With hopes to better understand the strengths and weaknesses of University of Wisconsin’s Greek community and its relationships with the university, UW is seeking to hire a Greek Life consultant.
The decision to hire a Greek Life consultant is not linked to the recent incidents surrounding the Chi Phi chapter and hazing allegations, TJ Sargent, Greek Life coordinator, said.
UW has been discussing this position since the beginning of this school year and the only reason a consultant has not been hired yet is because of a lack of staff time on the matter, Eric Knueve, assistant dean in the Division of Student Life, said.
“We were planning to [hire a consultant] regardless of the [Chi Phi incident] outcome,” Knueve said. “We’re all supposed to, and we don’t always do it, but we’re just trying to get somebody in to take a look and let us know what we’re doing well and what we could improve upon.”
Although a consultant has not been formally hired yet, UW has held preliminary discussions with students to explain that the hiring would be done to help the Greek community, Knueve said. Greek students have shown support for the decision, he said.
Extra resources are available from alumni, the national headquarters and university interactions that sororities and fraternities regularly have, Sargent said.
UW is not the first university to create a Greek Life consultant position and will have the ability to compare effectiveness with similar universities, Sargent said.
The consultant would observe Greek chapters on campus and communicate with UW administration what areas of the Greek system are strong and where improvements can be made, Knueve said.
The Greek Life consultant will be “looking at the big picture of how Greek letter chapters are organized and managed on our campus, the support that comes from the student run councils and the support that comes from the university and how well are those working together and what can be improved in those relationships,” Knueve said.
