Chapter 3: Officer Structure

As with any great organization, world power or corporate business, Delta Upsilon operates through a bureaucracy. There are heads of each department, all of which are managed by a president. Our bureaucracy (for lack of a better term) consists of an executive board in charge of overseeing specific areas and points of interest for the fraternity. Though these offices have executive power, they cannot act without the members’ approval. The real power lies in the democratic system of voting.

The executive board is meant to organize, brainstorm, and present ideas to the chapter. The executive board takes information from executive meetings, chapter meetings, conversations and suggestions, and organizes it into an agenda, program or file which is then submitted to the entire chapter for approval. The executive board also then becomes the scapegoat for any problem within the fraternity. Since they are leaders and institute many of the policies, actions, and disciplinary measures; you can imagine the headaches that ensue with such a position. Let’s examine each office from the top down.

President:

The president shall preside at the meetings of the chapter and shall perform such other duties as may be prescribed. He shall preserve order at all times in the meetings and shall be responsible for the observance of the chapter’s purposes and ideals by the undergraduate members of the chapter. This description doesn’t include the president’s duties as politician amongst the college administration, diplomat to other fraternities and sororities, nor does it describe the time it takes to fulfill all of these duties.

Vice President for Membership Education:

He shall assume the role of the president in the event that he is unable to perform his duties. He shall coordinate the pledge education program, the continual education of the chapter membership, and activities that promote the chapter’s purposes and ideals. He shall supervise the activities of the Membership Development Chairman. This position is very time consuming and takes great organizational and secretarial expertise.

Vice President for Public Relations:

He shall have the responsibility to plan, coordinate, and direct the public relations efforts. He shall have the ultimate responsibility for all chapter publications and items for the International Fraternity’s publications, as well as chapter social correspondence. He shall see that a record is kept of all graduates of said chapter, with their addresses, occupations, and other such matters which may be of interest of the chapter or the International Fraternity. He shall supervise the activities of the Alumni Relations Chairman, the Philanthropy Chairman, and the Social Chairman. This too, is a very time consuming job at times. Each semester, the VP for PR is responsible for mailing out welcome back cards to fraternities and sororities, correspond with parents, keep records, and create a chapter newsletter. Organization and creative mind are key to this office.

Treasurer:

He shall have charge of all financial matters relating to the chapter, subject to the supervision and under the direction of the alumni chapter. He shall keep proper books of account, in accordance with the instructions of the alumni chapter, and shall report regularly to the chapter at its meetings with a correct statement of the financial condition thereof. He shall prepare an annual budget, to be approved by the alumni chapter and the executive board of the chapter. He shall supervise the activities of the Assistant Treasurer and the House Manager.

Secretary:

He shall keep record of the proceedings of the chapter, its membership and such other administrative matters as shall be of interest or value to the chapter or the fraternity and shall conduct the correspondence pertaining thereto. He coordinates the activities of the Historian and the Librarian. You must be skilled and familiar with a computer to do this job correctly and efficiently.

Vice President for Recruitment:

He shall have the responsibility to plan, direct, and coordinate the chapter’s efforts of recruiting new members. He shall supervise the activities of the Assistant Rush Chairman. He shall also be responsible for holding rush schools teaching us all how to act during rush and what not to do to avoid breaking the rush rules.

Vice President for Loss Prevention:

He shall be responsible for limiting the risk of the chapter and seeing that the chapter adheres to the International Fraternity’s risk management policy. He is primarily responsible for making sure that we obey the rules when it comes to drinking and partying. He is the man who sets up our insurance and informs us of any changes in rules or International policies.

Vice President for Scholarship:

He shall be responsible for managing the programs, rules, study-groups and all that pertaining to the pursuit of academic excellence. All grades filter through him and are logged. If your grade point falls below the standard, then it is he who makes the presentation to the executive board for disciplinary meetings. He is in control of keeping the point system posted and updated.

These are the executive board offices. The lower offices branch out from the executive offices to better divide the workload and to involve more minds in fraternity programming and functioning. These offices are just as important as the executive offices. If it weren’t for the work of the lower offices, the executive board would be bogged down to the point of dysfunction.

Membership Development Chairman:

He shall serve as the chapter’s intramural representative and assist in all activities of the Vice-President for Membership Education.

Alumni Relations Chairman:

He shall be responsible for updating alumni addresses and files, organizing an alumni gathering at homecoming, organizing alumni weekend, communicating with the alumni president, and writing a monthly letter to the alumni keeping in constant communication with them. This office cannot be held by a pledge.

Philanthropy Chairman:

He shall coordinate the philanthropic efforts of the chapter. This means that he will organize and coordinate all of our public service and community based service efforts. It can be a very hard job and takes a lot of patience and public relations skills. He must work closely with committees and the executive board.

Social Chairman:

He shall coordinate all social functions of the chapter. Pledges may not hold this office.

Assistant Treasurer:

He shall be responsible for receiving money, writing and filing receipts, the preparation of fiscal statements, and assisting the Treasurer in preparation of the budget.

House Manager:

He shall be responsible for maintenance of the house, clean up committees, relation with alumni over housing, and duties similar to an C.A. Two semesters of experience within the chapter are required to hold this office, as is living in the official chapter house.

Historian:

He shall assume the duties of the Secretary in the event that he is unable to perform his duties. He shall coordinate the preservation of the chapter’s history, keeping updated files on past events and the activity of the chapter.

Librarian:

He is to organize, store, and create systems of scholastic files within the house. He is also in charge of keeping the chapter library clean and up to date.

Assistant Rush Chairman:

He shall be directly responsible for the chapter’s rush training and pre-rush mailings. He will report directly to and assist the Vice-President for Rush.

Technology Chairman:

He will be responsible for any technological issues or aspects of the chapter. He shall be responsible for updating the chapter web site as needed and coordinating with other officers and chairmen to keep current events and minutes posted on the Internet. He shall also be responsible for maintaining the proper operation of the house computers, sound system, placing maintenance orders on vending machines and other house appliances.

House Chaplain:

He will be responsible for organizing at least one chapel service per semester, sponsored by our chapter. He shall be responsible for organizing any hospital visits to afflicted house members. Bible study sessions sponsored by our chapter will also be under his supervision.