Schutts, Joshua W. (author)
Hassell-Goodman, Sharrell (author)

June 2016

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We would like to express our appreciation to all of the members who served on this workgroup. Your thoughtful and insightful suggestions added significant value to our collective work. It was a pleasure working with each of you to advance the research focus of the fraternity and sorority profession. WORKGROUP MEMBERSHIP The workgroup was composed of Association members who self-reported an interest in participating with this endeavor. The co-chairs contacted each individual in February, to which every member maintained their interest and accepted their appointment to the workgroup. The workgroup consisted of the following members: • Jason Bergeron, AFA Board of Directors • Dr. Trace Camacho, University of Arizona • Ashlee Canty, Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity • Dr. Anita Cory, University of Iowa • Matthew Deeg, The Pennsylvania State University • Sharrell Hassell-Goodman, George Mason University • Dr. Gentry McCreary, Dyad Strategies LLC • Dr. Joshua Schutts, University of West Florida • Ari Stillman, AFA Central Office • Viancca Williams, University of South Florida

This white paper presents the results from the AFA Research & Development Workgroup. This workgroup was charged with the development of a list of recommendations to inform AFA’s research agenda. The workgroup had three primary outcomes: (1) curate a list of topical areas that it believes merit earnest inquiry in service of Fraternity/Sorority Life professionals, (2) develop a big-picture strategy for engaging scholars and researchers in the field, and (3) identify metrics or key performance indicators that could help measure the growth and success of AFA’s research agenda. The group successfully completed each of its anticipated outcomes. It is the belief of this workgroup that the recommendations presented herein will ensure that research and scholarship attain a greater role within the Association. To that end, we believe that an increased focus on research and scholarly activity will consequently increase the prestige of AFA and the profession of fraternity/sorority advising.