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Welcome to Advising in the FSL at K-State Community!

We are so lucky to have your involvement, experience, and leadership in an advisor role. We know that this is yet another commitment in the craziness of life – we’ve tried to condense this into “need to know” info and “nice to have” resources. I cannot thank you enough for investing in your chapter, into the fraternity and sorority community at K-State. Onward! 

Jordan Kocher

fsldirectoratkstate@gmail.com, 785-532-5546

Schedule a meeting at a time that works for you!

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New advisor first steps:​

  • Gather all organization-specific advising resources and requirements – your headquarters should provide a handbook, regional training, online modules, or a combination! Meet with your HQ liaison/regional director/province leader to get to know them and how they support your work as a chapter advisor. 

  • Gather a team. If you are the only advisor, ask your HQ for local alumni contacts, connect with a pledge brother or sister to advise a leader virtually, something! It’s much better to have a crew around you, who can divide and conquer based on strengths (finances, recruitment, conduct, etc). Meet biweekly as a team, even for 30 minutes to discuss how things are going. 

The Basics

Our Community

  • We are 100+ years old! The fraternity community began in 1913, followed in 1915 by the sorority community. 

  • Our community peaked at 3,977 members in fall 2015, but across the past 30 years averages around 3,400 students.

  • Below are a few of our community priorities (check out a video example here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WwHwozmtp0&feature=youtu.be):

    • Recruit and retain members to stabilize membership

    • Stakeholder support: this could be providing connection and development of advisors, messaging that relays the value of our facility experiences, training chapter leaders, etc. 

    • Improve student health and safety

Our Structure

  • In 2017, K-State disbanded the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life – stating that independent student organizations do not fulfill the university’s mission and should not receive staff support. You can read more about the policy on their website. 

  • Four groups came together – Panhellenic Council, Flint Hills Alumnae Panhellenic Association, Interfraternity Council, and Alumni Fraternity Council – to create the Fraternity and Sorority Life structure we have now. They also hired a director to support the community, the two student councils, and all alumni stakeholder groups.

  • FSL communicates with primary stakeholders no more than once a week, and does not give out email or phone lists to vendors.

Our Resources, Policies, & Procedures

  • FSL has compiled a year overview, if you want to see what typically happens and when! 

  • Review either Panhellenic or Interfraternity Council policies. Both councils are there to serve the community, chapters, and leaders. They may host educational programs, coordinate recruitment activities, roundtables for connecting points, run through processes to hold chapters accountable should they not be living up to the community’s stated values, and more.

  • Familiarize yourself with campus resources available for K-State students

  • Any time your organization hosts elections or has officers change, they should update those in OrgCentral by editing their roster. Student leaders can connect with the Center for Student Involvement, studentinvolvement@k-state.edu or 785-532-6541. CSI serves students, and while they will talk with advisors, students must be the ones to connect, manage rosters, complete forms, etc. 

Current Topics & Resources

COVID-19

Mental Health

  • Twenty-five percent of college students experience a mental health disorder each year.

  • K-State Counseling Services provides eight free sessions a semester. Many times students are referred out to other community counselors/therapists for long-term care

  • Many fraternity/sorority HQs have partnered with Active Minds, Behind Happy Faces, etc. to provide free resources for members. Check with your organization to see what they offer!

Bystander Intervention/

Sexual Violence Prevention

  • All fraternity new members receive Wildcats Make a Pact (bystander education) training each fall. Sorority chapters are asked to have a bystander/sexual violence prevention training through their HQ or local partners.

  • K-State’s Center for Advocacy, Response, and Education is here to support survivors of sexual or domestic violence and stalking. You can view their resource wheel here: https://www.k-state.edu/care/get-help/

  • As of Fall 2020, fraternity and sorority facilities are not in the jurisdiction of K-State as it relates to Title IX investigations. If an act of sexual violence happens in your facility or at another off campus property, the university will not investigate and make a decision of responsibility (e.g. the perpetrator will be held responsible for the act). Your chapter should connect with your fraternity or sorority headquarters or regional liaison to determine what your steps should be (e.g. Riley County Police are called) if an act of sexual violence occurs and is reported to chapter leadership.

Recruitment, Research & Reading

  • Phired Up: Growth, Retention, Marketing experts have all sorts of free resources and amazing blog content

  • FSL Research Podcast: Dyad Strategies is amazing (search Dyad Strategies in your podcast platform to find their green lightbulb icon)

    • This is the same research consultant group that produced the definitions and measurements of brotherhood/sisterhood 

  • Book recommendations: 

    • Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard, Chip Heath & Dan Heath

    • Community: The Structure of Belonging, Peter Block

    • The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business, Charles Duhigg

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