AFA drives the empirical study of both the fraternity/sorority profession and the fraternity/sorority experience that better defines evidence-based research and professional practice.
Stretch Goal 1: AFA will prioritize ‘research-to-practice’ through identifying, prioritizing, and funding research designed to most impact policy and practice within the fraternity/sorority profession. AFA commits to identifying core ‘research to practice’ questions (critical questions that have the greatest potential to drive best and promising practice), building communities of researchers around those questions, and driving funding towards those questions.
Stretch Goal 2: Within those core ‘research to practice’ areas, AFA will increase the size and scope of research being commissioned and published that is focused on experiences historically underrepresented in larger fraternity/sorority narratives. This includes (but is not limited to) intentionally directing financial resources and attention towards the experiences of students and professionals of color, LGBTQ+ students and professionals, differently-abled students and professionals, and first-generation and first-in-family students and professionals.
Stretch Goal 3: AFA will invest in community development and educational programming programming efforts designed to increase the amount of emerging and established researchers in fraternity/sorority life. AFA will leverage affinity groups, year round programming, increased connections with higher education graduate preparation programs, and our Oracle Writers’ Retreat to both build community and better prepare current and future scholars and scholar-practitioners to contribute meaningful research, instruction, and scholarship to the industry.
Forward to 50: Elevating AFA into its Next 50 Years | 2022 – 2026 Strategic Plan
