NPC expansion

[Little E]

There is a sorority interest group on my campus. They have started a local and plan to bring another NPC to campus. We currently have my house, AST, and a local sorority. AST is four years old and the local is ancient. The two in existance are hovering at about 30 women. Neither of us have what you would call 'stable' numbers. We don't have a sure base for recruitment and work hard to get lots of 'maybe joiners.'

My question is how will this work? Does NPC look at our campus and say 'yes' XYZ you may colonize there or will XYZ just decide? Does XYZ have access through NPC to see the rise and fall of numbers that we have turned into our nat'l HQ? Or will they just come to campus and decide then? What really goes into this?

Does this make sense?
I'd appreciate any help you could give!
Tau Love and Mine
Lil E

[Tom Earp]

LiL E, I just saw your post and I dont normally check this one!

i cannot give you an answer and am sorry NO ONE came back to you!

Could you give little more Info?

I am sure there is someone out there on GC who can help! Trust me. there always is as We have the Best of the Best on Site!

[PsychTau]

Hey Sister!!

I know there are more knowledgeable people on this board, but here's what I know about expansion. First of all, the Campus Panhellenic has to vote to expand and allow another group on campus. At some point, I'm sure you can have NPC consultants look at your campus recruitment numbers and let you know if you should expand or not. Once the Panhellenic decides to open for expansion, then the interest group can have National Sororities come and do a presentation. Usually if there is already a group in existence, the National and the interest group will both vote on whether or not to "accept" each other. If they accept, they become a colony.

This probably made no sense at all, but I think the main point here is that the campus has to be open for expansion. And that is decided by the College Panhellenic. If they vote no on expansion, then I guess the group can stay a local. (Where's PnguinTrax when I need her!?!?)

[dakareng]

The NPC webpage (www.npcwomen.org) has very clear guidelines how to go about the expansion process.

In a nutshell, your local panhellenic must vote to invite a group to colonize on your campus. The local chapter who is seeking national affiliation can start by sending a letter of inquiry to the groups they are most interested in joining. Yes, those groups will want all sorts of statistics before they'll even agree to make a presentation. Rush numbers, enrollment figures, and academic data is a start.

Hope this helps.. I wish you luck!

Karen Gunther
Pi Beta Phi
Director of Academics

[aephi alum]

Well... is there a local Panhellenic? With only one NPC sorority on campus, it's not required. Have AST and the local(s) established a Panhellenic?

I think (not sure) that if there is no Panhel, the Student Activities Office or equivalent would be the authority that determines if the campus is open to expansion.

If the campus is open, interested NPC orgs would communicate with that office and with the local (and possibly also with AST and the local that's not looking to go NPC, to get recruitment numbers and the like), and if several orgs are interested, it would be up to the local to choose among them.

What authority approved AST's colonization?

[Little E]

We have a very...loose...??? greek system on campus. We do not have Pan-hell. Instead, the two sororities and the three IFC's have this mish mosh thing called the Interfraternal Panhellenic Council, aka IFPC. IFPC has no power what so ever. It is pretty pointless, but it does force us to communicate. Well IFPC has authorized this group to be on probationary status. This is at least one year of probation. Then by 3/4 the greek houses may allow them full IFPC membership.

Our Greek affairs person does not understand the greeksystem at all. It is very low priority on our campus.

The group the new local has announced that they want to bring to campus is KAT. Apparently they are very selective in their expansion, that is the rumor around here anyway. So now my question broadens more. Can they, because our campus already has an NPC, just decide who they want, or do we need to go through and have NPC presentations on campus? Would it be better for AST and the current local to form NPC, if we are even allowed to do that, to make this process more clear?

I know this sounds jumbled I'm really sorry. But it is all so confusing because we don't really have a normal greek system. AST just kinda of came to campus, there wasn't a lot of proper channels they just had to have the ok of the Greek advisor and be approved by IFPC.

So how much say does AST have with NPC on expansion here? Our DP told us that we will suffer in numbers if there is expansion. So we feel caught. We vote no and we are the evil B*'s and that is definatly not the message we need.

I'm so confused I'll try to make this more clear when i get a response....please respond
Tau love
Lil E

[texas*princess]

Originally posted by Little E
We have a very...loose...??? greek system on campus.

Our DP told us that we will suffer in numbers if there is expansion. So we feel caught. We vote no and we are the evil B*'s and that is definatly not the message we need.
\

Greetings Little E!

I am by no means an NPC expert, but your situation sounds very similar to a school I once attended.

Firstly, I would think that your DP is correct in saying the current groups will suffer in numbers if another group expands. The greek system seems to be a supply-demand system. If there is a lot of supply, and no demand for greek organizations on campus, the additional group would eventually help deplete the system (you mentioned Greek life wasn't a majorly huge thing at your school?) . The school I used to attend once had many many national GLO's on the campus in the 70's & 80's.. and after awhile, there were just too many and no one wanted to "go greek" anymore. Many of the groups evaporated, and only two national fraternities remained.

I can totally understand you don't want to send the message that you are being B*'s.. or whatever the case may be. I think the best thing you can do is hope for the best. Maybe explain to the group how the system will be affected if your school already has low recruitment numbers, how the "pool" will be spread even thinner. It sounds really bad, but I don't quite know how to put it eloquently.

I think this new group needs to understand the whole supply/demand thing. If there the demand for GLO's at your school isn't there, it would be crazy to work hard to bring another group to campus, only to have them get a closed chapter in the long run because of low numbers or whatever the case may be.

On the opposite side t hough, this new group might get the school stirred up, so to say. They may get more excited about greek life, and maybe even help increase for the demand in GLO's on your campus.

Anyhow, that is my take on it.. sorry for writing a novel Maybe some of those NPC experts I have seen on these boards might be able to explain it a lil better

[LPIDelta]

You could look at it this way-- since this group is already a local that is somewhat established, it might be better that they go national so that they are playing by the same rules as AST. Not to mention it would give more credibility to the Greek system there and possibly attract more people.

As someone who is from Wisconsin and went through an NPC expansion, I can tell you that not all the NPC sororities will be interested in expanding there. I will not speak for KAT though.

If these women contacted KAT directly, then I BELIEVE (not 100%) that KAT can decide on its own whether to expand there-- if the group goes the NPC expansion route (which I would recommend) then all the groups will have a chance to look and make a determination. No group will want to expand there if the numbers do not flush out.

If you are concerned about the process, contact AST's National Panhellenic delegate. She should be able to help you.

I hope that is helpful. I am not an expansion expert but I know from my own experience how these things can go.

[aopinthesky]

What I understand from Little E's original post is that there is one NPC group on her campus (her's) and one local and now a third "interest group" has started up with the aim of asking KAT to colonize them. Please correct me if that is not right, Little E.
Since you have no formal Panhellenic on your campus, it will be harder to get a handle on things. When a panhellenic exists then I believe they control expansion on campus, although I thought I read in your post that your loosely organized IFC-NPC council will vote on the expansion at some point. I HIGHLY encourage you to fight this expansion if you feel that it is not in the best interest of your sorority - even at the risk of being bitchy. If you think that it will only serve to dilute the system rather than causing it to grow, then stand by what you believe and do not allow anyone to sway you.
It is hard to gauge the effect that another group might have since you are the only one there (besides the local). Another NPC at your school would require the school to have a Panhellenic Council, I believe. If you had two groups then you might see more interest in the greek system since you would (presumably) have formal recruitment together. It might be more widely promoted by your school and eventual Panhellenic and turn out to be a good thing. Something to consider anyway.

[loriaphi]

One of my close friends is an alum of the local at your school. My understanding is that the local was once a chapter of Delta Gamma and that other national sororities have also had chapters at your university. This link provides more information:

http://www.beloit.edu/~libhome/Archi...oit/greek.html

This link also shows that there was at one time a Kappa Alpha Theta chapter established on your campus. Based on my limited knowledge of your campus and after looking at the history of your greek community, expansion probably isn't the best move at this point.

Lori

[33girl]

Just from what I have seen of KAT, I will second what you heard re their expansion policies. Our campus had a similar experience, 2 different locals wanted to bring Tri-Delt and they said "nay." They don't want to open a chapter that can't be on similar footing with the others, which is a decision I highly respect.

anyhoo...

What does the local sorority think? Are they for it or against it? If you guys and the local have opposing views, you might be better off to stick with things as they are - the fraternities & sororities as all one council - rather than form a Panhel right now. There's no point in forming something and having stalemate after stalemate because there are only 2 of you.

I think Heather is right, that they can contact KAT directly, but for their own sakes they would be better off to contact ALL the NPC groups. It is hard to gauge what kind of effect they'll have - they could get everyone excited or they could bring the other groups down. At any rate, they are on a probationary period. If the latter happens, I doubt that you guys OR the local will vote for them to stay.

[Kevin]

I have to disagree with some statements in here that a simple supply/demand model is accurate to describing a recruitment situation.

Sometimes a new group is exactly what is needed to stimulate expansion of the system in general. New blood, new ideas have the potential to revitalize the system.

By adding another group you may indeed be increasing demand. Many IFC/Panhel groups sit on their cans and simply expect people to come to them... Which they do but in small numbers. If the groups would take a different approach and recruit individuals for rush I think the story could be very different.

I've seen it work the other way. When Sigma Nu and PKA colonized and formed chapters at UCO *MANY* more men are now going through rush than before. The Greek System has grown significantly and I'd say there's even enough room for us to keep expanding. (that's 2 groups that joined IFC, not just one)

It is not necessarily true that one house will falter as another picks up steam. Usually a house that is suffering is doing so because of their own faults. They need to either seek help to correct these issues or go dormant.

[aopinthesky]

As has been debated on other threads, expansion has it's benefits and can also have it's drawbacks. You are talking about apples and oranges when you compare IFC expansion to NPC expansion, however.

[texas*princess]

I mentioned the system "seems" to be somewhat similar to a supply/demand schedule. I did not say it "Was". I also mentioned that a new group might also spark more interest in the overall greek system and perhaps increase recruitment numbers in my original post.

I have to disagree when you say groups that suffer are suffering "because of their own faults". I just feel that is a over-generalization. If a school is small and the interest in greek life just isn't there, that is not always the fault of the chapters that reside on the campus that they have low or unstable numbers.

When I attended a SMALL college, they had amazing groups, and they didn't have many members. I personally don't feel it was their fault they were suffering in numbers - I know personally they advertised so much to get more men & women interested in the greek life that existed on the campus. Not every school is meant to be in the "Top Ten Greek Schools" with all 26 NPC sororities and all the NIC fraternities, so when a chapter has small numbers, it may not always be "their fault".. but that's just the way I see it coming from an extremely small greek school.

Originally posted by ktsnake

Usually a house that is suffering is doing so because of their own faults. They need to either seek help to correct these issues or go dormant.

[Little E]

I appreciate all the responses. My school has a low greek population and it is unlikely that it will grow tremendously in the next few years.

My chapter's main concern is our survival and that of the current houses before allowing expansion to occur.

I do like the idea of suggesting the the new local that they request NPC expansion presentations instead of waiting until KAT is ready/willing to recolonize at Beloit. I will bring this up to my house and see what they do with it. The idea of the new local going national, if they are going to exist, is a something we'd talked about and seems to be the most important thing for them to do. It will help our chapter trememdously to have another NPC that is required to follow the rules we are bound to.

I'd appreciate anyother thoughts, especially on how to bring this up neatly, but hopefully our campus will invite NPC to make presentations.

Tau Love
Lil E