This is a part of the Strategic Plan 2025 series, zooming in on each of the pillars of the plan and going into further detail on their importance. For the full Strategic Plan click here.
Strategic Plan Pillar: Facilitate Strong, Lifelong Ties of Brotherhood
A Phi Kappa Tau Graduate at the Zeta Lambda chapter at Middle Tennessee State University.
Why: Our organization is nothing without the brothers who comprise it. Beginning at the undergraduate level, we must work to provide and adapt to the needs of the current college student. Ensuring this support will carry more undergraduate members through their education and into graduate status. With additional graduate members who felt the true power of this brotherhood, we can cultivate lasting ties and engagement. The importance of these lifelong ties goes beyond the success of our organization, and bridges into the well-being of our members.
How: The first step to accomplishing this pillar is Membership Development – we must strive to have 100% of chapters implement a (to-be-developed) next-generation membership orientation and development program. As the needs of the average college student change, we will work to meet those needs to the best of our ability. We are currently revising the new member program to update it and better fit the Phi Tau’s of tomorrow. This will take us beyond the “Mark of Distinction” program and become an adaptable more engaging program for years to come.
Recent Phi Kappa Tau graduates at Baldwin Wallace University.
The second step zooms in on the members once they’ve been initiated: Student Success – 75% of undergraduate members are retained from association through graduation and graduate within 6 years of matriculation. It is one thing to recruit new members, but another thing to retain them through graduation and ensure they’re having a meaningful experience. We are exploring ways to increase membership retention so that three out of four men who initiate into Phi Kappa Tau also graduate in good standing. This is achieved through a stronger new member program and ensuring each stage of the Phi Tau journey is offering value to men as they proceed through college. Not only will we provide undergraduate members with the tools to be successful, we will guide them through and provide the highest possible level of support.
The final step in the pillar calls upon the heft of our organization: Alumni Engagement – we are reaching to increase the number of engaged alumni by 100%. Engagement means a lot of things. It could be local engagement, national engagement. Participating in foundation events or volunteering at educational programs. Perhaps it is simply opening and responding to our newsletters. There are several small alumni groups who interact constantly, and we need to collect their stories. With this we can have a better understanding of why and how people engage with Phi Kappa Tau after they graduate.
What can you do? Be on the lookout for ways to engage both locally and nationally. Provide feedback on national programming. Become an ambassador for Phi Kappa Tau with your alumni cohort. Keep in touch with undergraduates as they graduate.