Deadline for UIFI is approaching

The Undergraduate Interfraternity Institute is like summer camp for Greek leaders. Fun, lots of bonding, hanging out, kissing in the hallways. OK, that's usually just the facilitators, but still, it's a great chance to refocus your energy, find out what other fraternity and sorority leaders are doing, and set some new directions for your Greek community.

If you've never heard of UIFI before, you should go to the North-American Interfraternity Conference's website and read about it. It's for both male and female leaders, by the way.

The deadline for early registration is May 1, then the price goes up $30. This is your reminder! Don't wait until after finals to register. You might not be able to get in.

If your Greek council is poorly funded, you might qualify for one of the multiple registration scholarships available. Several of these registration scholarships go unclaimed each year. Chances are, your national fraternity/sorority offers scholarships to leaders like you who want to go. The NIC has details about these scholarships. When you get one of these scholarships, you usually only have to find funds for your trip to Indianapolis. They also have a West Coast session, but it's almost filled up. Most spots will be full for all sessions by mid-May.

It's important to note that a trip to UIFI is not meant to be a vacation. Although there is fun, t-shirts, and cute IFC boys, it's meant to be a learning opportunity. Leave your alcohol at home and prepare for some mind stretching. Some of the very best professionals and volunteers in the interfraternal world serve as session facilitators.

If you have questions about UIFI, contact John Shertzer at shertzer@nicindy.org.

Words that make you look dumb

Folk just can't spell.

Cruising Facebook this morning, I counted three wall postings offering "congradulations" on upcoming graduations. If I thought it was a deliberate play on words (you know, congratulations on your graduation: conGRADulations!) I would groan just a tiny bit less.

It's not. Folk just can't spell.

I've been reviewing intern applications this week, and let's face it, there are common misspellings and crappy words that just make a person look dumb. My top five:

5. "Irregardless" Not a word. "Regardless" is just fine.
4. "Alot" – I see this a lot.
3. "Amongst" – Bring it down a notch, Shakespeare. "Among" is fine.
2. "You're" and "Your," used interchangeably.
1. "There," "Their" and "They're," used interchangeably.

Irregardless, amongst my Facebook peeps, their are alot of friends graduating, and its you're special day. So, congradulations!

Establish relationships with your professors

Regrets? I have a few. One of my regrets from college is that I never really bonded with any of my professors. Academics were not my priority – my attention was on my jobs and on my fraternity.

At a large public institution, you can can go through four years without making any real connection with professors, and that's just what I did at Indiana University. Professors don't seek you out for bonding at a big school. Professors were "necessary evils," and I just didn't see any reason to work for a connection beyond the two hours a week I was forced to spend with them. Our relationships lasted one semester, and then I forgot them altogether.

I graduated without a single professor in my corner. I wasn't going to grad school, so I didn't think I would need a future recommendation. No one gave me the talk about the importance of mentor relationships, so I never sought any out.

It never occurred to me that it might be good to invite a professor to lunch one day. I never dropped by office hours just to chat or review the salient points of the last class.

I regret it.

I did decide, later, to go to grad school, and I didn't have anyone to write a letter of recommendation. With my blazing 2.7 GPA, I could have used one. It also would have been nice to have a professor sending me the occasional note or email to keep me in the loop with alumni opportunities. Who knows? Maybe I could have served on some sort of committee or something. Maybe a mentor professor would have recommended me for some sort of cool opportunity.

If you're reading this and thinking, "Sounds familiar," then perhaps you can set a goal to build a couple of meaningful relationships with professors next year.

I have several friends who teach at the university level now, and uniformly, they love it when students seek them out and get to know them on a deeper level. I suppose that's why they chose a career that involved teaching undergraduates.

My partner, Scott, bonded with several of his professors back at the University of Texas during his Ph.D. work. In fact, we're headed back to Austin this weekend for his favorite professor's daughter's wedding. Wow. I see the bond between Scott and Dr. Singh, and I'm jealous.

You might not see the immediate value of developing friendships with professors. Perhaps they intimidate you. But, there are huge benefits for making the investment and keeping in touch with them as you begin your journey into the "real world."

Why hazing prevention is personally important to me and my family

National Hazing Prevention Week will be here soon. I thought you might enjoy seeing a short speech I gave at the National Hazing Symposium in Atlanta in December 2006. In it, I talk about the "Hidden Harm" concept and why it has personal relevance to me.

First time I'm trying to embed video in my blog, so let's hope this works.