Closing up at the end of the school year
Sorority House Directors everywhere are getting to sleep in late now that colleges are out! A silent House.
Before you and your staff take off for summer too, there’s a good week or so of work left to finish. It may take a couple of days to balance accounts to close up the fiscal year. Maintaining the books is an important part of the Sorority House Director’s job.
Emptying out the Sorority House
The biggest task facing Houses up and down sorority row is the mess left behind. Yes, the young women clean up to a degree. But the sorority housekeeping staff has plenty to do before they can close up for the summer. In some locations, the townspeople know the sorority dumpsters are overflowing with bounty and come to check them out! A Board member of one sorority looked forward to picking up all sorts of wonderful items for her annual church bazaar. Foreign students in particular leave behind just about everything purchased for the year, and it’s in great shape. They can’t fly home with bicycles, TVs, most of their clothes, bedding, or furniture!
This is also the time to inventory the rooms for needed repairs and plan out the summer schedule for handymen. For the most part, House Directors don’t go into or inspect the girls’ individual rooms during the school year. So this may be the first time to see what shape they’re in. The Board members will swing by to plan for any remodeling, redecorating, or major repairs. While the sorority members take off to enjoy the summer, back at the House the staff actually begins preparing for their return two months later.
Can House Directors live in the House over the summer?
Typically, House Directors don’t live at the house over the summer. Neither do the girls. That gets to be an insurance issue, but also a clean-up issue. Salaries and contracts are for 10 months. Most Houses are locked up, even though some girls would love to stay in the House while taking summer course work (a fraternity or two may stay open and rent out a room to a young woman for the summer session).
If a sorority plans a remodel or to have extensive repair work done, they may prefer to have an adult in the House to coordinate the comings and goings of workmen. But just the House Director, nobody else. You can count on the usual cram-fest during the week before girls return for the fall term when trying to get repairs and deep cleaning done in a whirl! But if you’re asked to live in the House over the summer, you should get paid for that, even if it’s a small amount. Don’t assume you’re being the security team for free. Of course, it may suit your life to spend the summer in the sorority House, so just ask!
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