Academics
Joining a sorority in college is a life-changing experience, but garnering an education is the top priority for Kappa. This is why each chapter is expected to maintain academic standards equal to or higher than their university’s or college’s all-sorority GPA. Additionally, each chapter establishes a GPA requirement for active members.
If a Kappa struggles academically, we help her through it. The Academic Excellence Team meets with her to craft an improvement plan using study tactics and time management. We want each sister to leave college with what they came for: a degree.
A Note from Our Vice President of Academic Excellence
During this semester the sisters of Zeta Beta have been sure to maintain the academic standard and emphasize that it is a huge priority within our chapter. The sisters worked incredibly hard this spring semester which culminated with a chapter term GPA of 3.51 and the chapter cumulative GPA of 3.48. We were so excited to see all of our sisters' hard work pay off this past semester and it has resulted in a great surge of motivation within our chapter and an opportunity to hold ourselves accountable and recommit ourselves to our high academic standards. Academics are always a priority, and every member has been excited to reach their full academic potential. The chapter as a whole was determined to succeed academically and get back on top! To show this, Kappa Kappa Gamma won the Excellence in Scholarship Award, which recognizes the chapter that excel in academic success, and have developed a program to empower excellence and support their members in achieving academic goals.
During the fall semester, we utilized our “academic families” in which sisters of the same major or career track are paired together, forming an additional academic resource within Zeta Beta itself! This enabled sophomores to gain important academic information/insights from the upperclassmen in their “family” with experience in that major, providing them with an additional, academically focused, support system. For additional academic support, we have created a folder on Google Drive that organizes classes by subject where Zeta Beta members can leave notes and recommendations for courses they have taken. “KKG Classes'' has helped facilitate the process of course registration for our chapter. As members search for a certain class they are considering taking, they can see which members have previously taken that course and reach out to them.
In the beginning of the spring, Zeta Beta also held a school-sponsored talk given by Alana Klass, a Senior Associate Director of Lafayette Career Center, where she taught us about navigating LinkedIn, how to network, and a resume building workshop. The sisters learned a lot about enhancing our study skills and received helpful advice about increasing our efficiency. Attending this event as a chapter helped to increase our motivation even more and solidified our intentions to achieve academic excellence together. To accompany this workshop, we also held a LinkedIn photoshoot for sisters who were interested in making their LinkedIn profiles more professional and to encourage the use of the LinkedIn platform as many Kappa Kappa Gamma Alumni as well as Zeta Beta Alumni offer internship/job opportunities through this platform. We also had the opportunity to invite Professor Joshua Miller to hold a faculty-led talk during chapter. Professor Miller's talk discussed diversity in the fashion industry which helped to facilitate conversations during and after the chapter. Professor Miller’s enthusiasm and passion encouraged many of our members to take his Politics of Fashion Class offered through the Government and Law Department at Lafayette.
This spring, we implemented the use of chapter study hall hours proctored by the Academic Excellence Committee in study rooms in Skillman Library and Rockwell Integrated Science Center. It gave those who were struggling academically time to sit down and focus while having the support of their sisters. This guaranteed that Zeta Beta sisters were working hard and prioritizing their academics, and helped our sisters hold themselves accountable. Before the study hall hours commenced each week, we would often hold a mindfulness or meditation event to get everyone ready to be in the study-mindset. We held an event called “smart cookies” where homemade cookies were provided, and the session began with relaxation time.
To help provide incentive during the week we encouraged everyone to send in nominations for “Geek of the Week” and “The Weekly a Gift Card”. Each week a sister was nominated and would receive a prize or a gift card (depending on what they were nominated for) to award them for their hard work that was recognized during our chapter meetings. At the end of the semester the sister who had the most academic improvement received a $50 gift card to the store of their choice. Our academics have maintained a priority while we get used to the classroom setting post COVID-19. The sisters of Zeta Beta will continue to work to achieve academic success and continue to support and motivate each other during the following school year. We hold our members to a high academic standard and hold them accountable for their academic performance. We want to make sure that we do all that we can to put our members in the best position and give them all of the tools they need to succeed beyond their time here at Lafayette. It is our top priority to prepare our members to be informed and educated women ready to change the world!
Loyally,
Bella James