The Association’s Research Committee will be responsible for the promotion of and democratizing of research designed to advance the fraternity/sorority advising profession and that increases the understanding of the fraternity/sorority experience. This committee will work to create meaningful connections that allow research in the fraternity/sorority experience to be more easily realized.
Committee Priorities:
- To serve as the primary translator of sorority & fraternity research for the general AFA population through formats such as ‘research in brief’ pieces and researcher interviews.
- To plan and facilitate regular roundtables for current and future AFA members to discuss current research within the sorority & fraternity industry, and to provide regular space to discuss topics of research interest to AFA’s core audience of SFL professionals.
- To promote and solicit submissions for, and to review and evaluate all submissions for AFA’s Dissertation of the Year.
Responsibilities:
Responsibilities of AFA’s volunteer committees are grouped into two categories: strategy and execution. Responsibilities of the Research Committee will be moderate in strategy and moderate in execution.
All AFA volunteers are expected to abide by general AFA volunteer expectations outlined in volunteer training modules and to promote and champion the strategic direction of AFA in alignment with AFA Board of Directors and Central Office Staff.
Strategic Responsibilities
- Serve as a repository/clearinghouse for facilitating connections between research ideas, data sources/participants, and established/emerging researchers.
- Identify ways to provide regular educational programming designed to increase the methodological expertise of AFA members.
Execution Responsibilities
- Participate in a minimum of quarterly meetings (or more frequently as needed) led by the chair.
- Coordinate the review and selection recommendation [to the AFA Awards and Recognition Committee] for AFA’s Dissertation of the Year Award.
- Plan and facilitate regular roundtables for current and future AFA members to discuss current research within the sorority & fraternity industry
- Participate in initiatives as directed by the AFA staff or board of directors.
Qualifications
- Research Committee members must be professional, graduate, affiliate, or emeritus members of the association.
- Members should be well versed in the issues facing fraternity/sorority professionals as well as the extant research done on them.
- Experience with and methodological knowledge of how to conduct research so as both to better assess what is viable and also to assist graduate students, as needed, in advising their projects.
- Members should have a desire to advance the understanding of empirical research within the fraternity/sorority advising profession and to create connections designed to bring said research to fruition.
Commitment Required
- Committee members can expect to spend 1-2 hours per week on committee activities.
