Palm Spring 2012 : Page 4

ato palm F E AT U R E BY MATT DEWOLF 4 AT O PA L M S P R I N G 2 012 consult The evolution of

The Evolution Of Consulting

Matt Dewolf

DONNING SUIT, TIE, and wireless lavaliere microphone, ATO Chief Executive Officer Wynn Smiley prepares to introduce a Leadership Consultant to a gathering of chapter officers. Smiley looks like he’s ready to step in front of a lot of ATO undergraduates for an important discussion. But today, there are only a handful of people sitting in the room with him – a Leadership Consultant and two other ATO staff members. Staff in the new ATO Studios at National Fraternity Headquarters in Indianapolis make last minute tweaks to live cameras as Alpha Tau Omega prepares to officially kick off a new high tech era in chapter consulting. During the next five hours, ten chapters receive live summer recruitment encouragement and instruction. Officers are able to ask questions and set face-toface goals with their consultant, from anywhere in the country. “It’s a great way to interact with the chapters at a time when they really need it,” said Leadership Consultant William Filmore, Troy ’08. “We don’t have a chance to visit during the summer so this is a nice touch point for us that is much more engaging and interactive than an email or phone call.” That afternoon, as the studio lights cooled and cameras and equipment were powered down, ATO became the first national fraternity to use full-studio virtual consulting with its chapters. “The obvious question is why we don’t just have the consultants sit at their desks and Skype,” said Smiley. “But if you talk to who we are virtually connecting with, the experience of being in a studio makes a difference. We need to do everything possible to make virtual consulting as close to in-person consulting as possible.” “It allowed the consultant to become a person, not just a name on a sheet of paper who our chapter is told will help us,” said Collin Knipper, Grand Valley State ’09. “Meeting face to face meant a lot to us especially as a young chapter looking for advice. The whole setup was very professional and made it seem much more important.” “A big part of this job is simply ensuring undergraduates understand we’re there for them and that we care. This is why chapter visits are so important,” said Leadership Consultant Dave Lowe, Kentucky ’07. “Virtual consulting taps into this by setting aside oneon- one time (with good production value) to talk about chapter issues. Without the face, I’m a voice on the phone or a text/email in their inbox. That’s not human.” The Beginning Seventy years ago, longtime Executive Secretary Stew Daniels didn’t see the need for consulting of any kind. In fact, he was reluctant to have another ATO working at the general office with Margaret McDonnell, Clema Parker and Dorothy Wooldridge. But in 1947, a new University of Illinois graduate — who, because of WWII, had served as chapter president in three ATO chapters during his undergraduate career — joined the team, much to Daniels’ misgivings. “I had never met Stew Daniels but had corresponded with him about chapter business during my tenure at Ohio Wesleyan, Pennsylvania and Illinois, so he knew something about me,” said Robert Simonds, Illinois ’43 . “He offered me a job and $250 per month. I accepted the offer and have been glad ever since.” Simonds came on staff with no job description, just a title — assistant executive secretary. Daniels kept his new hire busy at first by cataloguing old copies of the ATO Palm, which were sitting in stacks in a closet. Eventually, Simonds’ responsibilities grew. “When he thought I’d earned my wings, I began to visit chapters — usually chapters in trouble or in need of help as measured by alert chapter advisors or chapter house corporation officers,” said Simonds. Twelve years later, ATO formally adopted “Visitation Officers” when it piloted the program with 39-year-old Dean of Pan American University Darrel Troxel, Oklahoma State ’50. Troxel traveled to 30 chapters during the spring of 1959. Rocky road Though the Chapter Consultant program has continued uninterrupted since 1959, the role of the chapter consultant has changed. Fraternity and campus life mirrored society in the mid 1960s as culture and lifestyles changed dramatically. The visitation officers program had to change to keep up with the times. Chapters wrestling with race relations, the sexual revolution and Vietnam War protests on campus impacted ATO chapters and how they were run. In 1963, ATO formed a Special Committee on Membership and was in the middle of working on revising ATO’s membership procedures to remove an exclusionary clause limiting membership to Caucasian men. At the 1966 Congress, ATO overhauled its policies to state that Alpha Tau Omega does not discriminate in its membership requirements against any person on the basis of race, color, creed or national origin. “The tumult in our country during my time on staff resulted in many vivid memories for me,” said David Moen, Washington ’59. “Traveling, I remember seeing the dormitory at the University of Alabama where the first black student lived shortly after the campus was integrated in the fall of 1963. And I remember being advised to stay on the highways and out of smaller towns when we were traveling in the south.” “Many discussions with both undergraduates and alumni took place into the wee hours regarding integration, segregation, civil rights and the unrest of the country,” said Moen. “Not every one was of one mind then, and the subject was a scary one.” By the late 60’s and early 70’s, Flower Power was in full blossom, marijuana was hitting the scene, and the Vietnam War was raging. “The draft lottery came in my junior year and we all sat around our old Crosley radio and got our draft numbers,” said Bob Russell, Oregon State ’69. “I was number 177. As it turns out, the military went up to 175 that year. I never really appreciated how close I came.” Mark Thorsby, Albion ’72, remembers how prevalent marijuana was. “Beer wasn’t a problem, because the drinking age was 18, but pot was everywhere,” said Thorsby. “We certainly didn’t condone the use of it, but we felt almost helpless to do anything about it.” “Pot was a big deal,” said Russell. “It could divide chapter houses. In my own chapter, we expelled a brother for smoking it in the house. The mid 70’s was a period of relatively low membership in fraternities. “We were struggling with a real irrelevant image,” said Thorsby. “We had to work hard with undergraduates to reinvent ourselves.” Ultimately, the other chapter issues were relatively pro-forma, said Russell. And, frankly, similar to what chapters experience today. “We worked on getting more alumni involvement, recruitment, and help finding good chapter advisers,” he said. Risk Management enters the vernacular In the late 1970s, antiestablishment was out and the 1978 blockbuster movie, “Animal House” was in. Legal drinking ages were raised, keg beer prohibited and a host of other fraternity restrictions were put into place to reflect society’s decreasing tolerance for alcoholfueled behavior. Risk management quickly became as well known a term as “rush” or “brother” within fraternity-speak. “Every visit involved a discussion about compliance with new policies,” said Dave Christel, Washington State ’76. “A handful of chapters weren’t interested in complying and chose to retain prior practices.” “I remember going into a chapter where very little had been reported about what the chapter was up to,” said Christel. “I started talking to a room full of 60 or 70 ATOs about ATO values, current programs and it became clear that the group had strayed so far from the core that they had no intention of changing.” The chapter closed shortly after Christel’s visit, which serves as a cautionary tale to any ATO chapter that doesn’t view its consultant as connected and able to impact a chapter positively or negatively. “Consultants have a great amount of influence on how I view any particular chapter,” said Smiley. “They have a sixth sense about the health of a chapter when they talk with the leadership, when they visit a campus, when they walk in the front door. It doesn’t take them very long to assess chapter health.” “I was amazed at how involved we were in the decision-making process if it involved one of our chapters,” said Dave Lovitz, Cincinnati ’98. “We were frequently pulled into meetings, asked to provide input on chapter health and the culture of the chapter and we were trusted and tasked with tremendous responsibility (basically being a regional account manager of 30+ chapters). Personally, I don’t believe any other ‘entry level’ job would give you so much responsibility and accountability.” There to help Going back to the early days of consulting, the goal has always been the same; help create a better ATO experience for men. Of course, the weary and unsure sentiment sometimes directed at consultants by chapters has also been a part of the job since consulting began. “Most guys were welcoming to consultants, but at some chapters the welcome was somewhere between tepid and suspicious,” said Tom Schneider, DePauw ’79. “But even at some of the less than friendly chapters if the problems weren’t too significant, by the end of the visits the brothers warmed up considerably and expressed appreciation.” As the 1980s fraternity boom continued, so did the amount of scrutiny chapters were facing from parents, the administration and the National Fraternity. “Every visit we were answering a lot of ‘why’ questions,” said Jim Spooner, Simpson ’79. “We had to be able to explain to the undergraduates and alumni that things weren’t the way they used to be. Changes were taking place and it was important for all of us to work through them together.” “Visit after visit to chapters confirmed for me that the values of ATO, when followed and pursued, resulted in a profoundly important experience for those who were committed,” said Christel. Former Director of Chapter Services Chris Smith relates much of a chapter’s success to its relationship with its Leadership Consultant. “I saw it manifest itself multiple times,” said Smith, Middle Tennessee State ’04. “When chapter presidents embraced the idea that they had a resource that was trained to help them achieve what they wanted and were there to help them be a better chapter, they became a better chapter.” The very nature of being a consultant lends itself to becoming a wealth in information on how chapters operate. One consultant Will visit 30 to 40 chapters in a year, with the current state of those chapters landing anywhere from barely hanging on to its charter to a True Merit contender. “Smart chapter presidents mine their leadership consultants to get insight into what strong chapters are doing,” said Smith. “Who better to be able to provide new ideas and best practices to help implement ideas than a guy who is traveling around working with 30 or 40 different groups?” Clemson was one example for Smith. The chapter president had a goal for the chapter to be a very high-performing chapter and a very open chapter that was willing to work toward a positive ATO experience. “Even though the chapter had a couple of issues, because the president had an open and honest relationship with the consultant they were able to work together to come up with a plan to help get the chapter where it wanted to be,” said Smith. Now, Clemson is perennially high performing on campus and across ATO nationally. Rose-Hulman was another example. “Our LC shared some very valuable information with us and reminded us of the great assistance that we have available through our connection to the National Fraternity,” said Chapter President Jake Beaty, Rose-Hulman ’09. On the road again Throughout the 90s, ATO continued its focus on risk management. But it was also a very turbulent time for the Fraternity. The Leadership Consultant team was expanded to ten, then regionalized, moving their home base to different cities across the country. Soon after, they were re-centralized, coming back to Champaign, Ill. But not for long. “It was a challenging time to be a consultant,” said Eric Christensen, Simpson ’91. “There was a lot happening in ATO. Several initiatives were passed at Congress that required a lot of work in addition to the standard work of supporting our chapters. We were pretty swamped.” The ground was shifting for ATO in the first part of the 1990s. New governance, new initiatives, new leadership and a new home. When ATO moved its headquarters from Champaign to Indianapolis two Mayflower semis didn’t pull out under the cover of darkness like the 1984 Baltimore Colts, but the move was sudden. When the consultants left Champaign in the fall of 1995 for a series of routine chapter visits, the National Headquarters was still in Illinois. When they rolled back in at the end of the semester, their desks were literally on wheels in the back of a moving truck. Only a couple of non-ATO staff members made the move to Indianapolis. But the entire Chapter Services department relocated. Just another day for them. Right tools for the job The era of equipping Leadership Consultants with tools to effectively —and efficiently— communicate to college students began in the 90’s but accelerated after the move to Indianapolis. “During the last twenty years, ATO has developed a strong reputation interfraternally for being on the forefront of member communications,” said Smiley. “It’s important to provide consultants with the latest, best ways to communicate with chapters. The job is a difficult one and anything we can do to help him communicate more effectively in the field is worth the investment. The goal is to help our chapters become stronger, to continue to move the ball forward. We were the first Lcs to travel with cell phones,¡¨ said Michael Colvin, North Alabama ¡99. ATO consultants were also the first to travel with projectors, laptops and other audio video equipment. It sounds ridiculous now, said Smiley. But there were several years where each consultant had his own VCR and speakers to play back video tapes at chapter presentations. It was cutting edge at the time. No one else was doing it. VCRs and VHS tapes gave way to DVDs and laptop computers. Eventually laptop computers grew powerful enough to load videos directly within PowerPoint and Keynote presentations on the laptop and play them with no need for external media. Consultants today take for granted how easy technology is for them. Older consultants can come back and regale current consultants, when I was on the road said Smiley. Trailblazing consultant Bob Simonds traveled the country via public transportation, hand wrote chapter visit reports and mailed them in via the United States Postal Service. Prior to cell phones, there was a lot of time spent hanging around near a phone. Those days, we didn't have cell phones so a lot of our day was based on being around a phone, either in a chapter house, or a phone both, said Spooner. "Looking back, it wasn't the most efficient process but it was what we had at the time. Just as the changes occurring during the 60's were mirrored in ATO, the pace of technology's advancement is being mirrored in ATO today. Each traveling staff member is outfitted with a projector, laptop, a host of presentations that are video and audio heavy, and an iPhone to maintain connectivity at all times. We have limited time with our chapters but we want to make sure we are available to them as much as possible,¡¨ said Filmore. A big part of establishing rapport and trust with the guys is for them to know that you¡¦re there to help whenever they might need it. Technology plays a big role in helping us maintain availability¨. The more things change While the Leadership Consultant position has evolved, the number of staff has fluctuated, its name has changed, and the tools of the position have been modified, the experience remains the same at its base. The program has played an important role in evolving the ATO experience. But the benefit isn't only to the chapters. Former consultants relate mile-long lists of the benefits they received from the position. From creating lasting friendships with their secondary ATO chapter in the National Fraternity, to mastering the ability to meet and work with different kinds of people, to being able to travel the country while getting paid to make a difference in ATO. “After I was hired, I met with Spooner who told me that the LC position would be my masters degree in life,” said Christensen. “ATO taught me more than I can put into words and my experience at NHQ is part of the foundation for everything I’ve accomplished as a professional, volunteer, spouse and father.” Throughout the 50 plus years of the consultant program, one constant has been the need to adapt methods of communication to most effectively reach the members. Today, that adaptation has taken ATO down a trailblazing path with its virtual consulting. First iterations of the virtual consulting were piloted in 2008, and now that ATO Studios is fully operational, ATO is extending its group virtual consulting to live one-on-one LC OnDemand events for chapters, virtual trainings on specific topics, and a new series of InterActBOT training for Boards of Trustees. “As always, there’s a lot of really interesting things happening with the consulting program,” said Smiley. “We’re always looking for better ways to communicate with our members and create better ATO experiences.”

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