Letter from the President, Letter from the Editors

LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT

In today’s digital age we have access to an abundance of information right at our fingertips. Likewise, we can use technology to gather feedback and assess learning far more easily and quickly than past generations (does anyone even carry a #2 pencil anymore?). On one hand, that can mean we are perfectly primed for data-informed decision-making. And yet, it can also lead to drowning in a sea of disparate data points we are challenged to make meaning of. One thing is certain, though: as a profession, we must improve on telling our story and advocating for ourselves and our students in a data-supported manner.

In October, I traveled to the NASPA FSL Summit in Houston, Texas. The summit convened umbrella group leaders, headquarters executives, senior student affairs officers, and senior fraternity/sorority advisors to discuss challenges that plague this industry: health and safety, communication, new member processes, the disciplinary process, FSL staffing, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. While not a topic we had time to discuss, “data and metrics for FSL organizational success” was a top 10 issue and it was evident we couldn’t talk about solutions to any of the six hot topics without discussing data and metrics. Similarly, a recent AFA virtual program How to Successfully Advocate for Resources included guidance on how to partner with institutional resource professionals to boost advocacy efforts on campus.

Telling our story — as an industry and profession — is much more compelling when supported by research. Additionally, we must continue to move away from common practice to best practice and cannot define “best” without assessment outcomes to demonstrate efficacy. Whether discussing a prevention framework or staffing model, we must take time to gather evidence of need, impact, and return on investment. An ongoing evaluation of key performance indicators (KPIs) enables us to measure community/organization success and wellness longitudinally. Those measures may be membership statistics, member engagement, and/ or financial health. The key to getting started is making use of resources that already exist such as institutional data, student success software, and learning management systems to cull data and build a framework.

As our industry continues to grapple with challenging issues during a time when resources are becoming scarce, it is imperative our membership becomes increasingly data savvy. I hope this edition of Perspectives offers insights and inspiration on how to collect, analyze, and apply data.

- Wendi Kinney, President

LETTER FROM THE EDITORS

We live in interesting times.

It is no secret a number of divisions and conflicts exist within the fraternity and sorority community. Factions develop around different interests, organizational affiliations, policies, conduct practices, and organizational philosophies. Before we can address the complexity and nuance required to find a way forward, we must address a fundamental question that can inform future resolution.

Will we move forward together or will we take our own paths?

The frustrations, challenges, and disappointments that create fissures within our community are real. In that light, many reasons favoring factionalism are understandable. However, the reality remains we are more likely to find success if we stick together. This “we” is everyone invested in the work of supporting the fraternity and sorority experience. This “we” is campus-based advisors, institutional leadership, organizational staffs, volunteers, board members, vendors, and umbrella organizations. To address the challenges we face – and to secure a successful and sustainable future – we must develop, elevate, and maintain an interconnected relationship among the many disparate entities within this community.

Of course, it is unrealistic to expect this number of people, fulfilling so many different roles and holding a vast array of philosophies and beliefs, to exist in perfect harmony. Even the closest relationships in our lives include strife. If we are going to remain in this together and be true partners, conflict is inevitable.

It is natural for emotion to become part of the various conflicts that emerge among competing interests and values in this community. When emotion consumes our thinking, however, we set ourselves up for failure. If we allow feelings, perceptions, or subjective realities to drive decision-making, we fall into fallacies of cognitive bias. We begin to construct mental models and social norms as a means to create simplicity that can protect us from the difficult circumstances we are often called to grapple with. In doing so, we inhibit our ability to operate within the complexity around us.

If we are going to succeed, we cannot allow truth to become a personal construct. Facts still matter.

To do this, we need information … we need data. Within this work we must seek evidence-based truths. We must infuse reason and logic into the resolution of our conflicts.

Of course, data does not solve all. A statistic or a research study does not necessarily generate a clean and definitive yes or no. Data can also fall victim to overgeneralization. Such is the reason for scientific method and the nature of academic discourse. Through this work, we can join in an effort to seek truth.

It is easy to type a paragraph about the need to find data to drive this work. It is much harder to engage in meaningful inquiry that delivers results. Our authors in this issue guide us in that endeavor. They provide insights on how to find data and what to do with it when we do. They provide examples of research in action. Regardless of where you are in your career or experience level in relation to working with data, you will find something in this issue that can inform your work in new ways.

There are answers out there and it is our duty to find them.

Noah Borton & Brooke Goodman, Co-Editors