Living-Learning Programs in Fraternity Housing: A Description of Miami University’s Fraternity Residential Program
By David Stetter
 
Many colleges and universities allocate extensive resources to first year experience programs to support students during their transition to college with the intention of ultimately improving overall retention rates. Few institutions, however, offer second year experience programs. The result is that students may no longer feel supported during their second year of college and may become confused and lost (Tobolowsky & Cox, 2007). Developmental challenges that second year students may face pertain to selecting a major, understanding their purpose in life, and shaping their identity. Second year students who are not supported during this critical period in their lives may choose to discontinue their studies. This is evident by the fact that second year students have the second highest attrition rates (Tobolowsky & Cox, 2007). In an attempt to combat second year student attrition and to support second year stude nts in their educational pursuits, sophomore experience programs have been developing across the nation. >>Read full article

Media Review: igot2kno.com
Fire Prevention and Safety for College Students and Young Adults
By Chris Hager

Igot2kno.com is a website created by the People’s Burn Foundation to educate young adults about fire safety. The website features free resources, including educational modules, YouTube videos, and answers to frequently asked questions regarding fire safety. This article provides an overview of the website and proposes methods for incorporating the use of the website into the fraternity/sorority advising profession. 

The website has two main sections that are of interest to fraternity/sorority advisors: courses and resources. The courses section features four educational modules that teach young adults about fire safety. Each module concludes with a quiz, which examines students’ understanding of the safety tips. In addition, the website enables fraternity/sorority advisors to monitor student performance as they complete the modules. This enables advisors to follow-up with fraternity/sorority members with low performance. >>Read full article

Raising Capital: Your Guide to Fundraising
By Brian L. Bates

There are several key pieces to conducting a major capital campaign. Based on my experiences as a campaign consultant, I will provide an overview of the process of organizing a capital campaign. I hope the article will help you understand what to expect before and during the campaign.

Before you begin the capital campaign there are a few key issues you have to address. These include developing and implementing a communication program, developing a plan to maintain the chapter facility that you wish to build or renovate, and conducting a feasibility study. The first two concepts are not directly related to organizing a campaign, but are critically important to a campaign’s success. >>Read full article

Put the Capital in your Campaign
By Bryan Bristol

Fraternal organizations from time to time are in need of raising funds. Whether it is for construction, additions, repairs, a scholarship endowment, or helping a brother in need, additional funds may be needed to supplement the current budget. While traditional fundraising is different from a capital campaign in the expansiveness of timeline and collection, there are still some transferable skills to garner from the experience. The Alumni of the Eta Gamma Chapter of Alpha Tau Omega have just used such a capital campaign to aid in the building of a new housing structure. >>Read full article