Programs and Services

ALPHA

Alpha is a celebratory event where alumni, staff, and student leaders welcome new members into the Boise State fraternity/sorority community while highlighting their commitment to brotherhood and sisterhood, personal development, high ethical standards, and service to the community. University alumni and staff serve as guides who offer insight and advice to new members about the community they are about to join. The emcee provides a seamless connection between each activity while guest speakers provide short, personal commentary about each lesson included in the program.

Alpha is intended to help new fraternity/sorority members:

Identify as part of the community.
Seek out meaningful learning experiences within the community.
Discuss the value of seeking out deep personal connections.
Associate the fraternity/sorority experience with career, personal, and relationship development.

Emerging Leaders Retreat

The Emerging Leaders Retreat is a weekend-long off-campus program for fraternity and sorority members in their sophomore year or higher. Participants engage in facilitated activities, reflections, and small/large group discussions on fraternal purpose and identity. The retreat uses a relational leadership model with a focus on cultivating deep supportive relationships among members. Participants collaborate in problem-solving for the community. The program is led by Student Involvement and Leadership Center staff with seasoned fraternity and sorority members serving in small group facilitator roles.

The intent of the Emerging Leaders Retreat is to equip participants with the basic tools they need to take on a leadership role in the Boise State Fraternity/Sorority community, including:

Familiarity with the makeup of the community.
Skills to cultivate relationships throughout the community.
Commitment to shared principles of leadership in the community.
Awareness of the community’s strengths and challenges.
Preparation for difficult moments leaders face.

LAUNCH

LAUNCH is an annual event at the start of the spring semester, held in conjunction with the NIC. The event focuses on framing success for new executive boards, and setting goals for the upcoming semester and year. LAUNCH further incorporates the results of the Dyad survey to offer a glimpse at the state of the community.

Following LAUNCH, participants will:

Have clear goals for their executive board term.
Understand the steps necessary for success.
Use the state of the community and individual chapters to support chapter operations and goals.
Understand their role in the context of the broader community.

MGC Leadership Summit

Multicultural Greek Leadership Summits are monthly meetings of the presidents of the MGC chapters at Boise State University. This space offers leaders of the Multicultural Greek community an opportunity to connect and collaborate, as well as receive updates about the campus and community.

Following these Summits, participants will:

Have a clear understanding of current campus and community opportunities.
Feel a strengthened connection to the rest of the MGC community.

Form opportunities for collaboration across chapters.

Brotherhood/Sisterhood Workshop Series

The Student Involvement and Leadership Center offers a semester-long workshop series (4-6 sessions) that equips chapter leaders to strengthen relationships and belongingness within fraternity/sorority chapters. The series is designed for chapter leaders responsible for new member education, brother/sisterhood activities, member development, and recruitment, although it is open to any interested fraternity/sorority members. Each workshop explores a different element of relationship building by teaching relevant concepts, providing group problem-solving time, and offering practical suggestions. The initiative is designed to mimic a community of practice, where student leaders join together to learn new ideas, share best practices, and solve common challenges. A recognition certificate is provided to those who participate in all workshops.

The workshop series is specifically designed to achieve the following strategic outcomes:

Provide chapter leaders with relevant training on building relationships and belonging
Guide chapter leaders in adjusting their practices to strengthen relationships and belonging
Develop communication and support systems across chapters

Other Leadership Opportunities

The Student Involvement and Leadership Center, campus and community partners, and chapter headquarters regularly offer a wide variety of other leadership development workshops, programs, and opportunities that might interest fraternity and sorority members.

LEAD IN Workshop
Catalyst
LeaderShape Institute
Student Government (ASBSU)
LEAD Certificate (16 credit program)
Fraternity and Sorority Leadership Roles
- Chapter Leadership
- Council Leadership
- Committees
National Headquarters Leadership Roles
- Conference planning
- Peer Workshop Facilitator

Bronco Welcome Volunteer

Help with move-in and welcome tables throughout the week. The volunteer form is usually open in July.

Bronco Day

Help us roll out the blue carpet for prospective students at this annual university open house each April. Register to volunteer for Bronco Day now.

Service Saturdays

Service Saturday is a direct service opportunity for all members of the Boise State community. This is Boise State’s way of providing easily accessible volunteer opportunities to the university community with the help of charitable and non-profit agencies. Learn more about Service Saturdays.

Alternative Breaks

Travel to domestic and international locations at low cost while building your resume. Make a difference and change the world through meaningful service projects that integrate education, reflection, and leadership development. Learn more about Alternative Breaks.

Local Service Projects

Make a difference right here in Boise by volunteering for local agencies that strive to make our community a better place. These service projects include meaningful hands-on volunteer work alongside local experts and an education component to identify current issues impacting our community. Learn more about service projects.

Community Volunteer Opportunities

Explore community partners in the Treasure Valley seeking volunteer support. Learn more about community partners.

Service-Learning Courses

Service-Learning connects the classroom with the community. As a Service-Learning student, you will connect with an organization, applying theories and tools from the classroom and text to a community-identified need. Service-Learning involves hands-on learning, real-world experiences, networking possibilities, personal insights, and a new awareness of community strengths and complex challenges.

Check out the current Service-Learning course list.

SIGMA

SIGMA is an annual training for all new members of fraternities and sororities that seeks to inform students about the norms and perceptions of alcohol use, the effects on health, and safety in alcohol use. It is coordinated in partnership between the Student Involvement and Leadership Center and University Health Services. The training is not mandatory but is strongly encouraged. A high participation rate is achieved by bringing the workshop directly to chapters during their chapter meetings or new member education periods.

Participants in the SIGMA workshop will:

Understand the Alcohol policy specific to Boise State University.
Understand the perceptions of alcohol among peers.
Learn how to drink responsibly.
Learn how alcohol affects their health.
Learn how to host an event in a safe way.

Bystander Intervention

Bystander Intervention training is available for all members of fraternities and sororities. The focus of this workshop centers on teaching simple practices for bystander intervention and emphasizes how the small actions everyone can take can reduce the frequency of sexual violence. The training is offered by the Gender Equity Center. It is not mandatory but is highly encouraged for every chapter to schedule a session for their members.

Following the workshop, participants of the bystander intervention training will:

Have a clear understanding of what an active bystander does.
Identify a range of unacceptable behaviors that contribute to sexual violence.
Recognize opportunities for bystander intervention.
Grow in their knowledge about the definition of consent.
Have the information needed to intervene as a bystander.

Campus and Community Workshops and Resources

The Student Involvement and Leadership Center provides day-to-day advising and support for the fraternity and sorority community at Boise State in collaboration with campus partners. This includes but is not limited to:

Chapter Advisor Summit Series
Quarterly meetings with chapter advisors to provide community updates and special topic discussions.
Fraternity and Sorority Officer Training
A required annual virtual training for chapter officers that covers chapter management, event planning, risk management, financial procedures, and campus policies.
Chapter and Council Officer Advising
Chapter officers are encouraged to set up regular meetings with our staff to provide support and guidance.
Council Advising
Our staff regularly attend council meetings to provide support and guidance as needed.
Breakthrough Advising Teams
Breakthrough is the chapter accreditation program. Advising teams are a key component to the support structure of Breakthrough and are used to support chapters in their growth in all seven community standards. Advising teams are peer advising groups comprised of corresponding chapter officer(s) and are led by campus professionals and community partners with expertise in their standard.

Campus Partner Resources

ADVISING AND ACADEMIC SUCCESS CENTER

The mission of the Advising and Academic Support Center is to promote students’ academic excellence. Here, students can get connected with advisors and tutors.

DEAN OF STUDENTS

The Dean of Students provides resources and services such as: financial, food, and legal assistance that enable our students to overcome challenges and navigate their own personal and academic success with integrity and purpose. We also assist students and student organizations in understanding the student code of conduct, guided by learning outcomes that promote academic and personal integrity.

GENDER EQUITY CENTER

The Gender Equity Center is a friendly, supportive environment for people of all gender identities to explore, celebrate and educate the campus community about gender equity.

SERVICE-LEARNING

The Service-Learning Program consults with faculty, students, and community organizations to connect classroom learning with hands-on community engagement. The staff are great resources for fraternity and sorority members looking to enhance their chapter’s philanthropic engagement to address critical community issues, and build students’ capacities to be changemakers in their local, national and global communities.

STUDENT EQUITY

Student Equity is committed to raising awareness and understanding about marginalized and oppressed groups (in both non-dominant and dominant cultures) and understanding the needs of these groups, while providing opportunities for actions and meaningful interactions.

UNIVERSITY HEALTH SERVICES AND THE OFFICE OF BRONCOFIT

University Health Services includes comprehensive medical, counseling and wellness care available to all Boise State students. The Office of BroncoFit is a campus-wide initiative to create America’s healthiest learning environment by encouraging Boise State students, faculty and staff to engage in all aspects of health and well-being.

To achieve equity and inclusion for all members of our community, fraternities and sororities must make intentional efforts to examine and make changes to their current practices and cultures.

Equity and inclusion represent a point for growth in fraternity and sorority life on a national scale, as recognition that our members come from diverse backgrounds and that each individual represents multiple intersecting identities that have shaped their experiences, perspectives, and needs in college.

The following campus and community resources are available to all students seeking to grow, learn, and help foster an equitable and inclusive community at Boise State.

Student Equity Resources
Gender Equity Center Support Services
LGBTQIA+ Programs, Events, and Support Services
Intersecting Identities – Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw
Title IX – Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (“Title IX”) prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in educational programs and activities. Title IX applies to public and private educational institutions that receive federal funds–including Boise State University.

The Dyad survey is a regular assessment of the fraternity and sorority life community that is offered as a survey to members. The survey measures metrics within the community such as hazing tolerance, experience satisfaction, alcohol consumption, and more, and forms clear looks into chapter and community cultures. The survey is sent out on an annual basis and results are discussed with members and chapter leadership at the following LAUNCH event.

Members completing this survey will:

Understand the community they are joining.
Gain awareness of the community as a whole, outside of a specific chapter.
Learn about opportunities within the fraternity and sorority life community.
Recognize the many campus partners available to members of fraternity and sorority life.
Gain a better understanding of conduct expectations and best practices for off-campus conduct.