Case Western Reserve University-Greek Life
Chapter Development Overview (Pytte Cup)
Foundation
Pytte Cup is a framework supported by the Office of Greek Life and Order of Omega that
encourages chapters to provide a holistic membership experience based on the values in which
fraternities and sororities were founded. The framework consists of benchmarks that represent
increasingly more complex thinking and application of the organizations and community core
values.
This model is based on the Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning:
Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning
Create – “I can put ideas together to create a new concept”
Evaluate – “I can use evidence to justify/argue my ideas”
Analyze – “I can break it down and look at parts of the
whole”
Apply – “I can apply this concept in a practical context”
Comprehension – “I can summarize it in my own words”
Knowledge – “I can recite it back to you”
The Expectation:
Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning is a fluid model, not segmented levels. In order to truly be
developing all levels are essential foundations required to reach a higher level of learning. As
membership and leadership is constantly changing within the Greek community, organizations must
be able to go beyond the Remembering to build into Creating and return back to Remembering as
change continues. Development through this model is cyclical with a forward direction. Bloom’s
Taxonomy of Learning can help an organization gain a clearer understanding of its current
application of this model to foster learning within the chapter. The hope is that the Chapter
Development framework, coupled with the support of the campus advisors, chapters will be able to
identify how to utilize this information to advance its organization and its members in achieving
Excellence.
Community Pillars
Citizenship
For citizenship, the purpose is to engage the chapter members in thinking of new ways to create an
environment of civic engagement, social justice and sound decisions. This environment should instill
the values described in members to encourage continual incorporation as a part of their everyday
life. Effectively, this should build better people who care about the society around them and their
impact on its development. The identified citizenship themes are to be utilized to provide a guide
for areas of focus.
Citizenship Themes:
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Community Service & Learning
Social Justice
Community Involvement
Positive Relationships and Collaboration
Culture of Care
Cultural Competency
Chapter/Individual Standards
Sustainability
Citizenship Learning Outcomes:
 Community Service & Learning
o To explain one’s awareness of societal issues and how one can be a change agent
within society through service.
 Social Justice
o To create an environment that values human dignity and the rights of all equally.
 Community Involvement
o To demonstrate civic and social responsibility toward one’s community. To engage
in principled debate and dissent.
 Positive Relationships
o To understand and demonstrate an interconnectedness of each individual
community member and chapter.
 Culture of Care
o To create environments that fulfill the basic needs of others and exhibit a general
sense of care for all individuals who interact with the community.
 Cultural Competency
o To evaluate one’s own thoughts and feelings, communicate, and work with
individuals of different cultures.
 Chapter/Individual Standards
o To construct an environment that requires the values of fraternity and sorority life
are upheld.
 Sustainability
o To exhibit practices in daily thought and action that represents a concern for one’s
environment and its livelihood.
Scholarship
The purpose of the Scholarship pillar is to promote academic success and integrity, as well as a
culture of general intellectualism. This section ensures that the chapter is enabling success above and
beyond the means available through campus offerings. The identified scholarship themes are to be
utilized to provide a guide for areas of focus.
Scholarship Themes:
● Appreciation of Learning
● Academic Achievement
● Intellectual Development
● Academic Community Involvement and Engagement
● Professional Integrity
● Career Development
Scholarship Learning Outcomes:
 Appreciation of Learning
o To appreciate the process of learning and understand how to make meaning of that
process
 Fostering Academic Achievement
o To justify an academic environment of appreciation, understanding, and
responsibility to individual, organization, and CWRU
 Showing organizational values geared towards supporting academic
achievement and goals among individual members
 Intellectual Development
o To create an environment that encourages appreciation, understanding, and
involvement in opportunities that will provide critical thought.
 Academic Community Involvement and Engagement
o To demonstrate a sense of community and advancement of the academic aspirations
of CWRU and your community.
 Professional Integrity
o To demonstrate a sense of responsibility and commitment to one’s self and the
individuals around them to uphold the standards set by an academic environment.
 Career Development
o To demonstrate an environment that fosters developmental opportunities within and
outside the organization and further requires synthesis of experiences for future
goals.
Ritual
The purpose of this pillar is to allow chapters to identify the avenues in which they are educating all
potential new members, new members, and current members about the values of their organization,
as well as recognizing them for living those values in their daily lives. Additionally, this pillar
promotes the ideals of alumni engagement and its importance to the sustainability of the
organization.
Ritual Themes:
● Alumni Engagement and Involvement
● Membership Development
● Incorporation of Purpose
● Values-Based Recruitment
● Recognition
● Life-long Commitment
● Pride in Greek and CWRU Community Traditions
Ritual Learning Outcomes:
 Alumni Engagement and Involvement
o To actively utilize alumni in daily operations and maintain meaningful connections
with alumni.
 Membership Development
o To create a fraternity and sorority experience that continuously develops each
member in accordance to the fraternal values.
 Incorporation of Purpose
o To utilize the organizational values to inform all decision-making both on a chapter
and individual level.
 Values-based Recruitment
o To utilize a recruitment process that effectively conveys the values and expectations
of membership and uses these values and expectations to evaluate potential new
members.
 Recognition
o To create meaningful opportunities to celebrate individual and organizational
achievements that further the mission/vision of the organization.
 Life-long commitment
o To develop experiences and structures that educate and engage both undergraduate
and alumni
 Pride in Greek and CWRU community traditions
o To demonstrate active engagement and respect for the Greek and CWRU
community.
Leadership
This pillar is intended to develop the idea of leadership development. Through effective chapter
management showing leadership by example, engagement in leadership development, a culture of
engagement, and vision and skillful execution of leadership should be developed. The identified
leadership themes are to be utilized to provide a guide for areas of focus.
Leadership Themes:
● Ethical leadership
● Culture of Leadership (within and outside organization)
● Values-based Decision Making
● Chapter Assessment
● Continuity of Leadership
● Positive Change Agent
● Chapter Management
● Interpersonal/Intrapersonal Skills Development
Leadership Learning Outcomes:
 Ethical Leadership
o To demonstrate an ability to lead with integrity and serve as a positive role model.
 Culture of Leadership
o To create an environment that develops each member into a capable leader both
inside and outside of the organization.
 Values-based Decision Making
o To utilize critical thinking to make decisions that are healthy, moral, and informed by
the values of which fraternities and sororities will based on.
 Chapter Assessment
o To demonstrate the capacity to utilize honest reflection of chapter membership,
operations, and management to positively inform future decision-making.
 Continuity of Leadership
o To produce the necessary structures, resources, and training to foster seamless
organizational transitioning.
 Positive Change Agent
o To produce an overall culture of leadership and change that helps to improve upon
organizational goals through individual members
 Chapter Management
o To demonstrate an ability to effectively keep records, meet deadlines, produce and
achieve goals, and effectively execute organizational events and initiatives.
 Interpersonal/Intrapersonal Skills Development
o To demonstrate a commitment to foster the growth of each individual members selfawareness and ability to effectively interact with those around them.
Evaluation Process and Submission Timeline
Overview
This process is meant to be meaningful for the chapter, the Greek community, and the Case Western
Reserve Community. Chapters will be evaluated in the 4 community pillars of Citizenship, Scholarship,
Ritual, and Leadership. It will be the chapter’s responsibility to demonstrate why their chapter is
deserving of recognition, how the chapter fulfilled the qualifications in the area in which they are seeking
recognition, and what the chapter specifically accomplished in each pillar. This process allows all
chapters to strive for excellence and be recognized for its achievements. Ultimately, it is our purpose to
provide intentional feedback on the chapter’s progress and assist them in their pursuit of
excellence. Chapters can choose to apply for any or all of the four pillars but will only be recognized
only in the areas of submission. The Pytte Cup will be award to any or all chapters who receive
Excellence in all 4 pillars.
Application
The Chapter Development application process consists of two stages. The first stage includes the
submission of a cover letter and resume for each pillar to which the chapter is applying. The cover letter
and resume are due November 1, 2015. It will then be the chapter's’ responsibility to set up an
interview with an assigned Pytte Cup advisor and Order of Omega member within one week of the
initial submission. The interview teams’ responsibility is to assess if the chapter is eligible for the
presentation stage of the Pytte Cup awards process. If a chapter successfully completes the Interview
Round, the chapter will be invited to present to a panel of administrators and Order of Omega members
during the month of February. It will be the Presentation Round panels responsibility to determine the
final benchmark recognition of the chapter and provide comprehensive feedback on the chapter's
performance.
Please note that only chapters who successfully complete the Pytte Cup-Community Standards is eligible
for recognition through the Chapter Development awards process but all chapters are eligible to
complete the interview process. If a chapter submits a cover letter and resume for the Chapter
Development awards process and successfully completes the interview, the chapter will receive five extra
credit points in their Community Standards score.
Summary Timeline
August 31, 2015 4-5:30pm : Meet and Greet with Pytte Cup advisers
September 28, 2015 5:30 pm - Evidence workshop with Dr. Jeremy Bendik-Keymer
October 12, 2015 6:30 pm - Resume workshop with Erin Nunn, Assistant Director for Career Center
November 1, 2015 - Resumes due
November 2, 2015 6:30 pm - Interview workshop (bring your resumes!) with Erin Nunn
November 9-25, 2015 - Interviews
February 1-19, 2016 - Presentations
April 18, 2016 – Girotaste
Recognition Benchmarks
Excellence- To demonstrate an ability to integrate the pillar themes into their chapter operations and
recreate an environment based upon these experiences; in which members are utilizing these experiences
to reshape their approach to being a fraternity man or sorority woman.
Distinction-To demonstrate an ability to utilize the pillar themes to evaluate and analyze current chapter
operations and show evidence that all members are engaged in this process, and are evaluating and
analyzing these experiences on an individual level.
Honor-To demonstrate an ability to engage in experiences based on the pillar themes that encourage the
chapter and its members to apply the knowledge to learned to both chapter operations and individual
action.
Merit-To demonstrate an ability to help your chapter and its members to understand the dimension of
the themes within each pillar.