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 Leadership Opportunities
True leadership comes from experience. As a member of a fraternity/sorority, you will find numerous opportunities that will give you the knowledge, skills, and understanding to become an effective leader. Fraternities and sororities are self-governing bodies, providing members with plentiful leadership possibilities. Members:
Leadership opportunities offered throughout the year: Greek Affairs Sponsored Programs August Leadership Retreat For chapter presidents and officers and council (IFC, Panhel, NPHC, & IGC) officers, this day long retreat brings the leaders of the BGSU Greek community together to finalize planning for the upcoming fall semester. The retreat takes place on campus and provides opportunity for the council leadership to work independently during the day and collaborate during the evening. Chapter presidents and officers partake in training sessions during the evening for both personal and positional development. Emerging Leaders (EL) The Emerging Leaders retreat is for up and coming leaders in the various Greek chapters. Each chapter sends two students to participate in this overnight, off-campus experience during the fall semester. Participants work in small groups throughout the weekend to develop leadership skills, bond with fellow Greek students across the different councils, and to generate a vision and action plan for the future of their chapter. Many of those who complete this retreat go on to become chapter presidents, take council leadership positions, and become involved in the Greek community’s various boards and committees. Emerging Leaders Reunion The Emerging Leaders Reunion is an opportunity for those who completed Emerging Leaders in the fall to reunite with their fellow members and past Emerging Leaders participants. This reunion takes place in the spring semester and includes reflection about the experience and provides a chance to check-in on the vision and action plans developed by the participants. Past participants in the program offer support and feedback along with friendly conversation and advice. Greek-A-Palooza (GAP) Greek-A-Palooza is the premiere orientation program for Greek students. Every semester those students just joining the Greek community come together to learn more about the community they have entered. New members are taught about the various councils, have discussions about personal and chapter values, and meet other new Greek students. The program is designed to provide social interaction while acclimating the students to the new culture of being Greek. Greek Board/Committee/Team Training Retreat This event takes place every spring semester in January. The purpose of this training is to educate all of our new board, committee, and team members on the various policies and procedures for those groups. The retreat format offers a shared experience in the morning for all board, committee, and team members, with the afternoon consisting of comprehensive training for the different boards, committees, and teams. The various boards, committees, and teams who participate in this training are the following: Go Greek Team, Greek Housing Board, Council Conduct Boards, Greek Scholarship Board, Greek Leadership Team, and Greek Week Steering Committee. Greek Leadership Team (GLT) The Greek Leadership Team is one of the most important teams to our Greek community. These students are the best of the best and go through an application and interview process to become members of this exclusive group. The GLT is responsible for working with the Office of Residence Life/Greek Affairs to help facilitate the numerous leadership programs and opportunities for the Greek community. Those who apply are expected to have had leadership positions within their chapter, their council, and/or throughout the BGSU community. These individuals should have experience presenting and is it recommended that they be in their junior or senior year. This position has an extensive time requirement, but is also probably one of the most rewarding opportunities Greek Affairs can offer its students. January Leadership Retreat The January Leadership Retreat is an overnight retreat for chapter presidents, chapter officers, and council (IFC, Panhel, NPHC, & IGC) officers. The retreat takes place at an off-campus location and brings together the leaders of the BGSU Greek community to begin building a sense of community among the many different types of Greek groups on campus. The retreat has different tracks depending on the position held by the individual, but also provides opportunity to choose programming that is interesting to each person. Leadership Academy The Leadership Academy is a campus-wide initiative for all students, regardless of leadership position or experience, to learn more about themselves through various programming by graduate and professional staff members. The Office of Residence Life/Greek Affairs at BGSU supports this program both monetarily and also through programming by our staff. Other departments/organizations involved in the Leadership Academy are the Office of Campus Activities, Outdoor Programs, and Alpha Sigma Phi Fraternity. This daylong opportunity is free to students who want to develop their leadership skills, learn more about their personal leadership styles, and/or gain practical abilities to be used in the real world. This event generally takes place on a Saturday early in the spring semester. Officer Training Workshops Individual members of the Greek Affairs Office dedicate time to working with officers from different councils and chapters through workshop experiences. These workshops are to help prepare the students in these various positions to be as successful as possible in their new roles. The Greek Affairs staff works with the office on a one-on-one basis to develop goals, create an action plan to achieve these goals, and meets throughout the semester to receive feedback and updates about the progression of the action plan and goals. The GLT members also do presentations geared to all the chapter officers to assist them with their new positions. Officer Transition Workshops This is different than the officer training workshops as this program works with the outgoing and incoming chapter leadership simultaneously. The purpose of this workshop is to help the new officer transition into his/her role while using the outgoing leadership to help provide tips and words of advice. A member of the Greek Affairs staff will work with the outgoing and incoming chapter presidents before the workshop to determine the outcomes for the workshop. The Greek Affairs staff member will then design the workshop with the chapter presidents input and feedback to make sure the program is focusing on what the chapter wants to accomplish. UNIV 310: Seminar in Residence Life for Greek Students UNIV 310 is a one-credit course that meets once a week for an hour for the entire semester. The class is offered in both the spring and fall semesters. The registration for the course is by chapter. Interested chapters apply through the Greek Affairs Department. The course is designed to focus on one of the “Four Pillars” (scholarship, leadership, brotherhood/sisterhood, and service) of the Greek Affairs Department each semester. The course is supplemented with a book as part of the shared experience for the class. Each participating chapter will be working on a large-scale chapter project that will reflect both the course material and also focus on the particular “pillar” for that semester. Non-Greek Affairs Sponsored Programs This 5 day program offers intense, personal evaluation and development of leadership styles. Offered after finals week in the spring, about 50 BGSU student leaders attend, with about half being fraternity/sorority members. Application is required through the Office of Campus Activities. This retreat is aimed at developing the concept of “leading with integrity.” Dynamic, challenging, and exciting, the week is intended to produce a breakthrough in the leadership capacity of participants — benefiting the students themselves, their respective organizations, and the institutions that they will go on to lead and serve in the future. It does cost money to attend this retreat but there are numerous opportunities to receive sponsorship to attend. For more information, visit The LeaderShape Institute website. Mid-American Greek Council Association Conference (MGCA) The Mid-American Greek Council Association Conference takes place every spring semester in February. MGCA is an overnight conference experience that happens in St. Louis, Missouri. The conference is open to any chapter members who wish to attend. All council leadership goes to the conference and the different councils and Greek Affairs offer scholarships for others to attend. The trip allows for bonding with fellow Greek students at BGSU and with other Greeks throughout the mid-western region. Along with educational programming, there are numerous social opportunities to explore the town of St. Louis and interact with other Greeks. The conference culminates with an awards reception on the final evening, in which the Greek community at BGSU is always competitive for national and regional awards. This conference is now paired up with the National Black Greek Leadership Conference (NBGLC). For more information, please visit the MGCA website. National Black Greek Leadership Conference (NBGLC) The National Black Greek Leadership Conference (NBGLC) was created in 1986 as a means to give undergraduate members of Black Greek Lettered Organizations (BGLOs) the opportunity to network and dialogue on issues that face them on predominately white campuses. Robert N. Page Jr. founded the conference on the campus of Central Missouri State University after attending Mid-American Inter-fraternity Council Association/Mid-American Panhellenic Council Association (MIFCA/MAPCA), which is now the MGCA Conference, in 1986. This conference is now annually paired up with MGCA and will be taking place in St. Louis, Missouri over the next few years. For more information, please visit the NBGLC webpage. Undergraduate Inter-Fraternity Institute (UIFI) A five day national Greek leadership academy in Indianapolis, held throughout the summer, this is the premiere Greek leadership academy in the country. BGSU selects five outstanding Greek leaders to attend each summer. In addition, many chapters send their chapter presidents to this program. For more information and dates, visit the UIFI website. |
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