FAQ

Who can participate in the LEAD Program?

Any member or chapter can participate in LEAD. Chapters interested in participating in the LEAD Program and receiving financial incentives should visit the Program Requirements section of the LEAD website for additional information. If you are a member of a chapter that does not want to adopt the LEAD Program on the chapter level, you can still participate in the program. Simply set up an account on the LEAD website to take advantage of the resources available to you. If you have any questions about getting started, please contact the International Headquarters at 317-824-1881 or at ihq@thetachi.org.

Do members have to begin the program in The Believer stage?

No. Brothers will be placed in the stage that will best assist is development as a student, brother, and citizen. The program focuses on assisting brothers with relevant issues they are facing as students. A junior who joins the chapter will not need to learn how to use campus resources. However, a junior will need to begin preparing for resume writing and interview skills. For that reason, brothers will be placed in the appropriate stage depending on their current class standing. This will vary from person to person and chapter to chapter.

What happens if a chapter that has adopted the LEAD Program falls below the program requirements?

LEAD Chapters not meeting program requirements will be addressed by the LEAD Committee on a case by case basis. The chapter may be asked to submit a plan on how the situation will be improved and then held accountable to that plan. For example, if a LEAD chapter falls below the campus all-men's G.P.A., the committee might request that the chapter submit a scholarship action plan designed to raise the chapter G.P.A. within the following semesters. If a LEAD chapter falls below the 30-man minimum, the committee might request that the chapter submit a recruitment plan detailing their events, goals, and strategies to increase membership. These cases will be handled on a case by case basis.

What happens to the incentive money if the chapter violates policies of the program?

Depending on the violation, the grants may turn into interest bearing loans. The LEAD Committee and the Risk Management and Standards Committee will have the authority to make these decisions.

What happens if the chapter does not have an alumni corporation?

Although it is not an expectation that you have an alumni corporation to participate in the LEAD Program, these volunteers can be very helpful to the continued success of your chapter. Every attempt should be made to recruit alumni for these positions. Andrea Eickhoff, the Director of LEAD, other IHQ staff and regional staff will work with your chapter to help recruit alumni volunteers for your alumni corporation. If your chapter does not have an alumni corporation, have one or more of your advisors sign the LEAD Program Confirmation Form to verify their knowledge of your chapter's desire to participate in the LEAD Program.

Why is there so much documentation involved? It seems like it would be more trouble than it's worth.

Although it might appear that there is a great deal of documentation involved in the LEAD Program, individual members have minimal amounts of paperwork to complete for each stage. The LEAD website was created to make the documentation process easier for program participants. LEAD Chairmen, and Stage Coordinators. The LEAD Chairman and stage coordinators will have the most responsibility for the program since they manage the documentation and insure that everyone is participating in their respective stages. The Stage Coordinators should visit the website regularly to determine that members are completing their activities. Individual members are responsible for completing journal entries (less than 10 for each stage -- less than 30 total), verification forms for community outreach, and complete a personal goal sheet for each stage. These can all be completed online, with the exception of forms requiring signatures. These exercises are not intended to be busy work. Instead, they are designed to help you document your activities and reflect upon your experiences so you are able to gain the most from the program.

Isn't LEAD going to create more responsibilities and requirements for members? We already feel over-programmed and don't want to add anything more to our busy schedules.

Contrary to what you may think, LEAD does not have to require much additional time from program participants. Each semester, participants should plan a monthly schedule to highlight their program requirements so they can plan for all of the activities and avoid procrastination. Participants should look at required campus and Greek programs and see how these relate to their LEAD requirements. If participants plan and have a strategy for each semester, they can easily avoid over-programming. One average, members in The Believer stage can expect to spend about 7 hours a month on LEAD. Members in The Resolute Man and The Teacher stages can expect to spend about 8 hours a month on the program.

Is LEAD trying to get rid of the Big Brother program by replacing Big Brothers with mentors?

Big Brothers have a special place in each chapter and Theta Chi Fraternity encourages that Big Brother programs continue. The role of the mentor is not the same as being a Big Brother. The mentor is responsible for the development of his mentee by assisting, teaching, and guiding him through the stages of the program. A mentor may be older or younger than his mentee -- he just must be ahead of him in the stages of the LEAD Program. A mentor should be someone the mentee can go to for advice in all aspects of the program. Mentors should not be viewed as a replacement for Big Brothers. Instead, a mentor should be viewed as another brother with whom a mentee has the opportunity to form a close friendship.