A study hours app built for fraternity chapters

Why fraternity study hours are hard to enforce

Most chapters require a set number of study hours per week, usually tiered by GPA: three hours for members in good standing, six or more for new members and anyone on academic probation. The requirement is easy to write into the bylaws and hard to enforce. Paper sign-in sheets get filled in at the end of the week. Group chat check-ins prove someone sent a text, not that they studied. Library kiosk swipes only work at one building, and someone still has to type them into a spreadsheet.

The scholarship chair ends up as the bad guy, standards meetings turn into arguments about evidence, and the members who actually need the hours are the ones who learn to game the system first.

How TrytonApp verifies fraternity study hours

TrytonApp is a mobile app for iOS and Android with a web dashboard for officers. Your exec board draws study zones on a map (the library, the chapter house study room, an academic building) and members can only start a session while their phone is inside one of those zones.

• Geofenced check-in. A member taps Start Studying. The app confirms their GPS position is inside an approved zone before the timer starts. Readings with poor accuracy are rejected rather than guessed.
• Pulse checks. At an interval your chapter picks (every 30, 45, or 60 minutes, default 45), the app asks the member to confirm they are still there. They have five minutes to respond. A missed pulse check ends the session, so a phone left on a desk does not earn hours.
• Automatic session end. Leaving the zone for more than the grace period ends the session. So does leaving the app in the background for more than ten minutes. Nobody has to remember to clock out.
• Offline support. Basement study rooms with no signal still work. The session keeps running locally and syncs when the phone reconnects.

What the scholarship chair sees

Owners and admins get a web dashboard at admin.trytonapp.com and the same views in the app. Every week you can see who met their goal, who is short, and who is studying right now. When nationals, your IFC, or your advisor asks for the numbers, you export a CSV or PDF compliance report for any week, the last four weeks, or a custom range up to a full semester. Each row is a member, their hours, their goal, and whether they met it.

Goals can be set org-wide, per member, or per tag (new members, on probation, at risk). On Pro Plus, TrytonApp can assign each member their weekly requirement automatically from GPA rules you define, and chapters that fine for missed hours can issue accountability charges with a review step, a dispute path, and a full audit trail.

What members see

A progress ring toward this week's goal, a Start Studying button, a leaderboard, and a streak. Members can turn off individual notification types, request a copy of their data, and delete their account from inside the app. Admins see hours and compliance, never a location history. Location is only checked while a member is using the app or has an active session.

What it costs

The Free plan covers up to 20 members and 2 study zones and includes the web dashboard, CSV and PDF exports, weekly email reports, leaderboards, streaks, and goals. Pro is $149 per year per organization for unlimited members and zones, custom zones, and custom tags. Pro Plus is $199 per year and adds GPA tracking, GPA-based auto-assigned hours, and accountability charges. Every new organization starts on a 14-day Pro trial. Pricing is per chapter, never per member.

Chapters that want to help shape the product can also look at the founding chapter program.

Getting a chapter set up

1. The scholarship chair or president downloads the app and creates the organization.
2. Drop a pin on each study location and set a radius (up to 500 meters).
3. Set the weekly goal, the week start day, and the pulse check interval.
4. Share the six-character invite code in the chapter group chat.
5. Members join, and the first weekly report lands in your inbox the following week.

Most chapters finish setup in under ten minutes. The step-by-step version is in the help center, and this guide compares the common ways chapters track hours if you are still deciding on an approach.