Leave of Absence – Extreme Hardship

Guidelines for Regional Director Approval The following information is intended to serve as guidelines for reviewing Leave of Absence extreme hardship requests. Each request should be reviewed as a case by case basis, and not rely on the following guidelines as the only acceptable circumstances. When in doubt, consult with the Director of Chapter Services and Expansion.

Example 1: “My parents pay for my education, but recently lost their jobs. While I am still enrolled for this semester, I had to get a job and have minimal discretionary income.”

Situation: The individual is not only facing financial problems, but will also have less free time to participate in events due to getting a job. Example 2: “My parent was recently diagnosed with a terminal illness. With the spare time I have, I need to drive 30 miles home to help with caretaking.”

Situation: The individual is enduring an emotional situation and needs to take on family responsibilities. Example 3: “My sister recently passed away and I am having a difficult time dealing with her loss. I need to take a step back for a while.”

Situation: The individual is enduring a personal emotional situation. Example 4: “My family and I are going through a difficult time. Recently, there was a tornado that destroyed our home. I need to spend my available time to supporting my family and helping out as I can.” Situation: The individual is enduring a personal emotional situation. Common themes: Financial stress, emotional stress, family illness/loss – basically, personal circumstances where the individual has limited time to be involved on campus beyond academics.

What extreme hardship is not: “I’m a senior and am trying to find a job for when I graduate.”

“I’m in a lot of organizations.”

“I don’t have time.”

Some individuals request their situation to remain confidential, which must be respected. As able, encourage the chapter to send the person encouragement (cards, calls, etc.) This is an opportunity for the chapter to show they care by providing support.

Honorary Membership

Guidelines for Regional Director Approval

When approving an application for honorary membership, follow these steps: 1. Is the individual eligible to be a Student Member, Faculty Member, or Alumni Member?

o If “yes”, the individual should seek membership through alternative means. o If “no”, continue to step no. 2

2. Has the individual demonstrated commitment to the fraternity on a fraternal, regional, or chapter

level? Or, has the individual gained prominence as a business leader? o If “yes” is applicable to one of the questions, continue to no. 2 o If “no”, seek more information from the chapter or decline the application.

3. Does the individual represent the fraternity’s core values?

o If “yes”, the application is suitable for approval. o If “no”, seek more information from the chapter or decline the application.

When in doubt, consult with the Director of Chapter Services and Expansion.

Acceptable honorary membership applications The following information is intended to serve as examples of adequate honorary membership applications. Each application should be reviewed as a case by case basis, and not rely on the following examples as the only acceptable circumstances.

Example 1: Ideal Provides a detailed professional biography, exhibits prominence as a business leader and a demonstrated commitment to the fraternity.

John Doe is the Director of the Academic Development program for ABC Company. The program focuses on helping

clients find new talent such as interns and entry level candidates that fit professionally within our clients’

organizations. The program team will also provide assistance to our clients with the development of meaningful

internship models and the subsequent implementation of these programs.

John’s recent and relevant experience includes managing the operations and recruiting activities for a large, local

CPA firm where he contributed heavily to building the firm’s team through an intensive internship development

program. Also, John served as the Associate Director at The University of XYZ’s Career Center where for five years he

led the expansion of job identification through increased employer awareness of the university’s student talent.

John’s professional career started at Example Corporation where he worked with both domestic and foreign-based

refining and marketing business sectors to develop and implement strategic initiatives for international sales and

marketing, risk management, operations, and logistics. In addition to his work experience, John has volunteered

with many workforce and economic development organizations in Pseudo City. John also participates on local high

school and university academic advisory councils that help students with career development by fostering

business/education partnerships. His passion for helping students find the “right job match” has been successfully

achieved through his coaching and mentoring activities at local and regional universities. John believes that talent of

every experience level has a place in the workforce and successfully helps individuals match their skills and talents

with career opportunities.

As members of Alpha Kappa Psi, the Alpha Alpha Chapter feels as though Mr. John Doe has demonstrated

outstanding leadership in guiding our business organization. Mr. Doe has volunteered countless hours by delivering

speeches regarding professional advice and career building. Mr. Doe has dedicated personal time to mentor Alpha

Alpha students in and outside the university. He has provided networking opportunities for students at every degree

level and has proven that his generosity in caring for education and success exceeds well above expectations. We

are more than proud to welcome Mr. Doe as an honorary member in order show our extreme appreciation for all of

his hard work, dedication and love for Alpha Kappa Psi!

Example 2: Decent Demonstrates commitment to the fraternity and represents the fraternity’s core values.

Susie Jones is deserving of an honorary membership because she represents our core values very well. She

exemplifies brotherhood and unity. She was proactive in extending events to us to co-sponsor. She helped our

fraternity become an official sponsor of Team in Training, a Leukemia and Lymphoma Society program that

sponsors several major events. She most definitely fits the model for major service in the surrounding community.

She has held several auctions and has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars in the fight against cancer, and has

done every bit of it voluntarily.

Susie holds great integrity. “Integrity is a personal choice, an uncompromising and predictably consistent

commitment to honor moral, ethical, spiritual and artistic values and principles.” She has been very open and

forthcoming with our chapter in terms of events and expected duties of our members when working in a certain

environment.

Then comes the most important value, knowledge. Susie has furthered the knowledge of every member of our

committee. She has brought a new paradigm of “fundraising for a cause” ideas. She has also introduced us to new

connections (Aramark) that have vowed to work with our organization in the future. It is obvious to me that we must

make an effort to solidify this relationship that we have with Susie Jones. Cementing this relationship will have an

impact in the surrounding community for years to come. If we maintain this relationship, I predict that our

philanthropy committee will set new standards, reach farther than before, and provide service events of a higher

caliber than before.

Example 3: Satisfactory Demonstrates commitment to the fraternity and represents the fraternity’s core values.

Ms. Jane Doe deserves to be an honorary member, because she is dedicated the fraternity. She knows someone in

the chapter and shows up to all of our external events that are open to the public. She lives by our core values

through having a desire to learn more, participates in community service events in the community, believes in the

saying "don't cheat, lie, or steal" learned through military school, and understands the value of brotherhood and

unity through her experiences in military school and as drum major. She showed unity and brotherhood through

leading her school in a competition of 200 bands and when they wanted to quit, she inspired his team to continue

on and ended up winning 1st out of 200 bands. She also shows experience as a business leader in working at a

photography company leading the marketing team at young age. She has helped build the company from when it is

started and the company is now thriving in their profit and revenue. The chapter believes that Jane is a strong asset

for Alpha Kappa Psi, because he shows a great amount of passion for what our fraternity stands for and he would

help our chapter and the fraternity continues to grow in a positive direction.