The Benefits of a Chapter Improvement Committee

by Amy Hiser, Beta Xi, TBΣ |

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #0099FF;”]L[/dropcap]ast spring my chapter was having internal issues. Mainly, these issues had to do with our recruiting, membership education process and the general interactions we have with each other as sisters. We did not know how to solve these problems and were considering taking a semester of Sisterhood. A semester of Sisterhood is a semester where we have no membership education candidates in order to work on internal issues. Instead, it was brought up that we could create a committee to discuss these issues and find solutions. Similar to what is done on the National and District level, we charged our president with organizing a chapter improvement committee to discuss our issues. Over the summer this committee met several times to review our chapter’s concerns as brought up by Sisters. At the end of the summer the committee compiled a list of charges for each officer and committee as well as charges for the chapter as a whole. These charges dealt with improving our chapter meetings, the membership education process and each officer position helping to make them accountable for their responsibilities and helping to keep sisters accountable for themselves. The committee also drafted up constitutional amendments to coincide with these changes. At our first chapter meeting of the semester the committee chair went over these charges and we voted on the constitutional changes.

One of the most notable changes we made was shortening our chapter meetings in an effort to make them more efficient. This was inspired by the CampuSpeak presentation at this past National Convention. Another big change was in making sure that chapter goals stay consistent with the transition between new officers.

One concern that the committee discussed at great length was our chapter image as perceived by the rest of the band and the band directors. They also discussed how we can improve our recruiting methods so that we can get the best members possible. There were no charges that could be made for this topic, but the committee made a list of actions that could be taken to improve our presence in the band. The committee chair gave a presentation in chapter on our image and what we could do to improve it such as acting appropriately while wearing letters and etiquette during rush.

I definitely encourage you to try this in your chapter. If you have issues that seem unsolvable, you should give this a try! There are a few things that need to be kept in mind when creating a chapter improvement committee. I have included a box below that goes over these things.  Although these problems cannot be expected to be solved overnight, it has made a huge impact on our chapter this semester and I’m sure the same could happen for your chapter. Good luck!

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Chapter Committee Improvement Tips

1. It is beneficial for the president to choose a chair that is experienced in the sisterhood and knowledgeable on a district and National level.
2. The committee should be made up of a diverse membership of the chapter. It should attempt to include sisters from different classes and years. It should also include officers and non officers.
3. Invite Sisters to submit issues so that the committee can discuss them.
4. Discuss the reoccurring issues that a majority of the chapter is having and find solutions for these problems.
5. Make sure there is a plan set in place for what will happen after the committee has decided on changes.
6. These problems cannot be fixed in just one semester, but in time the changes will benefit your chapter and you will start to see a difference.

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