NGLA Day 2

Today we were split up and had to venture out if our comfort zones. We broke out into small groups to visit certain sessions that focused on different areas of Greek life that we can try to improve upon. The three sessions I visited were: recruitment/intake training skills, how to be a better Panhellenic officer, and RFM explained.

Recruitment/Intake training skills -- this session really showed me how well Bridgewater state is doing in this department. This past recruitment was the most successful one yet with over 100 women registered and 81 women placed into organizations. I was kind of disappointed in that everything the speaker had to show us, we either already knew and implemented or were spoken to about during our recruitment boot camp keynote speaker that came in the fall. He talked about the importance of non verbals and tone of voice when holding a conversation with a PNM. It isn't always about what you're saying as much as it is about how you are saying it. Listening is also a key part of holding a successful conversation with a PNM. He also mentioned knowing the right questions to ask that will yield responses that tell you whether or not these pnms will fit in your chapter and meet your values. It was repetitive but nonetheless still important information. Although it was skills we had already been trained on, it was comforting to have the feeling of knowing your campus is on track with a successful recruitment rather than thinking "oh crap. We do none of that stuff." I really am proud of BSU Greek life recruitment especially after extension last year that helped us gain alpha sigma tau.

Being a better Panhellenic officer -- this one I especially enjoyed because I personally love my position in panhel right now and plan on running for another position this coming election. I learned information about Panhellenic that I had not known before such as certain months or weeks that are recognized that we do not necessarily hype up as much as we should on our own campus. Examples of this would be campus safety awareness month in September. This hit close to home since this last year at BSU has been an interesting one when it comes to sexual assault. Many more sexual assaults were reported than ever before while I've been a student which makes it very scary, especially being a young woman myself. I learned different ways we could possibly hype up this month at BSU next fall such as hosting a self defense class that is sponsored by a fraternity man or alum of some sort. I know BSU has RAD but those are a tough commitment to make and a lot of woman in campus cannot attend all classes so having a few here and there to attend would be good. Another officer mentioned the GLBTAQ community and making them feel safe in campus. A member of each organization had to be safe space trained in certain terms and words and what is appropriate to say when it comes to gender recognition so no one feels alienated or unsafe being who they truly are on campus. I think this is a fabulous idea to tie into our Greek community especially since our school thrives in inclusiveness and diversity.

RFM explained -- this session was the toughest to get through since it was more information thrown at you but it was definitely beneficial especially where as VP of recruitment I have to deal with RFM during recruitment which just passed. I was very confused with certain terms MB would use when relating to RFM so I wanted to become more knowledgable and better understand the system that helps run recruitment. We had some chapters who had issues with RFM this past recruitment which caused some hiccups but we managed to get through them. The main thing I learned was to TRUST THE SYSTEM it is how to ensure that we maximize the amount of chapters who reach quota. Doing anything else could result in not meeting quota and women being released both of which we don't want happening in large amounts if we can help it.