Greek life staffers: Underpaid, overworked heroes

A must-read article in the Chronicle of Higher Education with spot-on analysis by Gentry McCreary of Dyad.

Excerpt:

A lot of the good ones leave fraternity and sorority life for greener pastures,” [G] McCreary said. “A lot of people do what I did and look around and realize: Hey, I’m killing myself for nothing. The university isn’t staffing this office the way it needs to be staffed.”

The data support McCreary’s claims. Of 61 different heads of divisions and departments surveyed by the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources in 2014, chief campus Greek-life administrators had the lowest median pay, at $56,045. The next-lowest median pay belonged to the chief campus bookstore administrator, at $63,000.

According to a survey conducted by the Association of Fraternity/Sorority Advisers in the spring of 2016, 57 percent of Greek-life staff had zero to five years of experience, compared with 15 to 20 percent for student-affairs professionals on the whole. The survey also found the average age of campus Greek-life staff members was 32, with the most common age being 27. Lynda Wiley, executive director of the association, said that while a new survey is planned for this year, she hasn’t noticed any trends that will make the results “dramatically different.”