Psi Upsilon’s Chapter Leadership Program
Our overall Education Programming and support for Psi Upsilon Chapters and Members is referred to as the “Chapter Leadership Program”. It is designed to cultivate leadership skills and foster a commitment to the fraternity among our members. Through a comprehensive suite of educational initiatives, we aim to empower individuals to assume impactful roles within their chapters, their campus and community.
This program, along with our regular reporting requirements, are placed into an Asana Project (a cloud-based work management platform) so chapter officers can easily know what is expected of them and delegate tasks to the appropriate members within their chapter easily.
Online Education on a Learning Management System
Most of our education, distributed in this manner, has been developed with the support of Plaid, a leader in creating engaging online educational programs for the Fraternal Industry since its founding in 2011. While most programs are hosted on Plaids’ LMS platform to make the user experience more seamless, we have also worked with other third parties to find quality content that is relevant to our members and what we are trying to accomplish as a fraternal organization.
Tightrope
Tightrope is an online student safety program designed to help college students develop the knowledge and skills they need to make empowered decisions to have a meaningful and safe campus experience. Tightrope involves five course modules that cover topics such as alcohol and other drugs, hazing, healthy relationships, mental health, and how to be a safe student. Recently, we have developed an additional module on building awareness of the risks of gambling addiction. Additionally, it includes a section where all members can review our Risk Management and Good Samaritan Policies of Psi Upsilon.
Completion is required for all New Members initiated into Psi Upsilon.
Inclusive Practices
Embedded as an addition to Tightrope, Inclusive Practices is an online program designed to help college students develop the knowledge and skills they need to create a welcoming environment and promote belonging while on campus. This program includes courses on understanding identity, historical context, and inclusive practices.
Aboveboard for Chapter Leaders
Aboveboard is an online board development program designed to help chapter officers develop practical strategic leadership skills. This program includes courses on governance, strategic planning, and enhancing board performance, as well as information on where officers can obtain additional resources from Psi Upsilon’s International Office. This is sent and requested for all chapter officers after elections are reported to us and are available to all members.
Chapter Advisor Training
The Chapter Advisor Training program is an online program to assist advisors in supporting fraternity and sorority chapters. This program provides engaging content related to the role of an advisor, college students today, and harm reduction. This content is available to all alumni associations of Psi Upsilon to distribute among their membership.
Phired Up Recruitment Certification
Phired Up’s Certified Recruiter Courses offer a dynamic, self-paced digital learning experience designed to empower IFC Fraternal Organization members with the skills and confidence to lead values-driven recruitment. Rooted in Phired Up’s Growth System—anchored by Social Excellence, People-Based Recruiting, and Data-Driven Strategy—each course blends individualized instruction with scenario-based learning, interactive activities, quizzes, and downloadable tools for immediate application. Upon successful completion, participants earn the designation of Certified Phired Up Recruiter™, equipped to foster authentic connections and drive meaningful organizational growth. All members are encouraged to participate as a part of their New Member Education training, and any chapter who completes the program is given access to a pro “ChapterBuilder” account from Phired Up to better support their recruitment strategy.
“Be There” Certification
Developed by Jack.org and the Born This Way Foundation the “Be There” Certificate is a free, self-paced learning experience designed to increase mental health literacy and provide you with the knowledge, skills, and confidence needed to safely support anyone who may be struggling with their mental health. It provides a deep understanding of Be There’s 5 Golden Rules — a simple but actionable framework on how to recognize when someone might be struggling with their mental health, your role in supporting that person, and how to connect them to the help they deserve.
Zoom Seminars and Meetings
Summer Leadership Series
The Summer Leadership Series is a group of presentations available online to our chapter members to help them prepare for each new academic year. Led by Psi Upsilon staff and other professionals who work in Higher Education, we identify topics that are pertinent to chapter operations. Each session is targeted at a set of officers or chapter chairs to whom the topic is relevant. In 2025, we began recording these sessions and embedding them into our chapter’s Asana Projects, allowing them to be easily shared. Past topics that have been covered during this series include, but are not limited to: Managing Events, New Member Education, Ritual, Running Effective Meetings, Recruitment, Building an Academic Program, Judicial Boards, Creating a Chapter Brand, and more.
Spring Roundtables
In January and February, we host roundtable discussions targeted to specific positions in chapters, some of which may be overlooked in other parts of our education. Since most of our chapters elect positions at the end of the Fall, it provides an opportunity for these brothers to share their goals and plans for the next term.
Town Halls
Each month we hold Zoom meetings that we have branded “Town Halls”. One for chapter leaders, and one for alumni leaders, to discuss what is on their mind, give feedback about the current support from the International Office, ask questions of staff and one another and share best practices.
Treasurer’s Academy
At the beginning of each semester, we hold a special meeting specifically for chapter treasurers to review how to build a budget, track their accounts receivable, best practices for collecting payments, review our assessment schedule, and file the chapter’s Form 990.
In Person Training
Archons’ Academy (January)
The Archons’ Academy is a three-day leadership seminar designed to help our undergraduate chief elected officers develop the skills necessary to lead an effective chapter. Chapter leaders have expressed overwhelming support for the opportunity to trade success stories and hear different approaches to resolving similar problems. It focuses on a review of Psi Upsilon’s mission and values and how it is tied to our ritual, a self-assessment for chapter presidents to better identify their personal strengths and weaknesses, chapter operations, risk management from the president’s perspective, and the weekend is tied to another program called the “Social Impact Fellowship” where we invite young alumni working in the social sector / non-profit industry and allow time for these recent alums and key volunteers to interact with the chapter presidents.
All Travel, Hotel, and Registration is free for chapter presidents (or a replacement officer if the president cannot attend).
Summer Leadership Institute (July)
Psi Upsilon holds a convention every year, and as an add-on to the convention, we have a day reserved for both undergraduate and alumni education. Outside of a review of our policies, governance overview, and review of our programs, the curriculum changes each year – in 2025, it was built around recruitment training, and in recent years, we have focused on mental wellness support, leading change, service, and philanthropy.
Hotel and Registration are free for two undergraduates from each chapter; travel is the responsibility of the chapter.
Year-Round Support
Chapter Coaching Program
Our chapter coaching program is our regular ongoing support for chapters. Every chapter president is assigned a staff member to work with, and this staff member has a weekly check in with the chapter president and other officers as appropriate. In general goals are set at the beginning of each term and then a primary purpose of these meetings is to ensure progress is being made on these goals and check in as challenges may arise on campus. One of the primary purposes of this program is to build a relationship with the chapter leadership and be more proactive in working through chapter issues. In addition, we attempt to visit every chapter at least once a year in person and do our best to ensure the chapter’s coach is the one to make that trip.
Member Services Dashboard / Asana Project
We also have a position in our office devoted to Member Services, and that Director has at least two meetings each semester (or one per quarter) with the chapter president to review the chapter’s Asana Project, review the reports required for submission to the office, and discuss A/R. We have intentionally removed these administrative duties from the chapter services team to ensure our chapter services discussions are more focused on how the chapter is performing and less on what is due to the international fraternity and reporting.
Expectations for Excellence
The Expectations for Excellence program is how we measure a chapter’s performance and find ways to assist their specific needs. Doing our best to find measurable items we identify where a chapter is located on a classification matrix (Mission Sustaining (best), Growth Focus (recruitment or retention issues), Operational Realignment (performance or behavior issues), Operational Establishment (new chapters or chapters that are having both issues with size and performance)) and then have developed specific workshops to be used by alumni associations and chapter services staff to assist the chapter in moving up to our “Mission Sustaining” classification.
Commitment to Excellence
The Commitment to Excellence program is our goal-setting retreat that is shareable with an alumni association so they can assist the chapter in identifying strengths and weaknesses and set measurable goals as an organization. We have two versions – one focused on chapter operations (used more for Operational Realignment / Establishment chapters) and one focused on values for chapters that are in our Mission Sustaining classification.
Psi U Cares
Psi U Cares is Psi Upsilon’s mental health and wellness initiative that educates members, reduces stigma, and connects chapters with campus and community resources by appointing a Health and Wellness Chair who completes training and leads local efforts, promoting service and philanthropy (especially suicide-prevention events), and providing education, speakers, and partnerships while integrating mental-health support into the fraternity’s risk-management and training programs.
A Mighty Friendship
A Mighty Friendship is our New Member Education program which is designed to accommodate different campus and chapter requirements, whether a “one tier” membership program (initiate in week 1), deferred recruitment, or up to an 8-week New Member period.
Career-Mentor Program
We have a Career-Mentor Program for chapters that wish to have a more formal mentor program connecting undergraduate members with alumni members to offer career advice and guidance.
The College Tablet
This is Psi Upsilon’s book for New Members / Pledges that shares general information on the fraternity including operations and governance, important policies, our history and mission, songs and more. It also has general information of interest to any fraternity members including a history of fraternities in the United States, Greek alphabet, and general etiquette.
