Alumni Advisory Board Assessment Program
The Alumni Advisory Board Assessment Program is Sigma Nu Fraternity’s assessment and improvement program designed to gather data about Alumni Advisory Boards (AABs) and offer feedback based on a set of ideal performance practices. The program is designed as a year-round planning and improvement program for our volunteers. These pages provide a full overview of the program's structure and resources to improve the effectiveness of Alumni Advisory Boards.
Program Overview
These summary documents explain the program in greater detail and provide a listing of the Ideal Performance Practices.
The goal of the Alumni Advisory Board Assessment is not to penalize chapters with absentee or under-performing Alumni Advisory Boards, but rather direct resources towards improvement. The General Fraternity staff and Division Commanders will be able to use this feedback in addressing individual Alumni Advisory Board development throughout the year.
Ideal Performance Practices
Ideal Performance Practices are divided into three (3) operational areas which will serve as a guide to define excellence for Alumni Advisory Boards.
- Form and Function – The make-up of the Alumni Advisory Board and its functions
- Chapter Advisement – How the Alumni Advisory Board is involved in an advisory capacity to the collegiate chapter
- Chapter Development – How the Alumni Advisory Board is involved in the continued development of the collegiate chapter
Alumni Advisory Boards will be benchmarked to each Ideal Performance Practice. Annual assessments take the form of an Alumni Advisory Board self-assessment, an assessment by the chapter officers (included in the Pursuit of Excellence Program), a Division Commander assessment of Alumni Advisory Boards in his Division; and a General Fraternity staff review.
The annual Assessment will utilize Assessment Guidelines which define the Ideal Performance Practices for each achievement level from primary to excellence. This will create consistency across assessments. This also ensures a focus on reviewing Alumni Advisory Boards individually rather than to one another. A rationale for each rating is communicated back to the Alumni Advisory Board along with recommendations for improvement.
The full rating scale is provided below.
| Primary |
Good |
Very Good |
Excellence |
Alumni Advisory Boards should begin immediately working to achieve the “primary” level based on the Assessment Guidelines. Alumni Advisory Boards should begin working towards excellence.
Program Benefits
The Assessment Program presents various benefits to the Fraternity including: increased involvement from volunteers and a better understanding of Alumni Advisory Board strengths and challenges. The information gathered from the assessment will be communicated back to alumni and student leaders along with recommendations for improvement. General Fraternity staff and local Division Commanders will be able to use this feedback for planning and development purposes and assist local Alumni Advisory Boards to create their own action plan for improvement.