Sigma Chi Fraternity

Iota Nu Chapter

Furman University PMB 28582 Greenville, SC 29613 •

Risk Management Policy

Mission: In light of the many tragic events that face our fraternity as well as many other Greek organizations, Sigma Chi Iota Nu has developed a new risk management policy to better ensure the safety of our brothers and guests at Sigma Chi Iota Nu hosted social events. All existing risk management policies set by Furman University, Furman IFC, as well as Sigma Chi International will still be observed.

We, as a Greek Organization, are held to a higher standard than the rest of society. Over the past two decades society has moved away from us and we have not been adapting. We have fought to stay where we are with “old traditions” and “lack of responsibility.” This is our attempt to catch up with the rest of society with “new traditions” and “personal responsibility”.

Member Accountability [1]

A student organization [Sigma Chi] shall accept responsibility for a member’s behavior when:

He is acting as a member of the organization, with or without official sanction, rather than an individual student;

An event is held, officially or unofficially, in the name of the organization;

The association between, or the action of the individual(s) is under such circumstances, which draw attention to the organization rather than to themselves as individuals.

The liability of an organization for the behavior of its members and its guests shall extend to responsibility for making certain that members do not violate federal, state, and local laws, as well as university regulations, in their association with the organization

  1. Risk Manager
  2. Risk Officer
  3. The Risk Officer shall issue briefings and reports to the chapter executive committee before and after every event. He should inform the chapter of any violations of risk management policy and may request that the Pro-Consul convene the Chapter Standards Committee in response to an incident.
  4. Offer his number to all the guests if they have a problem or need anything to contact you.
  5. The Risk Manager shall maintain the chapter’s master guest list and the guest list for each event and submit them to Furman IFC or the Greek life administration upon request.
  6. The Risk Manager supervises and oversees upper and lower risk officers and sober drivers during events.
  7. Should the Standards committee need to be called, Risk will chair the committee in an effort to preserve the charge(s) issued against the brother(s).
  1. Upper Officer(s)
  2. Head table officers (Consul, Pro Consul and Annotator)
  3. Will rotate as the position of Upper Officer. First party will be Consul; following party Pro Consul; the next party Annotator; then back to Consul.
  4. Must be sober. If Over 21, permitted no more than one drink per hour. In under 21, then no alcohol beverages are to be consumed.
  5. Offer number to all guests. If they have a problem or need anything tell them to contact you.
  6. The upper officer will be responsible for supervising the interior of all parties.
  7. Duties of the upper officer will vary depending on the needs of the event. The Risk Officer will inform lower officers of their duties prior to events.
  1. Lower Officer(s)
  2. Includes any and all Executive Committee members, excluding head table, who are selected for this position at the discretion of the Risk Officer. Former Risk Officers may also serve as lower officer.
  3. Lower Officers may include
  4. Quaestor
  5. Magister
  6. Kustos
  7. Rush Chairs (2)
  8. Social Chairs (2)
  9. Depending on the event there will be between one and three lower officers.
  10. Must be sober at all times. One drink per hour if over 21.
  11. Duties of each lower officer will vary depending on the needs of the event. The Risk Officer will inform lower officers of their duties prior to events in writing. See risk policy supplement for more information.
  12. Offer number to guests and tell them to call you if they have any problems or need anything.
  1. Sober Drivers
  2. All other brothers, with the exception of executive committee members, and seniors during spring semester, will be on this rotating list
  3. Must be sober at all times when driving (regardless of age).
  4. Under the direction of the Risk Manager, sober drivers shall be selected from the brotherhood for each event. Drivers will remain at the event through its duration (or until dismissed by the Risk Manager) and shall not consume alcohol. They should be ready to assist guests and members in need of safe conduct back to places of residence at all times. Drivers are responsible to the Risk Manager, and should report any violations to him immediately.
  5. Drivers will continue to drive until everyone has arrived back on campus.
  6. Drivers are not responsible for non-brothers, with the exception for brother's guest(s), getting to 3rd party locations or bringing them home, unless deemed necessary by the Risk officer.
  7. Any former Risk officer is not obligated to be a sober driver in any subsequent terms in which he is an active member of Iota Nu.
  8. Any Brother, including those on the Executive Committee, and/or former risk officers may be assigned to driving duty as punishment for risk violations, financial delinquency, and academic probation violations.
  9. Any brother, regardless of age, assigned to sober driving duty who is found to be drinking will be assessed a fine of $50 per drink.
  10. Only active brothers are obligated to drive. Inactive or alumni brothers only drive if they volunteer.
  1. INVITE LIST
  1. Brothers must submit names of invited guests to the Risk Officer by the end of the weekly executive committee meeting previous to the event. Late submissions will not be accepted.
  1. There will be a “No List, No Entry” policy, meaning that guests who are not on the above mentioned invite list will not be allowed entry to our social events.
  1. The invite list will be sorted alphabetically, and will include the name of the brother who invited them.
  1. Regardless of age, members, guests, and alumni who are visibly intoxicated shall not be admitted to any chapter event.
  1. When Invite Only parties occur, only guests on the guest list will be allowed in. Only under very special circumstances will guests not on the guest list be permitted to enter the party.
  1. Party monitors/ officers at the door will check IDs of all guests before allowing entry; guests who are under the age of 18 years of age or who appear to have a fake ID will not be allowed entry.
  1. Party monitors at the door will mark the invite list with their initials next to the name of the guest whom they allowed entry.
  1. Party monitors will mark both guests who are of the legal drinking age and those who are not; for those who are underage, the mark shall be in such a manner that it may not be altered to appear the same as the mark for guests who are of legal drinking age.
  1. The party monitors may not leave until all the brothers and guests have left from the social event.
  1. Party monitors at the door (generally the lower officer) may use a breathalyzer on all guest to ensure that they are not overly intoxicated (showing signs of it or not) before entering the event.
  1. MONITORING / LIMITING CONSUMPTION (For House Parties)
  1. All social events will be in accordance with the BYOB policy.
  1. All guests present at a social event will observe the BYOB policy.
  1. Alcohol belonging to brothers may be kept on their person under their own discretion or in the Fridge in the “Brothers Only” Room. Only the Upper Officer and/or brothers of legal age may retrieve alcohol from the fridge.
  1. Any beverage may be allowed into the event but beverages brought in glass must be kept behind the bar or secure location and will be served in a plastic cup when requested. The Upper Officer, provided that he is at least 21 years old, is in charge of maintaining the bar. The Upper Officer may rotate off of the bar provided his replacement is a sober brother, at least 21 years old.
  2. If the Upper Officer is not twenty-one years of age, a brother who is of age will be assigned to monitor the bar.
  1. There will be at least 3 sober party monitors at all times, 1 at the door (Lower Officer) and 1 in the house (Upper Officer), and one helping whichever needs help and overseas the entire party (Risk).
  2. Party Monitor(s) over the age of 21 will be allowed 1 drink per hour.
  3. If they exceed this they will no longer be held responsible for the rest of the night and brought to standards.
  4. The party monitor(s) at the door will allow guests into the social event according to the above invite list.
  5. One (or more) party monitors in the house will act as a “roamer”, interacting with the guests and more finely monitoring the consumption of alcohol.
  6. The other monitor(s) will maintain the bar/secure location, cutting guests off as their beverages are consumed or when signs of intoxication of apparent (signs include dropping things, slurring words, not having the ability to stand up, getting sick).
  7. If guests show any of these signs, they will be escorted outside or to an empty room to rest and sober up; when ready, a sober brother will escort them to their dorm/ apartment or party monitor who will make sure the guest will be ok for the rest of the night.
  8. If a guest or brother vomits, they will be immediately cut off from drinking and taken to a non-party room in the house or outside. A party monitor or other sober brother will then stay with the said person and make sure they do not fall asleep and provide non-alcoholic beverages (i.e. water) as needed. If the said person continues to vomit for an excess of 10 minutes, then emergency services will be used.
  1. Brothers who invite guests are personally responsible for them; they must be responsible as to be able to watch over their guests.
  2. Party monitors will also watch brothers to see if they are keeping track of the guests they have invited. If not, brothers will only be able to invite half the number of people to the next social event.
  3. If a brother’s guest causes a problem it is the brother’s responsibility to remove that guest from the house and get them a sober ride home.
  4. Depending on what damage the guest causes, the brother responsible will be held accountable and brought to standards.
  1. There will be NO beverages allowed in the front of the house. Pending on what it looks like behind the house NO beverages allowed there either.
  1. There will be no games played which will accelerate the drinking process; winning or losing the game will neither accelerate nor increase consumption. (Page 51 section 14 in the Sigma Chi Code of Conduct)
  2. If games are played, the focus will not be on the acceleration of the drinking process.
  3. To monitor whether or not the drinking process is being accelerated, party monitors will keep track of which beverages are just for consumption and which are used for games. If an excess amount of beverages are used for games, the party monitors may begin to cut people off.
  4. Emphasis will also be placed on the brothers to make sure that if they are playing games, to make sure that the consumption during the game (for them and the others playing) is not being accelerated because of the game.
  1. Party monitors must remain sober for 12 hours after starting their duties. (This is in case anything happens, they will need to act with a sober mind)
  1. PEOPLE OUTSIDE
  2. No one other than the party monitors will be allowed out in front of the house. Keep the number very limited to those outside in the back.
  1. There will be no beverages allowed outside of the house.
  1. CARS / PARKING
  2. Only residents and party monitors will be allowed to park at the house during a social event.
  1. Cars cannot be parked on the sidewalk or on neighbor’s property.
  1. There must be at least 2 vehicles available for party monitors to drive at each social event.
  1. Lower Officers will be assigned to supervise parking at the beginning of the event and conduct a DUI checkpoint with the Risk Officer at the end of the event.
  1. TRAINING PARTY MONITORS
  2. There will be a mandatory meeting during P.I.T. for ALL brothers to review the Sigma Chi and Furman risk management policies and Sigma Chi’s crisis procedures.
  3. Members not present will be brought before standards, unless a legitimate excuse is given with at least 24 hours notice, in accordance to our by-laws regarding Chapter attendance.
  1. New initiates will be assigned with a more experienced brother during party monitoring duties to help further educate them on risk management policies.
  1. Any changes to the Sigma Chi Iota Nu risk management policies will be introduced during EXCOM, and then submitted to each brother to review and sign.
  1. All pledges will read and be required to pass a test on the Risk Policy during their pledgeship.
  1. BROTHERS ONLY EVENTS
  2. Only brothers will be attending brothers only events.
  1. Sober brothers will remain the same as a typical house party. Upper/lower officers and the Risk officer may offer rides to/from the event, but are not required to. Driving will be the same as other events also. Note, when a brother only event does not have a designated starting/ending time, the Risk officer will determine when a 'good time' for the drivers to stop driving is. Sober drivers will not be allowed to drink, and must resume driving when the Risk officer determines it necessary.
  1. Brother only events will be in accordance with the BYOB policy. Brothers who do not bring their own beverages will not drink at the event.
  1. All the above “Monitoring / Limiting Consumption” policies will also be in effect for brothers only events.
  1. Events at a Third Party Location
  2. There will be at least three Risk Managers (Risk, one lower officer, one upper officer).
  3. Upper officer will be in the establishment making sure that everything is under control. Also they will be the person in direct contact with the management of the third party location.
  4. Lower officer will be assisting the bouncer at the door or will be the bouncer. Will be the person to go to for sober rides and will be the person in contact with the Sober Drivers. Note, drivers will only be required to drive at certain times, unless deemed necessary by the Risk Officer.
  5. Risk will go between the two and help where it is needed. Will also oversee the entire event.
  6. If there is need for another bouncer checking IDs, another lower officer will be a risk manager that night.
  7. If possible, the Risk Officer will allow lower officers to rotate between door duty throughout the event.
  1. Risk Managers will be at the third party location 30 minutes prior to the scheduled event.
  1. Risk Managers will not leave until the third party location closes, or the event has ended and all in attendance (brothers and guests) have left.
  1. Risk Managers will be also responsible in assisting the management with anything they need.
  1. There will be both sober brothers and pledges driving. If a brother fails to stay sober or drive until the end of the function or released from duty by the risk managers they will be brought to standards and assessed a fine of $50 per drink consumed.
  1. Crisis Management Procedure
  2. GENERAL NOTES
  3. If all the risk management procedures fail and an incident does occur, the Crisis Management Procedures should be used to handle the emergency situation. These procedures apply for any emergency situation.
  1. The Consul (President) will be in command of every emergency situation.
  1. In the absence/incapacitation of the Consul (President), the next ranked officer will be in charge of the situation. The order is as follows:

1.Pro Consul

2.Annotator

3.Risk

4.Quaestor

5.Magister

6.IFC Rep

7.Recruitment

8.Kustos

9.Service

10.Censor

11.Social

  1. CRISIS MANAGEMENT PROCEDURES
  2. In the event of a crisis, the following procedures should be followed:
  3. Close the house immediately. Only allow chapter members and officials to enter the house. One or two responsible brothers will be assigned to guard the door. (If not at a house and at a third party location skip this step).
  4. Dial 911 and calmly explain the situation so that the proper emergency personnel (police, fire, ambulance) can respond.
  5. If someone on site is properly trained and able, have him or her administer treatment to anyone injured until professional help arrives.
  6. Call Chapter Advisor (Leo Fackler) and Grand Praetor (Bob Bowen) who will coordinate the response with the University and General Fraternity.
  7. Investigate the scene
  8. Assess the situation and isolate the witnesses
  9. Safely remove all unnecessary parties from the location to avoid confusion and distractions (gathering their names and phone numbers before they leave).
  10. Establish a time-line and brief synopsis of the event.
  11. Assist the authorities in whatever capacity possible.
  12. Go to the Chapter
  13. After those injured are properly cared for, gather all chapter members and inform them of our situation.
  14. Explain that there is an emergency situation and that the chapter house is closed.
  15. No one is to speak to anyone outside the chapter.
  16. The Consul will be the official spokesperson for the chapter.
  17. Do not discuss details, speculate on events, or otherwise elaborate on the situation until police, university officials, and your chapter advisor have arrived.
  18. It is important that every brother remains calm and realizes the situation is under control.
  19. If a brother who is not present needs to be notified of the situation, the Consul may delegate this task to a responsible brother.
  20. Make sure they know what has been done and what the chapter is planning to do to remedy the situation.
  21. Review crisis management plan and debrief the execution of that plan.
  22. Post Crisis
  23. Gather the facts of the event through witness statements of all involved. Ensure the documents are complete and accurate and reflect what they saw, and include name, address and phone for follow-up. Also try to get the names of the responding authorities and a copy of their reports. At a later time, but within 72 hours, compile all these documents into a binder.
  24. Meet with members of the Crisis Management Team, especially the Chapter Advisor, Grand Praetor, the appropriate Headquarters staff members, and Greek Advisor, to give a complete and accurate account of what happened.
  25. If the news media should contact the chapter, only the Consul or the chapter advisor should speak for the chapter. Do not release any names or details of the situation.
  1. SERIOUS INJURY OR DEATH OF MEMBER
  2. Do not notify the parents. Proper officials handling the situation will notify the family. After the proper officials have notified the family, it is appropriate for a chapter representative to call and share their concerns.
  3. In the event of a death, do not remove any personal belongings from the room. Do not let any members in the room. Keep the door locked if possible. Ask the family what they would like with regards to the member’s possessions. Offer to help in any way (moving, packing, etc). Before their arrival, make sure any borrowed materials are returned. When the family arrives, have packing materials available (boxes, tape, etc) and offer to help.
  4. Coordinate brother attendance at the funeral or memorial service. Discuss with the family the possibility of conducting a Ritual memorial service.
  5. In the case of serious injury or illness, find out the visitation wishes of the family and coordinate this with the brothers.
  1. FIGHTS / SENDING MEMBERS TO THE HOSPITAL
  2. If brothers are involved in any type of altercation that requires a hospital visit, call Brendan Ryan (Risk Officer), Brendan Sheairs (Consul) and Leo Fackler and let them know about the situation.
  1. OVERLY INTOXICATED MEMBERS OR GUESTS
  2. THE SIGNS OF ALCOHOL POISONING:
  3. Mental confusion or the person is not responding
  4. Vomiting
  5. Seizures
  6. Slow or irregular breathing (10 seconds or more between breaths or fewer than 8 breaths per minute)
  7. Hypothermia (low body temperature)
  8. Bluish skin color or pale skin color
  9. In the event that a brother or guest becomes over intoxicated and passes out, follows these important steps:
  10. If you cannot wake the person, seek medical help immediately. They may be injured or may have a medical problem you are not aware of.
  11. Call 911 immediately. Do NOT wait for all symptoms to be present. If the question about whether or not the individual has Alcohol Poisoning even flickers into your mind, call 911. This is not a situation where you can afford to guess. If you feel that the individual is too intoxicated, immediately contact emergency services.
  12. Gently turn the individual on his or her side and maintain that position by placing a pillow behind the individuals back, keep the individual warm.
  13. Stay with the individual and instruct someone nearby to inform the Consul or an Executive Board Officer.
  14. Instruct another person to clear the room of all other members or guests.
  15. If a friend is passed out and "sleeping it off" there is a danger he could vomit and choke.
  16. Place him/her in the recovery position will help to ensure that if he does vomit, he will not choke.
  17. If the person cannot be roused at all, however, or if you are in doubt about his safety, call an ambulance, as acute alcohol poisoning may be occurring. This can be fatal if medical attention is not obtained.

Here's how to put a friend into the recovery position: