Proposal-20110618-vpcd-02

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• Council Member Name: Kyle M. Williams
• Council Position—Proposal Number: VPCD-02
• Meeting Date for Proposal: August 3rd, 2011
• Objective this proposal falls under:
• What costs are associated with this proposal?: None
• Additional Pertinent Information: See below
• What is the motion to be made on this?

I move to create the Five Star Regional Conference Development Plan

Five Star Regional Conference Development Plan

MISSION

The Five Regional Conference Development shall encourage and facilitate the development of Outstanding Regional Conferences while recognizing those events that exemplify the ideals of Phi Sigma Pi National Honor Fraternity.

DEFINITION

The Five Star Regional Conference Development Plan is a proposed rating system for Phi Sigma Pi Regional Conferences. The rating system will be used as a metric for identifying strong and weak regional events as well creating metrics that maybe utilized for potential awards and recognition of outstanding events. Conferences will be rated based on the following:

• Five Star (Outstanding. Meets and exceeds expectations for a Phi Sigma Pi Regional Conference. Outstanding attendance, planning, programming and event execution. )

• Four Star (Great. Meets and exceeds expectations of a Phi Sigma Pi Regional Conference. Could see some improvement in areas, but otherwise exemplary of the ideals of the fraternity.)

• Three Star (Good. Good event planning, decent execution. Meets minimum expectations. Improvement is needed in areas.)

• At Need (Fails to meet minimum expectations. Conference lacked in planning and execution. Failed to meet minimum expectations and failed to achieve criteria to meet One Star. Further assistance maybe necessary in the future.)

It is suggested that any Conference that does not meet the criteria as established by Phi Sigma Pi be identified as an at-need conference. Events that fail to receive a rating will be identified as at need and support being given to these regions during future planning as deemed necessary by the National Staff. This may include additional support and resources provided by the National Office and/or the Regional Consultant taking more of an active planning role when it comes to the conference planning for the following year’s delegate committee.

BACKGROUND

As of 2001, Regional Conferences have been an official part of Phi Sigma Pi. Since becoming Vice President of Chapter Development, it has been my dream to see that our Regional Conferences are not only a key part of our fraternity and chapter development, but to also see that our Conferences are the pinnacle of student planned and led Conferences within the field of higher education.

To accomplish these goals, efforts have been launched to facilitate conference planning, improve internal regional relations, strengthen event programming, ensure that regions follow proper risk management, and see that both regions and regional conferences are a key element to chapter and member development.

With the five star program, we have the opportunity to see that Regional Conference Planning and execution is strenghtened. With this program, we will be able to more clearly articulate what defines an exemplary regional conference and we will develop a clear blue print for excellence.

PURPOSE

With the Star rating system, it is our intention to:

• Clearly state the National Fraternity’s expectations for Regional Events
• Raise the National Fraternity’s expectations for regional conferences
• Create a culture of excellence in which Regions will be able to use to strengthen regional conferences and regional relations.
• Strengthen Regional Conference Event programming.
• Provide regions a blue print for planning strong regional events
• Recognize those regions that had good, great, and outstanding regional events
• Identify “at need” conferences and provide these conferences a clear and explicitly stated understanding as well as resources and support that will help improve their events.
• Identify those strong regional conferences so that their events can be used as a benchmark for future events.
• Provide the brotherhood a clear metric as to why an event is selected as an “Outstanding Regional Event.”
• Provide incentive for Conferences to build upon and/or improve their Regional Event

IMPLEMENTATION

Once this proposal is approved, National Staff will be empowered to develop metrics that will fairly rate Regional Events. With the rating system, regions will be provided the metrics of the ratings for their conference by the National Office. This provides a roadmap for what the respective conferences need to accomplish in order to be an exemplary event. Resources on how to develop 5 star conferences will be created and made available on the National Website and to the Regional Delegates.

Those Regional Conferences that fall under the criteria of either 3 star, 4 star, or 5 star will be recognized for their achievements as deemed appropriate by the National Office.

Conferences failing to reach these levels will see no recognition and be identified as an “at-need” conference. In the event that a conference has been labeled at-need, then the National Staff will be will be empowered to take more of an active planning role for the following year as necessary. For example, if a conference held in 2011 was listed as being at-need for having poor event programming, poor regional communication during planning, and poor attendance, then the Consultant for this region shall be granted the ability to take more of an active planning role for the 2012 Conference to ensure that the event is able to meet the expectations of a fraternity Region Conference. This role may include having the consultant delegate responsibilities to the conference planning committee, assign tasks as necessary and/or setting the conference agenda. Implementation of this will be left up to the discretion of the National Staff.

In the event that it appears that a conference currently being planned will not be properly executed (host delegate not responding, conference agenda not set enough time ahead of the conference, poor communication between delegates,) the Consultant will be granted the same ability to take a more active planning role with the conference planning committee as necessary.

SCORING

Regional Conferences will be rated by the Regional Consultant who has served as the conference planning committee’s guide throughout the planning process. It is also recommended that the Member Services Teams continue their existing efforts to attend the regional events in which they served as a guide to not only assist the region, but also to best score the conference. The Regional Conference will be scored utilizing standardized review forms similar to the one attached to this document. The attached form is a slightly modified version of the current forms utilized by the Regional Consultants for their reviews. They are modified to better reflect potential criteria to be used in conference review and could be changed upon finalization of said rating criteria. Upon approval of this proposal framework, the National Staff will be empowered to finalize a standardized form to best score the conference based on the criteria which has been set forth.

If a Region Consultant or a representative from the National Staff is not in attendance of the event, then it will be the responsibility of the Regional Committee Delegates to fill out and submit an overview form to the National Office for review. The content on these forms will best reflect the data and information needed to fairly and concisely score the Regional Conference. It is recommended that the Regional Committee Delegates also submit the evaluation forms filled out by attendees, copies of the signed risk management waivers, a copy of the registration packet, as well as registration numbers and any other supplemental material needed to facilitate scoring and determine an accurate number of conference attendees.

METRICS

Once the Rating and Development plan framework is approved, the National Staff will be empowered to develop the final and specific criteria that will be used to measure Regional Conference strength, growth and development. The final metrics must be developed in a way such that they:

• Accurately measure and identify the strengths, weaknesses, and areas of improvement for a regional conference.
• Accurately identify those conferences that are at-need
• Be as fair as possible when measuring and determining 5 star, 4 star, and 3 star Regional Conferences
• Be clear and concise so that Regions will be able to know why their conference received the score assigned to them
• Provide chapters a blueprint and path to success for the planning of the Regional Conference

RECOGNITION

It is suggested that Regional Conferences that reach 5 star status be recognized at National Convention. This to give recognition to the outstanding efforts to those who planned and executed exemplary regional events. Potential recognition for 5 star, 4 star, and 3 star conferences are as follows:

5 Star

• Recognized at National Convention
• Recognition in the Purple and Gold Magazine
• Recognition in the Collegiate E-Newsletter
• Recognition on the National Website
• Recognition in other Phi Sigma Pi online resources (Facebook, twitter, wiki)

4 Star

• Listed in the Purple and Gold Magazine
• Listed in the Collegiate E-Newsletter
• Listed on the National Website
• Listed on other Phi Sigma Pi online Resources (Facebook, twitter, wiki)

3 Star

• No Recognition

AT NEED CONFERENCES It is suggested that we continue current efforts to assist all Regional Conferences, regardless of rating, as has been done in the past as per Standard Operating Procedure. However, in the event that a conference is designated as at-need by National Staff, additional resources and support maybe provided to the committee delegates as determined by the National Staff and Region Consultant who serves as liaison.

ACTION STEPS

Upon approval of the framework, several action steps will be taken so that the final initiative can be rolled out to Regional Conferences.

• Creation of the Five Star Regional Conference Development Plan approved by Council
• Chapters are informed of the Regional Conference Development Plan at National Convention During the Regional Conference Planning Sessions
• National Staff finalizes the Metric system, conference review forms, support plans for at-need and/or failing conferences
• Resource Guides demonstrating how to achieve star status created to facilitate regional conference development
• Program rolled out to Delegates and Chapters (Via planning meetings, facebook, emails or any other method as deemed necessary.)

MOTION

I move to create a five star regional development program