Center seeks to stop common stereotype

The Greek community and the faculty and staff on campus are not necessarily two groups that are thought to relate to one another. However, the Center for Student Involvement is taking new measures to change misperceptions.

The latest attempt was made by releasing a survey to faculty and staff members to see what current perceptions are and how they can be made better.

Teniell Trolian, assistant director for Greek Affairs, said she got the idea for the survey at a conference where she heard about other universities doing these surveys annually. She said she hopes to see what faculty and staff perceptions are of the Greek community.

The survey was sent out by e-mail to 2,100 faculty and staff members. Trolian said 200 of these surveys have been taken so far.

The survey ends Aug. 7, and Trolian said the results will not be read until that date. All questions on the survey are optional.

Another reason Trolian said she chose to do this survey was to see which faculty and staff members have been affiliated with Greek organizations in the past and who of them may be interested in serving as an adviser in the future.

“All fraternities and sororities have to have advisers and I hope a lot of staff members want to become advisers,” Trolian said. “At least five of our current advisers are retiring, so we want new advisers with a common affiliation to the Greek community.”

Brenda McKenzie, associate director of the Center for Student Involvement, said she has been an adviser of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity on and off for the past seven years. She was also one of the faculty members who took the survey.

McKenzie said she hopes this survey has a very positive effect on how the Greek community is viewed and clears up any inaccurate perceptions of it.

“Easily identified groups like athletes or Greeks can often bear the brunt of a few bad apples,” McKenzie said. “I really think this survey will help us get a handle on how the campus perceives Greek life so that we can do some things to better explain the Greek community and help them to better promote themselves.”

Overall, Trolian said she hopes to get a real sense of how faculty and staff perceive the Greek community and Greek life.

“The faculty and staff are a big part of the Greek community, so I hope we get some genuine feedback,” Trolian said. “I hope we get a better understanding of how the Greek community is working and how it could be improved.”

McKenzie said she also hopes to get feedback from faculty and staff through the survey.

“I hope that a lot of people will take a few minutes to take the survey,” McKenzie said. “We know there are both positive and negative perceptions out there and we want to take time to address those.”

Trolian said the Center for Student Involvement will use the information from the survey to help strengthen the bond between the campus community and the Greek community.

Contact news correspondent Suzi Starheim at [email protected].