Greek leaders have released two parts of the 2001 Program for Excellence, an attempt to create uniform standards for Penn's Greek system to be implemented over the next few years.
The new program aims to revisit the 21st Century Report for an Ivy League Greek System, which was released in 1996 with similar goals.
Like its predecessor, the Program for Excellence has three separate parts -- one for each umbrella group. The InterFraternity and Panhellenic Councils have presented their portions of the program, while the BiCultural InterGreek Council portion will be released early next spring.
Greek leaders emphasize that unlike the 21st Century Report, the Program for Excellence will not stall in the implementation phase.
IFC President Mark Zimring said that while progress was made under the 21st Century Plan, the new Program for Excellence contains more direct methods geared towards the implementation of recommendations.
"We've really created mechanisms for accountability in this program," the College senior said. "So while the proposals are aggressive, they are also realistic."
According to Zimring, academics is of major importance in the IFC's portion of the Program for Excellence.
"We've been concerned by the general Greek trend in academic performance," he said. "We... will be implementing next semester academic programming and requirements to make sure that we as Greeks continue to be leaders academically."
Pointing to other changes, Zimring noted that there will now be mandatory study halls each week during the new member education process.
"We're... very focused on making sure that their academics don't suffer due to new member education," he said.
Another important part of the plan, the chapter ranking system, serves as a mechanism for chapter accountability. The three-tiered system uses monetary fines and rewards to encourage chapters to meet and even exceed minimum standards in areas like academics, community service and fraternity rush.
The section sets forth certain grade point average standards that must be met by all members of each chapter. In the community service section, the plan mandates that at least 75 percent of each chapter's members must attend Greek-sponsored service events. In addition, each fraternity brother must perform at least 10 hours of community service per year.
Chapters that go beyond minimum standards will receive a $5 per brother grant from the IFC, while chapters that fail to meet the minimum will be fined $5 per brother.
The program has also spawned a new position on the IFC board -- the implementation chair. Zimring said that the implementation chair's "sole responsibility is to ensure that the aspects of the Greek Program for Excellence are coordinated and implemented between the individual chapters."
The Panhel portion of the program, entitled "Panhellenic Strategic Development Initiative," has some strong similarities to the IFC plan.
The first part of the Panhel plan includes ideals and goals for Panhel and its executive board. These include fostering and maintaining a sense of community among chapters and expanding the number of sororities on campus. The program is already underway, with the arrival of an eighth sorority on campus -- Sigma Kappa -- this spring.
The second portion deals with ideals and goals for individual sorority chapters. This section provides a framework that sororities must adhere to so that both Panhel and University administrators can evaluate the chapters.
The evaluation system, like the IFC's, is also three-tiered and addresses many of the same areas. It sets forth minimum standards that a chapter must meet as a "Chapter In Good Standing," as well as providing recognition for chapters that want to excel with "Silver Star Chapter" and "Gold Star Chapter" designations. Monthly reports are also an important part of the Panhel plan.
Panhel President Kristen Buppert said that the program is valuable because the process of evaluation is more streamlined than it was beforehand.
"They're going to report on a monthly basis of their progress, their activities throughout the year," the College senior said. "It'll also entail meeting with advisors and the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs at the beginning of each semester, setting out their goals."
But while the intentions of the programs are good, the plans may be difficult to implement.
Incoming IFC President Conor Daly said he foresees some challenges in carrying out the IFC portion of the Program for Excellence, particularly in terms of rallying all fraternities behind it.
"There's a problem with the Greek system," the College junior said. "And the problem is that it's so factional."
Daly also admitted that since some of the changes are sweeping and may be difficult to implement all at once, the incoming IFC executive board plans to focus on the academic and rush portions of the plan next semester.
Daly particularly emphasized that the IFC plans to work closely with University administration to implement the program.
Office of Student Life Director Scott Reikofski said that while his office has provided student leaders with copies of different Greek strategic plans and given them some ideas, the plan was ultimately student-driven.
"It really was a student-written plan," he said.
Both Buppert and Zimring said it is vital that the new Program for Excellence be implemented and continually reevaluated.
The program should "last another five years and not just fall by the wayside like the last one did," Buppert said.
