MU releases report analyzing Greek System, Office of Greek Life

The University of Missouri has released an analysis of the Greek System and the Office of Greek Life (OGL) on Thursday, identifying problem areas that need to be addressed for “improving the Greek experience at MU.”

“From the beginning of this process, our goal has been to make the Mizzou Greek system the best in the country,” said Gary Ward, University of Missouri vice chancellor for student affairs. “This report was a first step, and we look forward to building the future of the Greek System while keeping in mind that campus safety is our top priority.”

General Observations

The report from Dyad Strategies starts with general observations about the “confusing” purpose of OGL and the lack of “strategic focus.”

“Our review discovered that, after the office’s proposal to pass a Greek Student Fee was not passed nearly two years ago, the unit’s employees were instructed by the previous director to ‘scale back’ their services to chapters to the bare minimum… As a result, there is confusion as to what the role and purpose of OGL should be, and this confusion extends from the current OGL staff to students and both internal and external stakeholders,” says the report.

The report goes on to say that OGL operates without “any overarching goals, objectives or priorities” and appears to bounce “from one fire to the next, spending the bulk of its time advising council officers and responding to allegations of misconduct.”

The report criticizes OGL’s inability to effectively communicate with students, internal and external stakeholders and alumni. Students reported feeling “in the dark,” and alumni reported being frustrated with the lack of information OGL shares with them.

OGL support is absent in the Greek community, according to chapter leaders, who describe OGL as a “reactionary unit” instead of a resource. One student goes on to say that “a fraternity would implode before they would go to the University for help.” OGL is also criticized for focusing all of its time to council advisement.

“This is a department stretched thin, not only by minimal staffing and meager programmatic resources, but also by the aforementioned disparate expectations and lack of focus,” says the report. “The University faces a challenge with staffing and supervision of the OGL Unit. Current staff is bright and energetic, but young and relatively inexperienced.”

The National Pan-Hellenic Council, Inc. (NPHC) and Multicultural Greek Council (MGC) members reportedly felt that they received support from OGL “in terms of attendance at their events,” but also felt isolated from the Fraternity/Sorority (F/S) community.

Risk Management in Greek life

Many risks were identified in Dyad Strategies’ report, including:

Unregistered social events, especially in fraternities. Chapters developing systems to “beat” the Interfraternity Council (IFC) Social Audit process, rendering them ineffective. Local law enforcement only conducting cursory patrols and responding to major incidents, almost never going into the fraternity or sorority houses due to them being outside of law enforcement’s jurisdiction. Allowing freshman to live in fraternity houses, which generally impacts academic performance. Syllabus week providing an environment where there’s an increase in partying and substance abuse. Substance abuse in general. Hazing. Chapters that are no longer recognized by the university still participating in the Greek community. A lengthy conduct process for students. Students of color feeling a lack of support from the university and a lack of inclusion/collaboration from other groups like fraternities and sororities.

Recommendations

Dyad Strategies outlines eight recommendations for the University of Missouri’s OGL and Greek community:

Roles and Purpose Define a clear purpose for OGL Define areas of focus for Fraternity and Sorority chapters Articulate specific outcomes Make sure that new initiatives address the needs of OGL F/S governing councils OGL and F/S councils should have a shared formal relationship and expectations. F/S councils should review all internal documents, policies, procedures, structures and programs to be relevant to the community. F/S chapters should review risk management policies and practices. OGL should assess the needs of F/S chapters. Strategic Planning Prioritize critical issues. Determine appropriate assessment measures. Collect needed baseline sate. Develop educational programming that adheres to wanted outcomes for OGL. Measure growth of OGL Organizational Conduct Adopt the “three-pronged approach” created by the Division of Student Affairs that deals with misconduct and the consequences related to the severity of that misconduct. Partnerships Develop programmatic framework for internal constituents. Partner with the University Development Division to create strategic plan for engaging F/S alumni abd parents. Develop stronger partnerships with alcohol, drug and sexual violence prevention offices. External Stakeholders Create a clear and comprehensive communication plan to engage external stakeholders. Create Alumni Advisory Council. Invest in the training and recruitment of F/S chapter advisors. Investigate a formal partnership with the North American Interfraternity Conference (NIC). Risk Management Solutions Revamp the Social Audit/Social Event Registration process. Invest in a comprehensive hazing prevention program. Educate housing corporations on drug testing options. Remove freshmen from fraternity houses. Revamp the fraternity recruitment process. Eliminate Syllabus Week. Work to build a partnerships with alumni and headquarters of underground groups to establish a recognition plan for the university. Invest in sexual harassment/misconduct education programming. Diversity and Inclusion Consistently evaluate the unique needs of culturally based fraternal organizations (CBFO’s). Advocate for additional financial programming dollars for the CBFO communities. Fortify relationships with graduate/alumni chapters and respective advisors. Establish a reasonable outcome for diversity and inclusion programming efforts. Provide recruitment and growth guidance for CBFO communities.

The report wraps up with the consensus that the F/S community at the University of Missouri is “underachieving,” but the F/S culture is “largely positive.”

“With the changes noted in this report, there is no reason to believe that the Mizzou F/S community could not be one that is widely recognized for its success and accomplishments at impacting student learning and institutional culture in positive and meaningful ways,” says the report.

The official press release states that no final decisions will be made about the recommendations until Spring 2018.

You can read Dyad Strategies’ report in its entirety below: