[20181] in APO-L
Re: advisors
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Kegan J. Baird)
Thu Feb 11 14:34:42 1999
Date: Thu, 11 Feb 1999 12:35:30 -0700
Reply-To: Kegan Baird <kxbaird@USWEST.COM>
From: "Kegan J. Baird" <kxbaird@USWEST.COM>
To: APO-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU
Advisors in APO tend to fill whatever role both they and the chapter are
comfortable with. Even within a particular chapter, there are often some
advisors that are very involved and some that serve some specialized and limited
role (buffer to administration,etc). Some advisors don't have the time or the
desire to make it to chapter meetings, while others like to avail themselves to
the chapter at every opportunity.
I think a good mix of the above types is both the norm and the goal. Every
chapter should have at least one advisor that is moderately involved and long
term if possible, because they are the advisors that serve as the institutional
memory of the chapters. They can remember the problems that a chapter has had
before and recognize them when they re-occur. Even if they don't try to preempt
such problems, they can at least help the chapter to realize that it isn't a new
problem, and that it might actually be a typical growing pain.
In this case, if the chapter doesn't want the advisors to speak unless spoken
to, I think they are doing themselves an extreme disservice. While advisors
should try to let chapters make their own mistakes and learn from them, some
mistakes can hurt a chapter or even kill it. Advisors should be able to speak
up and be heard in those cases. Because of the relatively short lifetime of a
typical active in APO, chapters are often shortsighted, and some fatal problems
can only be avoided by significant foresight, or previous experience. There
should be a balance where the advisors don't try to control the chapter, but the
actives will listen and heed the advisors when they choose to speak up.
The thing to remember is that advisors are brothers too. As brothers, they
often live under certain restrictions in terms of participation, but there
should be opportunities for leadership for them just as there are for active
brothers. Their methods and roles in leadership are often subtle and retiring,
but they are just as important to a healthy chapter as any of the officers on
the e-board.
-Kegan Baird
Sec.30 Chair
