Section III

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The National Fraternity is not just one person, one governing body, or one building.

Alpha Sigma Phi is comprised of over 50,000 members, thus making you part of the National Fraternity. At the heart of Alpha Sigma Phi’s service to you and your chapter, are the paid full-time professionals who make up the headquarters staff.

Alpha Sigma Phi National Staff

The National Headquarters staff’s basic and primary role is to help ensure that Alpha Sigma Phi Fraternity continues to pursue the purpose “To Better The Man.” In that regard, the National Staff plays many interesting and important roles in the lives of our Brothers and chapters. These roles, however, are not always fully understood.

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Staff members come from every type of chapter: big, small, old, and new. They have every type of background, and have graduated with every type of academic focus. While from all corners of the country, these men gather on Staff for one purpose: to serve Alpha Sigma Phi Fraternity.

These men usually found their start on Staff in the first few years after graduating from college, but many have also joined after enjoying other professions, and a few have returned to Staff for a second time. Most were key leaders in their chapters, and on their campuses. Typically, the core reason these Brothers want to become Staff members is because they have a burning desire to help the Old Gal continue to have a positive influence on others just as it has had on them. Additionally, being a Staff member gives a young man the opportunity to seethe country, meet hundreds of new Brothers, and develop the skills they will need for future careers.

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The National Staff is involved in everything that occurs on a national level, and many things that occur on a local level. Just as in any business, the Staff’s effectiveness is based on a core purpose as reflected in the Mission Statement:

Our Privilege, Our Responsibility, Our Mission

As Members of The National Staff of Alpha Sigma Phi, Our Obligation Is To:

•Advance the Established Values, Ideals, and Mission of Alpha Sigma Phi

•Identify and Cultivate Areas of Growth for Alpha Sigma Phi

•Effectively Serve Alumni and Undergraduates

•Recognize Strengths, Identify Opportunities, and Provide Guidance for Each Chapter

•Facilitate the Development of All Members

•Exemplify Nurturing, Positive and Responsible Relationships

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With these purposes in mind, the Headquarters Staff is specifically responsible for the following:

Distributing and Collecting all Scholarship and Awards Information. Founded on high literary purposes, Alpha Sigma Phi is continually supporting its Brothers and host institutions with rewards for various academic and fraternal achievements. It is the Staff’s responsibility to manage the application process for these types of recognition.

Chapter Leadership Consultant Program. The Chapter Leadership Consultant is one of the primary liaisons between a chapter and the National Headquarters. These Brothers are hired and trained to help chapters achieve and maintain excellence in offering their Brothers the best possible Brotherhood experience. Consultants are usually among the best and brightest that the Fraternity have to offer. They travel from chapter to chapter, identifying areas of opportunity and offering advice on how to achieve success. If given the opportunity, these men can have a significantly positive influence on your chapter.

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National Leadership Conference (NLC). NLC is held every summer either as a stand-alone conference in odd years or in conjunction with the Grand Chapter in even years. Having the opportunity to gather and share brotherhood with Alpha Sigs from across the country is an inherent benefit of being a member of a national fraternity. Alpha Sigma Phi endeavors to combine the opportunity to commune with the chance to learn about what it means to be an Alpha Sigma Phi Brother. In this effort, the Alpha Sigma Phi Headquarters Staff is responsible for planning, executing and evaluating the NLC.

The Grand Chapter. The Grand Chapter, formerly the National Convention, is held every even year. Besides bringing Brothers together from all across the country, the primary purpose of the Grand Chapter is to provide the convention at which major Fraternity decisions are made. Alpha Sigma Phi is primarily an undergraduate-run fraternity and chapter delegates are charged with forming policy at Grand Chapter. The Staff must organize meetings for tackling issues such as Grand Council elections, dues assessments, ritual modifications, and other significant decisions on which votes are required. Therefore, in addition to learning about the fundamentals of being an Alpha Sig and meeting hundreds of Brothers from other chapters, the Grand Chapter is a pivotal meeting in the life of our Fraternity.

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Ralph F. Burns Leadership Institute. Alpha Sigma Phi believes, first and foremost, in creating and perpetuating brotherhood. It only makes sense, then, to give each Brother the opportunity to take full advantage of their membership in a national fraternity at a young stage in their fraternal career. The Ralph F. Burns Leadership Institute is designed to give men, in their first year of membership, the chance to learn the fundamentals of being an Alpha Sigma Phi Brother and provide them with tools and resources that will help them combine fraternity life with their academic pursuits.

Academy of Leadership. The Academy of Leadership is designed to give Chapter Presidents an opportunity to learn the skills needed to run their chapter successfully.

Expansion of Chapters. During the 1996 Grand Chapter, the undergraduate chapters voted to increase the Headquarters Staff’s focus on expansion. As a result, identifying and cultivating opportunities for expansion on campuses had become a continual effort.

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Maintaining Brotherhood Directory. Another role of the Headquarters Staff is to maintain the always-changing Brotherhood Directory. With over 40,000 alumni, keeping track of where everyone is located is a challenge. Whether it be through the mail service, obituaries, telephone calls, emails, or other means, the Headquarters Staff is continually keeping their records as current as possible. If you have lost the path to a Brother, it is likely that a call to Alpha Sigma Phi Headquarters could solve your dilemma.

Alpha Sigma Phi National Headquarters is located on the north side of Indianapolis, Indiana. The entire Staff spends the summer months in Indianapolis, but spends much of their time “on the road” during the months when our host institutions are in session.

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The Headquarters Staff is charged with carrying gout the directives of the Grand Council and decisions made by the Grand Chapter. In many ways, this is why the Staff does what it does. As many who work in the Greek field will attest, it takes a heightened commitment to the principles of being Greek that brings talented men back to their fraternities to spend a year or, in Ralph F. Burns’ case, over fifty years working on a national staff level to improve the experience of our Brothers. Working for the Alpha Sigma Phi Headquarters Staff is a unique and challenging opportunity.

While developing and organizing national events, working with chapters to achieve success, and learning to make the best of almost every situation will always be valuable skills that any ambitious man should want to enhance, it is the intangible benefits of being a Staff member that make the job so rewarding. The Brotherhood shared, the challenges overcome, and the experiences had are the true reasons for being on the Alpha Sigma Phi Headquarters Staff.

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Standards of Excellence

One of the more significant programs established by the Staff is the Standards of Excellence program which was voted on and approved by the Grand Chapter in 1998 at Norfolk, Virginia. It was developed as a tool to aid chapters in identifying their own strengths and weaknesses. In essence, the program spells out the basic values and expectations of membership in Alpha Sigma Phi. When a Chapter Leadership Consultant visits a chapter the Standards of Excellence will be used to objectively evaluate each area of chapter operation.

There are six parts to the matrix; scholarship, recruitment, risk management, financial management, leadership and brotherhood development, and service and philanthropy. A chapter can score one, three, or five badges, or points, in each category. These are then added up to give the group an aggregate score for the chapter report.

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To help establish goals for each semester, your chapter should review the Standards of Excellence and the chapter report that is sent with it. Areas that could sue improvement will be outlined in the report, under the proper category. These serve as a guide for the chapter to create a plan of action for chapter improvements.

One of the most exciting aspects of the program is its ability to show progress over time. Because the Standards of Excellence is objective, the score can accurately reflect certain areas of chapter operations. Over time, a chapter can see in exactly what areas there has been improvement. Furthermore, if there is a decline in a chapter’s score, the reports can pinpoint where, and when, that decline became apparent.

The Standards of Excellence is simply an extension of the values of Alpha Sigma Phi, as expressed in our Ritual and Reason For Being. It gives each chapter the opportunity to be the best it can be, and National Headquarters the ability to understand and help each chapter succeed.

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