Conversations that Matter: Overcoming Challenges to the Fraternal Values Movement
March 2007
You asked, and we listened! The topic for this Virtual Seminar was selected based on reviews of Annual Meeting programs. This seminar will be a continuation of the highly rated program, What to Call Your Rho Chis and Other Values-Based Conversations. Dan Bureau will facilitate this interactive, thought provoking seminar. Whether you missed the program at the Annual Meeting or attended and want to continue the discussion, this seminar will better prepare you to have powerful values-based conversations with your students.
This live virtual seminar includes web and telephone technology. The facilitator will provide participants the opportunity to learn more about values congruence and how we can create positive change within the fraternal movement.
Topics covered will include:
The relevance of fraternities and sororities on college and university campuses is highly dependent on the fulfillment of our mission and meeting espoused values with actions. Fraternity and sorority practitioners deal with a myriad of issues. This can prevent us from doing what is ultimately most important – advancing a values agenda. Advisors can be most successful when they see themselves as "values educators," not simply “Greek advisors.” This workshop focuses on:
- Understand the primary issues preventing mission/values congruence
- Highlights will include refocusing our efforts on values; revisiting what our guiding principles are, the issues that challenge our existence, and concerns that continue to come up on a regular basis.
- Participants will receive insight on the issues professionals face in regard to values congruence work. Time will be spent on historical efforts to then look at what can be done differently in the future.
- Challenge the manner in which fraternity and sorority professionals do their work
- Highlights will include an overview of how we perpetuate the problems on our campuses and within our organizations.
- Participants will have a chance to discuss these points interactively as well as gain insight into the skill building and purposeful actions that could improve fraternity/sorority communities.
- Provide possible ways to change the scope of our conversations to impact change
- Highlights will include an overview of what can be done to refocus our efforts so values congruence is at the core of the work we do. Additionally, time will be spent discussing the need for a coalition approach to this work as well as each constituency involved in the effort (i.e. undergraduate students, alumni and volunteers, inter/national organization professionals, and campus professionals)
- Participants will learn how they may be able to change their approach as well as the different spheres of influence that must be involved in forwarding the ideals of values congruence. Furthermore, participants will be left with a list of resources for further learning and investigation.
Presenters
Dan Bureau earned his B.A. in English and Communications from the University of New Hampshire in May 1995 and his M.Ed. in Higher Education Administration in 1998 from the University of Massachusetts. He served as the Student Activities Advisor for Greek Life and Leadership at the University of New Mexico from 1998-2001 and as the Assistant Dean for Fraternity and Sorority Affairs at the University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign from 2001-2006. He is currently a full time Ph.D. student at Indiana University and works with the National Survey on Student Engagement.
He is an active member of AFA and served as 2004 President of the Association. Since then he has continued his involvement with AFA as the Associate Editor of Oracle: The Research Journal of the Association of Fraternity Advisors, a member of the Perspectives Editorial Board, and AFA's liaison to the National Hazing Prevention Week and National Hazing Symposium. He has contributed to the fraternal movement as a volunteer for his fraternity, Phi Kappa Theta, and as a facilitator for the Undergraduate Interfraternity Institute. He is an active member of the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators, having served on the Region IV-E Board and on committees, and he is a national consultant on fraternity and sorority life issues and leadership development for Campuspeak.
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