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5 Types of People Greek Organizations Need to Background Check
July 25 2023
It takes a village to make a Greek organization shine. Between the students, workers, and volunteers affiliated with your sorority or fraternity, there are many different types of people to keep tabs on. Regardless of how someone is involved in your Greek letter organization, it’s important to run a background check to ensure they are a good representative of your brand. So – who does a Greek organization need to background check, exactly? We’ve boiled it down to five main types of people.
Five Types of People Who Greek Letter Organizations Background Check
Board Members
As employees in leadership who oversee your Greek organization’s strategy and logistics, board members are an essential part of your background screening program. You want to ensure that a candidate is qualified for the position and its many demands. Additionally, as with all background checks, a big goal is to ensure that an applicant does not pose a major risk to your organization’s reputation or safety.
A background check for board members is going to look very similar to a background check for employees at most office jobs. The main services you’ll want to look for are a…
These work together to give you a comprehensive look at a candidate’s history. They highlight any histories of fraud, violence, or sexual misconduct and verify an educational and past employment background that aligns with the demands of the role.
Additionally, your organization may want to consider adding criminal monitoring to your list of services for board members. Criminal monitoring is an automated process that catches new arrests in real-time. This ensures that the people you trust to represent your brand continue to uphold your values as time goes on.
Staff & Volunteers
Beyond leadership, there are all kinds of people who play a role in providing a great experience for your sorority or fraternity members – like house moms, chefs, event volunteers, security guards, and more. Regardless, these people spend plenty of time in close quarters with the members of your Greek organization, so it’s vital to ensure you can trust them.
Your Greek letter organization’s staff members and volunteers will typically get the same services as board members, plus any other job-specific services that ensure all your bases are covered. Depending on the role, this could include motor vehicle record (MVR) searches, drug tests and physicals, verifications of certifications, and more. This gives your organization the peace of mind that staff members will carry out tasks effectively without posing any harm to students.
The services will look very similar for staff members and volunteers. However, the process of screening them will sometimes be a bit different. While employees’ background checks are typically ordered and paid for by the organization, some organizations opt for a volunteer self-pay model. Every organization has unique needs, but it’s good to have the option available to account for changes that occur over the years.
The bottom line is this: staff members and volunteers are typically the people most involved in each chapter’s day-to-day activities, so you want to choose a background screening program that ensures candidates uphold a standard of safety, respect, and responsibility within your Greek organization.
Vendors
Another category of workers to background check at your Greek organization is your vendors and contractors. These can be anyone from landscapers to kitchen staff to janitorial companies. Similar to staff members and volunteers, vendors will often be at chapter houses or events directly engaging with your Greek organization’s members. This calls for similar services to be included on their background checks. However, the process of background screening vendors will need to be treated differently.
Although vendors or contractors will technically fall under a separate entity outside of your organization, they are still representing your GLO’s brand. That means they need to be background checked just as much as everyone else at your organization. You may be thinking: but how? Doesn’t that come with a lot of extra contracts and legal jargon to sift through? I don’t have time for that!
That’s where vendor screening comes in. When you work with a background screening partner who has a dedicated vendor screening program, you can protect your Greek organization without all the added effort. A great vendor screening program will take care of contract management, program compliance, invoicing, and criteria evaluations – plus a vendor self-pay model to take care of the costs. Hiring the right vendors for your GLO has always been a priceless measure to take, but now it’s simple, too.
Potential New Members
Protecting your Greek organization doesn’t stop with employees and contractors. Most instances that get Greek organizations in the headlines (and not in a good way) are those involving students. That’s why background checking potential new members is an essential part of a comprehensive Greek background screening program.
It’s important to work with a background screening provider who offers a Greek-specific background check solution. This is because background checks for PNMs have several important differentiators when compared to pre-employment background checks, like…
- Compliance. Rushees are not being hired by your organization, but it’s still important to remain compliant with laws governing consumer reports. You’ll want to work with an FCRA-certified background check company with plenty of expertise in compliance. This will ensure that potential new members fill out the right forms and receive the proper results.
- Scope. Since prospective members are typically newly entering adulthood and are not being hired to perform a job, the scope of services needed for their background check is usually a bit smaller. You can leave out extra unnecessary costs like verifications, federal criminal history searches, and occupational health services. It’s a great idea, however, to add in a social media search. While many students will not have a criminal record at this age, it’s possible that some of them have shared hate speech, sexually explicit material, or illegal activity online. A social media search catches this, protecting your Greek organization’s reputation.
- Member-pay model. Greek organizations typically don’t have a huge surplus of money to spend. That’s why many fraternities and sororities decide to reduce costs by factoring a rushee’s background check cost into their dues. A member-pay model allows PNMs to click a link, submit their information, and pay for their background check within minutes.
- Experience. It’s an exciting and monumental time in a student’s life to participate in sorority and fraternity recruitment. That’s why a Greek background screening program should keep up by providing a simple and consistent experience. This is made possible through a user-friendly platform and a landing page that’s customizable based on an organization’s branding and language
A Background Screening Provider With a Solution For Everyone
While many background screening companies offer good background check solutions for your board members and staff, it’s rare to find one who has a program designed specifically for Greek organizations’ unique needs. We’ll make your search a little easier! At InfoMart, we built a one-of-a-kind screening program for Greek letter organizations. With FCRA-certified compliance experts and over 30 years of business, we’re ready to guide your Greek organization in building your ideal background screening program.
Interested? We’d love to give you more details and answer any questions you have! Reach out or request a quote to learn more. If you aren’t ready to talk, start with this webinar. Our experts cover all the basics of Greek background screening.
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About Tammy Cohen
Tammy Cohen, an industry pioneer and expert in identity and employment screening, founded InfoMart 30 years ago. Deemed the “Queen of Screen,” she’s been a force behind industry-leading innovations. She was most recently the first-to-market with a fully compliant sanctions search, as well as a suite of identity services that modernizes talent onboarding. Tammy revolutionized the screening industry when she stepped into the field, developing the first client-facing application and a due diligence criminal search that has since become standard for all background screening companies. Cohen has received national awards and honors for her business and civic involvement, including Atlanta Business Chronicle’s Top 25 Women-Owned Firms in Atlanta, Enterprising Women Magazine’s Enterprising Women of the Year award, the YWCA of Northwest Georgia’s Kathryn Woods Racial Justice Award, and a commendation in the 152nd Congressional Record. To learn more about Tammy, visit www.tammycohen.com.
About InfoMart
InfoMart has been revolutionizing the global background and identity screening industry for 30 years, providing businesses the information they need to make informed hiring decisions. They develop innovative technology that modernizes talent onboarding, including a first-to-market biometric identity authentication application and a verified sanctions search. The WBENC-certified company is a founding member of the Professional Background Screening Association, and they have achieved PBSA accreditation in recognition of their consistent business practices and commitment to compliance with the FCRA. The company is dedicated to customer service, speed, and accuracy, and it has been recognized for its success, workplace culture, and corporate citizenship with over 45 industry awards. To Get the Whole Story on InfoMart, please visit www.InfoMart-USA.com, follow @InfoMartUSA, or call (770) 984-2727.