[22697] in APO-L
Re: [APO-L] Continuing Pledges
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Lisa M. Covi)
Thu Jun 6 17:23:45 2002
Date: Thu, 6 Jun 2002 17:15:26 -0400
Reply-To: "Lisa M. Covi" <lm.covi@VERIZON.NET>
From: "Lisa M. Covi" <lm.covi@VERIZON.NET>
To: APO-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU
In-Reply-To: <200206052203.17fPqF6mM3NZFji0@eagle>
Hi everyone -
I want to weigh in on the continuing pledge thing. First and
foremost, it is the chapter membership's right to decide the criteria for
membership within the guidelines set by the national convention. However,
the drop in membership dues in the past few years raise a question to me
about why we continue to attract pledges, but cannot initiate or retain
them as active members.
As most of you probably know, the key to retention is PROGRAM. Program
means enough fun to make APO enjoyable and rewarding and enough substance
for chapters to embody the three cardinal principles. If pledges cannot
complete the pledge PROGRAM, the chapter and its leadership should evaluate
four things:
the SMART goals of pledging for the chapter
the SMART goals of pledging for the pledges (membership requirements)
Why aren't the pledges and the chapter meeting those goals
How will the chapter revise those goals and/or their implementation to
provide better PROGRAM.
If you think the problem is simply with the actives or the pledges,
consider this: Who does continuing pledges benefit? If the objective of
pledging is to identify students who will make a lifetime commitment to the
principles of APO, and to prepare those students for active membership, why
must it take more than one pledge period to accomplish this? A frank
discussion with an openness toward change for improvement will go a long
way. At the end of the day, the chapter will make a thoughtful decision,
but only after a full consideration of the program, its goals and how they
embody APO on your campus.
Ask the tough questions and involve everyone in the solution!
Lisa M. Covi, Ph.D.
Director, National Leadership Development Program
Leader, Membership Retention Strategic Planning Team (MR SPlaT)
Alpha Phi Omega National Service Fraternity
lmcovi@earthlink.net
