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Florida State University is home to over 50 fraternity and sorority chapters, with total Greek membership over 6,800\u2014about 23\u00a0percent of the undergraduate population. Fraternity and Sorority Life (FSL) students are generally representative of the student population\u2019s demographics, but they\u2019re more likely to persist, graduate and land a job after graduation compared to their peers. <\/p>\n
A new center on campus seeks to ensure that Greek organizations promote holistic student development, in part by partnering with student leaders and providing for-credit leadership classes. <\/p>\n
What\u2019s the need: <\/strong>Past grievances with FSL organizations on campus prompted the development of the center to prevent hazing and other harmful practices often associated with Greek life. In 2017, FSU banned all fraternities and sororities following the death of a fraternity pledge. The ban was lifted in 2018 with provisions. <\/p>\n \u201cThe challenge we had was to solve [misconduct] as almost a student success issue, and [we] try to focus on how do we help our students be way more successful, focusing in on their leadership and their wellness and holistic student experience,\u201d said Freddy Juarez, FSU\u2019s director of strategic initiatives and fraternity and sorority life. <\/p>\n Now, to maintain good standing, Greek organizations must meet a variety of standards, including that members fulfill mandatory volunteer hours and sustain minimum GPAs. The university also maintains a publicly available scorecard on campus chapters to provide transparency into FSL activities, including philanthropic efforts and past disciplinary charges. <\/p>\n The Center for Fraternity and Sorority Organizational Wellness launched in fall 2024 as an extension of these efforts, with the goal of identifying best practices in the field. <\/p>\n \u201cWhat are those markers that we can identify early on so that we can intervene with the right intervention that will stop them from going down that path of not being a \u2018well\u2019 organization?\u201d Juarez said. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to figure out what are all these components and pieces as we start to bring on national research agendas.\u201d <\/p>\n FSL students are also embedded throughout campus as tour guides, student government members and orientation leaders, so providing them with leadership training has far-reaching effects on the campus culture, Juarez said. <\/p>\n How it works: <\/strong>The center engages FSL organizations in a variety of ways. Juarez and Brittany Devies, director of the Center for Fraternity and Sorority Wellness, meet with chapter leaders regularly to discuss governance, risk management, recruitment and new member education, among other topics. <\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re doing training and helping them navigate these complex issues, because these students are managing multimillion-dollar budgets and facilities that cost multimillion dollars. Our largest chapter is 320 members; that is a lot to manage,\u201d Juarez said. <\/p>\n The center also houses a 12-credit leadership studies certificate exclusively for FSL members in the Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health and Human Sciences, which is taught by FSL staff members. <\/p>\n The courses focus on leadership contexts broadly but also provide developmental opportunities for students interested in being leaders in their Greek organization. Some of the courses also fulfill general elective and graduation requirements, aiding in degree completion. <\/p>\n Approximately 50 students are currently enrolled in the certificate program; next semester they hope to increase that number to 200, Devies said. \u201cOur students are seeing the direct impacts of that on career readiness,\u201d Devies said, referencing another goal of the center. <\/p>\n Staff also consult other institutions on the lessons they learned from revamping FSL requirements over the past few years, including the importance of data collection and how to partner with chapter leaders. <\/p>\n What\u2019s next: <\/strong>FSU doesn\u2019t have one definition of organizational wellness, Juarez said, but the university is conducting research on positive outcomes from FSL organizations to understand how they can aid in students\u2019 career outcomes, graduation and persistence rates. <\/p>\n \u201cWe believe that our organizations could be vehicles that are instrumental in student success,\u201d Juarez said. \u201cWe\u2019re seeing that with early numbers if you compare our fraternity and sorority students to our non\u2013fraternity or sorority students.\u201d <\/p>\n Positive career outcomes for members have become a top priority at FSU, so establishing stronger partnerships with the campus career center is a growing focus. FSL added a new staff member specifically to liaise with career services. <\/p>\n FSL is also creating a six-week study abroad experience for students in the leadership certificate program based in Florence, Italy, to help them apply leadership principles beyond the campus environment, Devies said. <\/p>\n If your student success program has a unique feature or twist, we\u2019d like to know about it. <\/em>Click here to submit.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Florida State University is home to over 50 fraternity and sorority chapters, with total Greek membership over 6,800\u2014about 23\u00a0percent of the undergraduate population. Fraternity and Sorority Life (FSL) students are generally representative of the student population\u2019s demographics, but they\u2019re more likely to persist, graduate and land a job after graduation compared to their peers. 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