My College of Chapters Journal (Kansas)
College of Chapters
Editor's Note - Over the duration of the 2019 College of Chapters, we enlisted several attendees to journal their four-day experience through Sigma Nu's premier leadership training program. Participants chose from several prompts provided and answered their selections at the end of each day.
This journal comes from Nu Chapter (Kansas) Commander, Jacob Scott. Jacob was joined at College of Chapters by Lt. Commander, Max Vincent.
Day 1 - Arrival
What was your journey like to Roanoke for College of Chapters?
The night before the flight I could barely sleep out of excitement. I woke up at 4:30 a.m. to make my 7:15 a.m. flight to Charlotte. Upon boarding our flight from Charlotte to Roanoke, everyone on the plane started to realize we were almost all there for the same reason. The plane was just full of Commanders! The excitement continued to grow when we reached the awe-inspiring Hotel Roanoke.
Coming into College of Chapters, what are some of the challenges that your chapter faces? What do you want to improve on this semester?
At Nu Chapter we underutilize our committee system and our LEAD program does not live up to its true potential. I hope to exchange ideas and best practices with other chapters from across the country.
What was your first chapter meeting like at College of Chapters? What chapters were represented in your chapter group? Who were your chapter facilitators?
We met briefly after an impressive dinner at the hotel. I had been assigned to the Mills Chapter Group, a group consisting of what seems to be chapters of similar geographical location and manpower. It included representation from Illinois State, Iowa, Minnesota, Northwestern, Butler, and ourselves. We also got to meet Joe Thomas (Huntingdon) and James Ehrmann (Iowa) who were our chapter group facilitator’s.
Day 2 - Curriculum
What were your chapter meetings like today? What was the focus of the chapter meetings? What did you work on? What were your “Ah Ha’s?”
We learned so many different things today it is hard to even spit them out onto one page, but what really stuck with me were the sessions on solidifying our visions as strategies and using goals and delegation. We worked on developing strategies, which included S.M.A.R.T. goals, in order to make our vision into a reality. Developing the vision was a gradual progression but the further we developed our strategies and goals the more our once plastic visions solidified into concrete forms. We entered this day feeling overwhelmed by our thoughts of vision and how in the world we would ever implement them, but by the end we felt very confident in our ability to communicate the vision to our chapters.
What ideas have you picked up from other Commanders at College of Chapters?
The biggest idea we gained today was how everyone else implemented their committee system. Combining the practices from just a handful of guys, I put together a strategy to implement and utilize a committee system that was optimized for our specific chapter.
What do you want to see your chapter become? How did the session on Vision help you create a compelling vision for the chapter?
My chapter needs to look at the hostile campus environment across the country and realize that, as a fraternity community, we have to discipline ourselves in our actions and be a leader on our campus. In doing this we must focus our recruitment and candidate programs more heavily on love, honor, and truth. That is where our visions have the largest implications on our brotherhood. I had always known this for our chapter, but the core sessions helped in focusing vision to form concrete ideas I can communicate more effectively to my chapter.
Day 3 - Pilgrimage to Lexington, Va.
What was it like to visit Sigma Nu Headquarters? What stood out to you from the visit and tours of HQ and VMI? What did you learn about Sigma Nu?
Visiting headquarters was incredible. Seeing the history of where we were founded was one of the coolest experiences I have had. What really stood out was the real focus on our values that our founders had, and how the people at VMI know that. They view Sigma Nu as an organization they’re proud to say started at their Institute. Coming from an old chapter, it was also very cool to see all the places we were represented at HQ.
What was your fourth chapter meeting like? How did you feel about the vision statement that you drafted for the chapter? What was a takeaway from the chapter meeting? What were your “Ah Ha’s?”
It was one of the best meetings and I am very proud of our vision statement. Coming into this term we had known that we need to get a successful committee system off the ground, but after going through the vision, strategy, and goal exercise, we realized what this would fix. Utilizing a committee system will allow us to get more member involvement and initiate a culture change from apathetic (if you are not involved on the executive board and have nothing to do/contribute) to driven. This will motivate members to care deeply about our house as they contributed their time and resources toward it.
What was your breakout sessions today? What were your takeaways from them?
I attended the Strengths and Weaknesses breakout session. This was a great session as it allowed me to identify my strengths and weaknesses and learn how take advantage of that knowledge to lead effectively. I liked it so much that the first week back at school we are going to have our whole executive board do the exercise.
What are three words that you would use to describe your College of Chapters experience?
Motivational. Fun. Educational.
How do you think College of Chapters has helped you prepare for the upcoming semester/quarter?
It has given me leadership strategies to bring back and utilize. I am excited to begin rallying our executive board around the vision Jacob and I created to continue to improve on a long-term basis.
What did you think of the closing keynote from Bill Courtney? What messages stood out to you from his remarks?
This was the most motivational speech I have ever heard throughout my life. His overall message was incredible. Get a mirror and a compass. Your compass will let you know what is right and wrong and help you make decisions. But as a leader, wake up every day and look in the mirror. Why are you doing what you are doing? If the answer is for anything other than for those in your organization, either resign or do whatever you need to do to change that by tomorrow. He was incredible and I wish that my whole chapter could have listened to his whole message.
Day 4 - Departure
What have you realized about your role as Commander from your time at College of Chapters? What have you learned about yourself?
I have learned what I signed up for as Commander and developed an understanding of how to convey our vision to our chapter and use it to strategically accomplish goals. As for myself, I have learned what my leadership will look like and how to effectively lead others.
What did you expect College of Chapters would be like coming into Roanoke on Thursday? How were your expectations correct? Incorrect?
I expected more of a “check off the box” format to make sure we understood all the rules and guidelines. I was wrong. We all developed ourselves as leaders and young men and I hope to use what I learned to communicate our vision to our chapter.
What kind of network did you build from attending College of Chapters?
We developed a great network of not only HQ representatives that we can talk to throughout the year when we need help, but also tons of other Commanders and Lieutenant Commanders from across the country that I hope to stay in touch with. Not only will I use this network to bounce ideas off each other, but we also made friends I hope to stay in touch with.