 at the University of Oregon. This meets a key requirement for achieving the charter and ensures our members are focused on completing their education.
A second priority is recruiting. The chapter currently has nine members after three students failed to meet our standards for scholarship. The group hopes to reach 15 in Fall Rush and grow to 20 by the end of the year, which puts them in a position to occupy the house in Fall 2023 with some financial help from us.
Finally, the group is focused on community service and philanthropy. Not only is this an important criteria for achieving the charter, but involvement in the community is one of the standards we established when starting the colony in 2021.
Mentoring
The mentoring program is entering its second year. and brothers Mark Billings and Steve Sherk are preparing to support more students with a broader range of services this year. We learned a lot from our experience in the first year including the fact that students are as burnt out on Zoom as alumni are!
A key focus this year will be to have more in-person interactions to complement what we can do remotely. We will also be asking for more alumni support including one-on-one mentoring, informational interviews, and chapter presentations about different fields. If you haven’t done so already, please complete the Alumni Information Form which includes an area about your professional background.
The next big focus is Fall Rush which is happening September 27 - October 9. Our chapter is participating in all the rush events and is hosting events at a house where four of our members are living this year. We are wishing them much success!