The Augustana Greek Council proposed and passed a grade point average (GPA) requirement change from 2.0 to 2.25 before fall term commenced.
The plan to change the GPA requirement for all Greek groups  is in its early stages, according to Greek Council President Josh Brown and Assistant Director of Student Activities Katey Bignall.
Brown was adamant about the Council’s decision to finally change the GPA and said it was the Greek Council’s primary goal.
The Greek Council has decided to raise the requirement, but they cannot validate this decision on their own.
“Now that it’s passed by the Greek Council, it has to get through the SPC (Student Policy Committee), which is comprised of some administrators,” Brown said. “It basically has to get through them for it to be put into the (Greek Life) constitution.”
Evelyn Campbell, dean and vice president of students, and Mark Anderson, assistant dean of students, are among the administrators that could have a say in the matter.
The Council has begun to lay out potential guidelines that would set the parameters for Greek groups. For example, The 2.25 GPA requirement would only be for the incoming class next year.
“Everyone else is grandfathered through spring term,” Brown said, “but sophomore and junior members will have to next year be at a 2.25 cumulative GPA in order to be a member of their chapter.”
Currently, the average GPA of students in Greek groups is at about 3.0, with less than 5 percent of Greek students below the 2.25 mark.
The decision is one that will benefit all Greek groups and their members, according to Brown and Bignall.
“I am always in favor of a higher GPA because we are an institution that prides ourselves off of higher learning,” said Bignall. “It is also a good buffer to have so Greek students do not fall below a 2.0, which is academic probation and thus be forced to leave Augustana.”
Brown agrees that having a buffer zone is beneficial and will allow each group to “catch” lowing GPAs before students end up on academic probation with the College. The GPA policy change is the tip of the iceberg for an overall scholarship change among Greek groups, according to him.
“Each chapter will be required to have tutors, a laid-out and detailed scholarship plan that would keep everyone in their group above a 2.25 and the tools to check,” said Brown. “We’re putting into play a lot more in order to substantiate (the change in GPA requirement).”
However, it will be a while until anything is set in stone.
“Right now, this plan is really in its infant stage, and we still have a long way to go before this decision would be enacted, so there isn’t really anything to get too up-in-arms about as of now,” Bignall said.