Corey Lovelace

Gamma Sigma Alpha National Greek Academic Honor Society was proud to recognize Corey Lovelace with a 2011-2012 graduate student scholarship in recognition for his outstanding achievements during his undergraduate years at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). Lovelace studied Health Care Management and has continued his education at UAB, pursuing his Master’s degree in Health Administration.

Lovelace is a non-traditional student, who enrolled at UAB at the age of 24, after serving six years in the U.S. Air Force. He felt a void in his life leaving his military ‘brothers’ and found a similar camaraderie within Delta Sigma Phi fraternity. Membership in the fraternity led to years of community service, countless leadership opportunities, various honors and membership in Gamma Sigma Alpha.

Lovelace worked, during his senior year, at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center. During his time there, was promoted to the position of Purchasing Agent in their Geriatrics & Extended Care division. His supervisor recognized his outstanding work ethic and ability to connect his classroom learning with ‘real-world’ experiences in her letter of recommendation.

Gamma Sigma Alpha’s Board of Directors congratulates Lovelace on his accomplishments and wishes him nothing but the best as he journeys through graduate school.

• Study Tip: Create a fact sheet for each of your classes a few weeks before exams and review regularly. #gettingthegrade #gammasigmaalpha
• Study Tip: Protein is better than caffeine and it won’t leave you jittery! #gettingthegrade #gammasigmaalpha
• Study Tip: Discuss issues with your prof/ TA PRIOR to exam week. They can help! #gettingthegrade #gammasigmaalpha
• Study Tip: Use campus resources: writing lab, tutoring services, stress counseling, etc. #gettingthegrade #gammasigmaalpha
• Study Tip: Avoid fast food, it will make you lethargic-munch on almonds & whole grains instead. #gettingthegrade #gammasigmaalpha
• Study Tip: Enlist a study buddy-set study goals 2gether & reap rewards after-success is best shared! #gettingthegrade #gammasigmaalpha
• Study Tip: Move! Break up study sessions with brisk walks. Helps w/fact retention & alertness. #gettingthegrade #gammasigmaalpha
• Study Tip: Study actively-read, hear, see, say & do. Flash cards, discussions, outlines etc. #gettingthegrade #gammasigmaalpha
• Study Tip: Make a checklist or calendar and plan your study attack. #gettingthegrade #gammasigmaalpha
• Study Tip: Vary the time of day you study, this can help with retaining the material. #gettingthegrade #gammasigmaalpha
• Study Tip: Use the power of positive thinking & get some rest prior to test day! #gettingthegrade #gammasigmaalpha

The Honor Roll schools that are attending WFLNCGLC this week are listed below. These schools have fraternity/sorority communities that achieve a higher GPA than the general undergraduate communities.

Spring 2011 Honor Roll recipients:

Fall 2011 Honor Roll recipients:

For more information about Gamma Sigma Alpha and how you can get your school name on this list, visit our website.

The institution receiving top academic honors with the SEPC Regional GPA award for Spring 2011 is ALSO our winner for Fall 2011 and that sorority community is at the University of Miami.

The schools listed below were able to achieve honor roll during both 2011 terms.

The Honor Roll recipients for SEPA are:

A full list of honor roll schools and regional award recipients will be published mid-month after awards are presented at The West Fraternal Leadership Conference. You still have time to add your school to our Honor Roll if the Fraternity/Sorority GPA is above the all-undergraduate GPA. Complete the online form here.

Upon further inquiry, I learned that a handful (literally) of students were solid students academically. These students were well known leaders and I knew that I had to capitalize on their popularity and provide them with some recognition and “extra bling” they could wear to chapter meetings and Fraternity/Sorority events. One of the many strategies I immediately implemented was chartering a chapter of Gamma Sigma Alpha Greek Academic Honor Society on campus. The extra membership badge and graduation cords would certainly be a talking point and hopefully trigger some conversations around academics in the fraternal community. The first induction consisted of 5 students in my office one night in early fall 1999. These few students were invited to speak at every Fraternity/Sorority event (recruitment, orientation, Greek week, council meetings, etc.) for the entire year serving as ambassadors for being balancing fraternal membership and academic success.

Within one year, many younger fraternity and sorority members were showing signs of improvement. New member class GPA’s began to increase and eligibility for membership in the chapter did as well. In a few more years, our induction ceremony grew to a larger room in the student union with funding provided by the Vice President’s office. We included overall chapter academic improvement awards and other special academic recognitions such as certificates for all students achieving a 4.0 signed by the University President. Parents and faculty were invited and the importance of academic success was illustrated and people were taking note.

Now 10 years later, academic achievement is in our student developed strategic plan as a core principle for belonging to a greek-letter organization at CSUN. Our fraternity and sorority averages are above the all men’s and women’s campus averages. We had the largest spring induction class for the entire Gamma Sigma Alpha national organization. In fact we now average over 100 eligible students each semester. Chapters are beginning to reward their members by paying their induction fees and sponsoring special events just for those who join our GSA chapter. Next on the chapter’s agenda is to sponsor Study Jams for midterms and finals with massage therapists, coffee and midnight snacks, and other unique study incentives.

While bringing a chapter of Gamma Sigma Alpha Greek Academic Honor Society did not create an immediate change, it did light that initial spark eventually leading to an entire culture shift in our students’ priorities and confidence that they could be part of a fraternity/sorority organization and be academically successful!

Congratulations to the fraternal community that was awarded our top academic achievement award for this region. This award is measured by the differential between the all-undergraduate mens GPA and the all-fraternity GPA. The fraternity GPA on this campus was consistently above the all-mens average and proves this community is putting academics first. The winner of the Spring 2011 semester award is also the winner for the Fall 2011 semester award and that school is the University of Miami! Go Hurricanes!

Our Honor Roll Schools in this region were recognized for having higher fraternity GPA statistics than the all-mens GPA statistics on their respective campuses. Congrats to these schools:

Do you think your fraternity community should be added to our Honor Roll? We’ll continue to take GPA submission through the end of the semester, send us your information here.

Awards were announced today at the Northeast Greek Leadership Association in Hartford, CT. The institution receiving the highest academic award for the Spring 2011 academic period is Saint Francis University. Our winner for the Fall 2011 academic period is Washington & Jefferson College. Congratulations!

The 2011 Honor Roll Recipients for the Northeastern region are:

*The schools listed achieved honor roll status for Spring and Fall semester. Stay tuned–awards for SEIFC will be announced next!  To stay updated, follow Gamma Sigma Alpha on Facebook & Twitter.

We highlighted the Fraternity/Sorority Community Academic Report Card on our website and blogged about the process of creating a scholarship plan. Below are some “Best Practice” examples we’ve compiled that have been shared with us from Gamma Sigma Alpha chapters across the country and through our Regional Academic Award Submissions. We have categorized them in the same way we did for the report card so they can be easily added to your scholarship plan that outlines activities in that way.

Standards and Policies: 

• At Case Western Reserve University the Gamma Sigma Alpha chapter assists the Greek Life office and handles peer appeals when Greek officers, both within the chapters and the officers of the governing councils are academically ineligible to hold office.
• Working in conjunction with the Academic Centers for Excellence office, each Greek-letter organization is paired with a graduate academic coach to help with academic presentations and/or individual member issues at the University of South Carolina.

Scholarship Program:

• Many fraternity/sorority chapters across the country, including those at Muhlenberg College and Clemson University, are required by the Greek Life office to have an annual scholarship plan that includes measures to address low achievers and new members as well as a reward system for high achievers
• We encourage you to find a way to recognize all 4.0 students. Communities around the country do this during a Greek Awards Ceremony, Scholarship Tea with the President, Free coffee voucher, newspaper ad, etc.
• Oklahoma State University hosts a scholarship chair chapter office training to share successes & challenges.

Resources: 

• Butler University hosts a Midnight Breakfast each finals week—free breakfast in dining halls served by faculty & staff, learning resource center is on-site distributing study tips, give-aways and tutoring opportunities.
• Missouri State University’s fraternity/sorority life office implemented a tutoring program for students struggling academically.
• We encourage all chapters that have physical chapter space to expand quiet space availability on campus and encourage enforcement in chapter houses during mid-terms and finals week. Indiana University’s large chapter houses do this each semester.

Faculty Advisors/Faculty Relations: 

• University of Central Florida hosts roundtables for advisors with a topic of scholarship each semester.
• The Gamma Sigma Alpha chapter at the University of Iowa created a faculty/staff appreciation award for individuals who help contribute to the academic success of their members, chapters & community.
• The Gamma Sigma Alpha chapter hosts quarterly faculty dinners with students at Northwestern University.
• Elmhurst College hosts a Faculty Appreciation Day throughout the Fraternity/Sorority community, encouraging students to send thank you notes, post signs in faculty lounges, tweet or utilize social media to spread appreciation.

Community Culture:

• Many communities, including the University of Louisiana at Monroe, publish grade ‘rankings’ of Greek-letter organizations as a way of recognition, we encourage you to incorporate these statistics into recruitment materials.
• Do not only recognize highest GPA—also recognized most improved and encourage chapters to recognize individuals for most improved in their chapters
• Brenau University hosts a Study-a-thon each semester. The University of San Diego does this with free chair massages to increase student attendance. We encourage all communities to host a social freeze during ‘dead’ week which NO SOCIAL EVENTS may be scheduled.
• Integrate an academic focused event into Greek Week (tutoring circles, study hours with snacks, Greek Assembly with speaker on tips to be a better student
• Conduct a “Letters in the Library” campaign—encouraging members to wear their lettered attire to study in the library and record their study hours in a binder at the library desk. At the end of the semester, award the chapter that had the most study hours to member ratio. Drake University did this and the program was so successful they now also host ‘Letters in the Gym” to encourage healthy lifestyles!

Do you have a ‘best practice’ to add to our list? Tweet, post on Facebook or comment below. We’d love to hear from you!

Begun in 2000, the Gamma Sigma Alpha regional GPA competition seeks to recognize those schools within the Central region whose fraternity and sorority GPA is the greatest above their undergraduate GPA. Schools who have already submitted their GPA information are featured on our Honor Roll and provided a certificate. If the Fraternity/Sorority GPA on your campus is higher than your all-undergraduate GPA, you can submit your grades through the end of the semester to be included in the HONOR ROLL. Submit grade information here.

Awards were announced today at the Central Fraternal Leadership Conference/National Black Leadership Conference in St. Louis, MO. The institution receiving the award for the Spring 2011 academic period is ALSO our winner for the Fall 2011 academic period. The winner is Oklahoma State University.

The 2011 Honor Roll Recipients for the Central region are:

Albion College (Spring & Fall)

Ball State University (Spring & Fall)

Binghamton University (Fall)

Case Western Reserve University (Spring & Fall)

Eastern Illinois University (Spring & Fall)

Elmhurst College (Spring & Fall)

Longwood University (Fall)

Missouri State University (Fall)

Northwestern University (Spring & Fall)

Oklahoma State University (Spring & Fall)

Pennsylvania State University (Spring & Fall)

Rutgers University, New Brunswick (Spring & Fall)

University of Illinois (Spring & Fall)

University of Iowa (Spring)

University of Michigan (Spring & Fall)

University of Washington (Spring & Fall)

Wittenberg University (Spring & Fall)

Stay tuned–NGLA Conference is next week and we’ll be announcing our regional winners there and online! To stay updated, follow Gamma Sigma Alpha on Facebook & Twitter.