Policy Manual

Alpha Phi Omega, Alpha Delta Xi Chapter Policy Manual

Last modified April 2009

Policy 1-01, Service

One can only have a maximum of ten Table-hours count toward a Brother’s required total service hours. Table Service hours beyond the maximum ten hours will be counted in the Brother’s total extra hours. Table Service hours shall be defined as: any time spent while participating in a specific event that requires a table to be set up, such as in support of rush week, advertising a service project, or in support of a fundraiser, and any time spent sitting at or setting up a table. Any time spent while performing specific tasks away from the table (i.e. hanging posters, gathering materials, etc.) should not count as Table Service hours.

Policy 1-02, Service

Brothers shall be required to have a minimum of ten non-table Brotherhood Service hours. Non-table Brotherhood Service hours shall be defined as: service given at a Fraternity sponsored service project that does not include sitting at a table.

Policy 1-03, Service

Personal Service hours may be used to fulfill the remaining service hours, as needed. Personal Service hours shall be defined as: service hours not included in Policies 1-01 and 1-02.. The Brother may invite others to participate in the Brother’s Service project if the group sponsoring the project will allow it.

Policy 1-04, Service

One can not have officer-hours count towards the Brother’s required total service hours. Officer Hours shall be defined as: time spent fulfilling the duties of an Office as prescribed in the Constitution.

Policy 1-05, Service

Service hours shall be defined as: voluntary, not court-ordered, and hours completed without individual payment.

Policy 1-06, Service

A Service Project shall be any project announced at a General Brotherhood Meeting. Full hours will be given to any Brothers attending an announced Service Project.

Policy 2-01, Leadership

Any issues concerning attendance or membership status must be brought directly to the Leadership Vice President within forty-eight hours of the meeting or event. In the event the Leadership Vice President is not an office, concerns will be brought to the Sergeant-At-Arms.

Policy 3-01, Fellowship

The Newsletter Committee shall be appointed by and fall under the Fellowship Vice President.

Policy 3-02, Fellowship

The Newsletter Committee shall be responsible for distributing articles to student media.

Policy 3-03, Fellowship

The Fellowship Vice President shall be responsible for ordering T-shirts before the Fall semester as desired.

Policy 4-01, Pledging

Have a week between the last Pledge Ceremony and the first Pledge Class Meeting.

Policy 4-02, Pledging

Do not accept any person for the Pledge Program after the first Pledge Class Meeting. An exception may be made at the Pledgemaster’s approval.

Policy 4-03, Pledging

The Pledgemaster shall plan and execute a Pledge Class Retreat within the Pledging Semester.

Policy 4-04, Pledging

Initiation shall be at least one week after the Final Exam.

Policy 4-05, Pledging

Brothers may not speak at Pledge Meetings unless expressly authorized by the Pledge Class Staff. Pledge Class Staff will remove any Brothers from the meeting who violate this policy.

Policy 4-06, Pledging

Pledge dues will be the National Pledge Fee plus the National Initiation Fee.

Policy 4-07, Pledging

Rush will be conducted within the following guidelines:

1. Rush events and dates must be determined at the Chapter Program Planning Conference.

2. Rush shall have no less than 10 days; any other length of time shall be at the Rush Committee's discretion.

3. The Blue and Gold Party and Meet the Brothers are Ritual Events.

4. The Pledge Ceremony will be on the Friday of the last week of Rush, or at the Pledgemaster’s discretion.

Policy 4-08, Pledging

The total required service hours of the Pledge Class shall be one-half the current total required service hours for the Brotherhood. The breakdown of the hours between Pledge hours and Brotherhood hours will be at the Pledgemaster’s discretion.

Policy 4-09, Pledging

The Pledge Class shall organize, plan, and conduct a service project, with the assistance from the Pledgemaster and Brotherhood, before Initiation, unless extenuating circumstances are discussed and approved by the Pledgemaster in writing.

Policy 4-10, Pledging

By midterm the National Pledge Fee shall be paid. Any problems will be handled by the Pledgemaster on a case-by-case basis. The full National Initiation Fee must be paid by Initiation.

Policy 4-11, Pledging

Pledge Meetings shall be conducted with the following regulations:

1. In order to attend a Pledge Meeting, a Brother must give the Pledgemaster notice before the Pledge Class Meeting.

2. The Pledgemaster reserves all rights to bar any Brother of Alpha Phi Omega from the Pledge Class Meetings.

Policy 4-12, Pledging

If a Pledge does not meet the requirements for Active membership as stated in Article III, Section II of the Constitution, he or she will not be initiated that semester.

1. If the Pledge still desires to be a Brother, he or she may start the entire Pledging Process over.

Policy 5-01, Alcohol

No Brother or Pledge of Alpha Delta Xi may wear any apparel or items that say or depict Alpha Phi Omega in any way at any function in which he or she will consume alcohol. The only exception will be during any formal dinner event sponsored by the Fraternity, where Fraternity jewelry may be worn. Examples of Fraternity jewelry would be Fraternity pins and Distinguished Service Keys.

Policy 6-01, Conventions

Provided that the Chapter has sufficient funds, the Chapter will follow the following guidelines:

If this Chapter's Active Brotherhood total is between 1 and 15 brothers, then the Brotherhood shall fund the registration fees of:

Two Brothers for Sectionals, two Brothers for Regionals, and one Brother for Nationals. For Sectionals and Regionals, these Brothers shall consist of the Chapter President and one Brother chosen by majority vote of the Brotherhood. These Brothers shall serve as Voting Delegates. For Nationals, the Brother shall be chosen by a majority vote of the Brotherhood.

If this Chapter's Active Brotherhood total is between 16 and 30 Brothers, then the Brotherhood shall fund the registration fees of:

Three Brothers for Sectionals, Three Brothers for Regionals, and Two Brothers for Nationals. In all cases one Brother shall consist of the Chapter President, who shall also serve as a Voting Delegate, unless he or she chooses to pass the opportunity. If the President should pass the opportunity then the Brother serving as the second Voting Delegate will be paid for. All other Brothers shall be chosen by majority vote of the Brotherhood, who shall also vote as to who the additional Voting Delegate will be.

If this Chapter’s Active Brotherhood total is between 30-50 Brothers, then the Brotherhood shall fund the registration fees of:

Four Brothers for Sectionals, Four Brothers for Regionals, and Two Brothers for Nationals. In all cases one Brother shall consist of the Chapter President, who shall also serve as a Voting Delegate, unless he or she chooses to pass the opportunity. If the President should pass the opportunity then the Brother serving as the replacement Voting Delegate will be paid for. The Chapter President will choose one Brother for Sectionals and one Brother for Regionals, and the other two Brothers in both cases will be chosen by a majority vote of the Brotherhood. The Voting Delegates shall also be chosen by majority vote of the Brotherhood.

Policy 7-01, Chapter Mail

The Executive Board members shall retrieve Chapter mail from the Chapter mailbox. They shall be responsible for distributing the mail to the proper Brother.

Policy 8-01, Money Lending

In the event the Brotherhood fronts money for a Brother to attend an event or is unable to pay their dues by the fourth general Brotherhood meeting, a written contractual agreement may be made between the Brother and the Finance Vice President that is signed by both parties. The Advisor Chair and one other Brother shall witness and sign the contract. This is a legal, binding agreement that will be kept. In the event that the office of the Finance Vice President does not exist, this duty will pass to the Sergeant-At-Arms.

Policy 9-02, Mandatory Events

Brothers shall be required to attend these events unless they provide a written notification and reasoning to the Executive Board. If a Brother does not adhere to this, they shall immediately be brought before the Standards Committee.

Policy 10-01, Distinguished Service Keys

The process in which a Distinguished Service Key (DSK) will be awarded shall follow the Chapter’s Distinguished Service Key Manual.