Every university sets its own rules for fraternities — separate from ΦKT's own policies — and most of those rules live with the Interfraternity Council (IFC) or a Fraternity/Sorority Life (FSL) office, not with ΦKT Nationals. As BOG Chairman, your job is to track those rules down, build a relationship with whoever enforces them, and walk your BOG and chapter through them at the start of every school year — especially the health and safety pieces, where "we didn't know" is never an acceptable answer.
For: BOG Chairmen
When: Start of every school year, and any time your university updates its policies.
1. Find Your University's Standards
Chapter obligations come from at least three separate rulebooks, and you need all three:
☐ ΦKT's own policies — FIPG standards, the Risk Management Policy, and Phi Kappa Tau's National Health & Safety Policy.
☐ University-wide student conduct policies — the student code of conduct, housing rules, and alcohol/drug policies that apply to every student, not just Greek members.
☐ Fraternity/sorority-specific standards — often called an "FSL Standards of Excellence," an IFC bylaws document, or a chapter accreditation program.
Start here to find the fraternity-specific documents:
☐ Search "[Your University] Fraternity Sorority Life standards" or "[Your University] IFC bylaws."
☐ Check the Dean of Students or Student Activities office website — FSL often sits under one of these.
☐ Ask your Chapter Advisor or outgoing BOG Chairman if they already have copies on file.
☐ Ask your chapter's current IFC delegate — every chapter should have one attending IFC meetings.
☐ Ask your chapter's Chaplin, as (ideally) this is the executive officer who should be the chapter's go-to for various on-campus and some off-campus member-related resources (may have something on file).
💡 Tip — If you can't find anything online, that's a sign to call the FSL office directly rather than assume no standards exist. Every university with recognized fraternities has some form of expectations, even if they aren't published prominently.
2. Connect with IFC or Whoever Sets the Rules
Depending on your campus, the group that sets and enforces fraternity-specific standards may go by different names:
Interfraternity Council (IFC) — a student-run governing body for fraternities, usually with its own executive board and delegate system.
Fraternity/Sorority Life (FSL) office — a university staff office that oversees Greek life, sometimes alongside IFC, sometimes instead of it.
Dean of Students or Student Conduct office — at smaller schools without a dedicated FSL office, this office may hold the relevant policies instead.
Once you know who it is:
☐ Identify the staff advisor or coordinator who works with fraternities specifically.
☐ Introduce yourself by email at the start of the year — as BOG Chairman, not just as a chapter member.
☐ Ask directly: "What changed in the standards since last year, and what's coming up this term?"
☐ Confirm who your chapter's IFC delegate is, and make sure that person is actually attending meetings.
✅ Best practice — Don't rely only on your IFC delegate to relay information. Build your own direct line to the FSL or Dean of Students office so you're not dependent on secondhand notes.
3. Pay Special Attention to Health and Safety Requirements
Health and safety standards carry the highest stakes and the least room for "we didn't realize." Look specifically for:
☐ Alcohol and event registration policies (often tied to FIPG-style guidelines)
☐ Hazing policies and reporting requirements, including state hazing law obligations
☐ Fire safety and occupancy rules for the chapter house
☐ Required trainings (e.g., bystander intervention, sexual assault prevention) and their deadlines
☐ Medical amnesty, and the university's (AND Phi Kappa Tau's) Good Samaritan policy, and how members are expected to know and use them
📌 Policy — University health and safety standards apply on top of ΦKT's own Risk Management Policy and FIPG standards — chapters must meet all of them, not whichever is easiest.
⚠️ Watch out — A chapter can be fully compliant with ΦKT's national standards and still be in violation of university-specific rules. Don't assume one covers the other.
4. Walk Through the Standards with Your BOG and Chapter
Finding the standards only matters if the people who need to follow them actually know them. Do this at the start of every school year:
☐ Put a standards walkthrough on the calendar before the first major chapter event of the term.
☐ Review the university and IFC standards with your full BOG first, so every advisor and volunteer is working from the same information.
☐ Present a plain-language summary to the chapter — focus on what changed and what matters most, not a line-by-line read of every policy.
☐ Give special airtime to health and safety requirements, and connect them to real scenarios officers will actually face.
☐ Confirm your chapter's risk management chairman and social chairman have their own copies and know the event registration process.
📅 Deadline — Complete this walkthrough before your chapter's first social event or formal recruitment activity of the year — not after.
5. Build a Culture That Takes This Seriously
A single meeting at the start of the year won't hold up under pressure months later. Keep standards visible all year:
☐ Revisit key health and safety standards briefly before high-risk periods (recruitment, big-little ceremony, formal, initiation, major social events, etc.).
☐ Ask your BOG Financial Advisor and Chapter Advisor to flag any compliance concerns as part of your regular check-ins.
☐ Recognize officers publicly when they make the harder, compliant choice — culture follows what gets praised, not just what gets punished.
☐ Treat every IFC or university policy update as something to relay immediately, not save for the next scheduled meeting.
💡 Tip — If your chapter has faced a compliance issue in the past, use it (without singling anyone out) as a real example in your walkthrough. Specific stories land harder than generic warnings.
FAQ
What if our university doesn't have a separate IFC?
Some campuses route fraternity oversight entirely through a Fraternity/Sorority Life or Dean of Students office instead of a student-run IFC. Ask your Chapter Advisor which model your campus uses, then follow the steps above using that office instead.
What if the university standards conflict with ΦKT's own policies?
Follow whichever standard is stricter. If you're unsure which one applies, ask your Chapter Advisor or Executive Offices staff before assuming either policy overrides the other.
Who should actually deliver the walkthrough to the chapter — me or someone else?
As BOG Chairman you should lead it, but bring in your Chapter Advisor and Risk Management Chairman to co-present the health and safety sections — it lands better coming from more than one voice.
How do I find out about a policy update mid-year?
This is exactly what your direct relationship with the FSL/IFC contact is for — ask to be added to any listserv or notification list they maintain for chapter presidents or risk managers.
Questions? Contact your Chapter Services Consultant
Last reviewed: September 2026