The Update | January 12, 2021

The Update

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January 12, 2021

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Published

January 12, 2021

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Lorie Land

DEI Committee Chairman Appointed

Grand Council has appointed Lisa Combs, Alpha Gamma/Ohio State, as the new diversity, equity, & inclusion (DEI) committee chairman. Lisa (she/her/hers) recently transitioned from her role as program coordinator in the Student Diversity and Multicultural Affairs Office at Loyola University Chicago. She is currently a doctoral student at Ohio State University in the Higher Education and Student Affairs program. She plans to write her dissertation about multiraciality. Prior to working at Loyola University Chicago, Lisa also worked as a coordinator for campus life at Illinois Institute of Technology and as a graduate assistant in the Office of Community Engagement and Service at Miami University of Ohio. Lisa’s research interests include identity interconnections, multiraciality in higher education, Filipinx identity development, and deconstructing social constructs around race. Though newer to the publishing process, Lisa has already published the following pieces and is working on an edited book (with Dr. Aeriel Ashlee) called Identity Interconnections: Facilitating Empathy and Connectivity Across and Between Identity Experiences. She has published an article in the Journal of College Student Development.

Lisa also currently serves as the co-chair for the Multiracial Network in the American College Personnel Association (ACPA) and has presented about multiracial topics at many conferences including ACPA, the American Society for Healthcare Engineering (ASHE), Critical Mixed Race Studies (CMRS), and the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in American Higher Education (NCORE). She received her bachelor of arts in political science and English from Ohio State University and her master of science in student affairs in higher education from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

Workforce Update

Please join Mandy Womack, college committee chairman, in welcoming the following volunteers as college district directors (CDDs)!

Erin Smith, Epsilon Zeta/Mississippi, will serve College District I.
Olivia Epps, Delta Phi/Clemson, will serve College District IV.
Ashleigh Rentería, Beta Gamma/Colorado State, will serve College District VIII.
Ijeoma Okorie, Theta Kappa/Louisville, will serve College District XI.

These new CDDs bring a variety of experience including volunteer management, a commitment to inclusion and belonging, and professional work with college students. Appointments are immediate and transitions with outgoing CDDs are ongoing.

The Update Publication Schedule

The next edition of The Update will be Tuesday, Feb. 2, at which time it will move from a weekly publication to a bi-weekly publication. If you have news that needs to be communicated with the workforce before or in-between issues of The Update, communicate to your staff partner who can publish a Workforce Announcement in Igloo at any time.

Theta Foundation Application Opportunities

Theta Foundation’s Quarter 3 Chapter & Individual Grant application deadline is tomorrow, Wednesday, Jan. 13. We are also excited to announce that the 2021 Scholarship Application is now available! The application and recommendation forms are due by Wednesday, March 3. Both applications are posted on Theta’s Apply for Scholarships & Grants page. Thank you for spreading the word about these opportunities! Please direct any questions about Theta Foundation programs to Theta Foundation Programs Manager Mary Kate Smith.

Government Relations

Congratulations to Mary Jane Beach, Beta Nu/Florida State, who will be part of the 2021 Fraternity and Sorority Political Action Committee's Executive Committee, joining Director of Government Relations Laurie Connor. As a result of individual Theta members' contributions, Kappa Alpha Theta was first among the National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) groups, having raised $29,000 in 2020. The top two NPC (and North American Interfraternity Conference [NIC]) member groups each secure a seat. Alpha Chi Omega was second at $28,585.

Special thanks to Cindy Stellhorn, Beta/Indiana, who has completed her term as president of the Fraternity and Sorority Action Fund. Cindy's leadership and drive gave the Greek community the courage to take on Harvard, Yale, and other challenges. Additional thanks to Betsy Corridan for her many contributions during two terms on the FSPAC board.

Workforce Monthly Educational Programming

Our Tuesday monthly sessions are returning in February. The workforce sessions are the first Tuesday of every month. We will try something new for the next few months and offer the same session but at two different times to help accommodate schedules (in other words, only sign up for one of the sessions and not both). A lunch-time session as well as an evening session will take place on the first Tuesday (note, this is for workforce leadership as advisors and alumnae chapter officers have their own sessions). In February, we will be talking about diversity, equity, and inclusion. We hope you can join us.

Afternoon session: Tuesday, February 2 at 2:00 p.m. EST
Evening session: Tuesday, February 2 at 8:30 p.m. EST

Thank you to all the staff and volunteers helping to facilitate our training programs!

Advisor & College Officer Training

We are excited to have several training opportunities for our advisors and college officers. This is the first round of trainings and we will continue to provide updates throughout the year as more training and development opportunities are announced.

Gallup Strengths: We will host seven sessions for select college officers and seven sessions for advisors this January. We will host more training later in 2021. This program is made possible by a grant from Theta Foundation.

Online Training Modules: We have online modules for many officer and advisor positions available now through the Chapter Portal (click on the Training tab and then select Officer Resources and/or Advisor Resources from the dropdown menu).

Courageous Dialogue Workshop: Chief executive officers (CEOs); chief diversity, equity, & inclusion officers (CDEIOs); and chief operating officers (COOs) will have the opportunity to sign up for this workshop, which is provided by LeaderShape. These three officers will receive messages on how to sign up in January and the workshop will take place in February (we will offer five different session dates in order to accommodate everyone). Read more about this program. (Please note that DEI advisors will have the opportunity to attend the version of this program designed for professionals this winter/spring.) This program is made possible by a Theta Foundation grant.

Question, Persuade, Respond Training: We have the opportunity to train at least six members from each chapter for this program. We will coordinate with the COO which members from each chapter will receive the training. (Perhaps members on the MDC are a great start!) Read more about the training program. This program is made possible by a Theta Foundation grant.

Inclusive Leadership: This workshop, which is open to all college officers, will discuss the concept of inclusive leadership and what it means to center diversity and inclusion in one's leadership practice. We will explore how to deconstruct preconceived notions of leadership and reconstruct leadership in order to center the voices of marginalized groups. We will also talk about how sociocultural conversations are the single strongest predictor of leadership efficacy. Each participant will leave with tangible strategies to employ and/or implement aspects of inclusive leadership. This program is made possible by a Theta Foundation grant. Our facilitator for this program is Lisa Combs, Alpha Gamma/Ohio State (she/her/hers).

Officer Training Schedule (Live Sessions): Officers will receive emails about their specific session and content.

CEO: Tuesday, Jan. 26, 7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. EST
Administration: Wednesday, Feb. 10, and Thursday, Feb. 11, both 8:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. EST
Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion: Thursday, Jan. 7, and Tuesday, Jan. 12, both 7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. EST
Facility Management: Tuesday, Feb. 9, 7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. EST
Finance: Wednesday, Jan. 27, and Thursday, Jan. 28, both 7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. EST
Member Development & Sisterhood: Tuesday, Jan. 19, and Wednesday, Jan. 20, both 8:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. EST
Member Orientation: Wednesday, Jan. 13, 8:00 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. EST
Panhellenic: Wednesday, Feb. 17, 7:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. EST
Philanthropy: Tuesday, Feb. 2, 7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. EST
Recruitment (deferred): Wednesday, Feb. 24, and Thursday, Feb. 25, both 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. EST
Recruitment (fall): Wednesday, Feb. 3, and Thursday, Feb. 4, both 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. EST
Risk Prevention & Events: Monday, Jan. 25, and Wednesday, Jan. 27, both 8:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. EST
Ritual: Monday, Jan. 11, 7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. EST
Scholarship: Wednesday, Jan. 20, and Thursday, Jan. 21, both 7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. EST

New Advisor Onboarding

Our quarterly program for new advisor onboarding will be launching this week for the winter session. This program is conducted entirely online and participants receive emails with resources to review at their own pace. The program covers the Chapter Portal; Theta policy & procedure; advising best practices; change management; mental health; diversity, equity, and inclusion; and giving and receiving feedback. We have more than 90 participants registered for our Winter 2021 session, which will run from January – March. Any advisors appointed during this time can sign up for our Spring session which will begin in April.