It sounds like things are really picking up for you - that's great! I hope Bid Day turns out the way the chapter wants!

Thanks everyone :D

congrats! everything sounds like it's going really well and I hope you have an amazing Bid Day!

Yay! Cheering you on!!! :)

Wow! That's awesome! One of the best things about this experience is that forever, your chapter sisters will know how to maneuver in a party, how to host an event and make all of their guests feel welcome, how to hold a conversation with anyone and everyone, etc. The list of advantages goes on and on!

Good luck!!

Thanks again everyone for your support! :D

Last night was our last scheduled recruitment event. The Recruitment Director had been told by some PNMs that they felt like they didn’t know about half the sisters, and they wanted to meet and talk to more of them. In order to solve this problem (and also to solve our bumping issue), the Recruitment Director suggested doing a kind of “speed dating” thing, so that every PNM could talk to every sister. It really helped out, and some of the PNMs have already expressed that they thought it was a really good idea. I know that at the very least, it helped everyone to learn names better!

After that, the party turned into an informational night. The sisters posted on the wall a list of everything that we consistently do every year (business meetings, formal, sister lunch, convention, pageant, JDRF Walk, Habitat, etc.) so that the PNMs could ask questions about them... and there were a lot of questions! And they had some about a lot of other things, too. I started to remember how clueless I was about the whole process when I first started attending recruitment events!

We still had a very good turn out... 10 PNMs. Some others had class and work, so they weren’t able to attend, but the sisters feel as if they know most of the PNMs very well.

I was also happy to hear that the sisters are going to the Erie Otters (hockey) game on Saturday, and they were inviting all of the PNMs to go with them.

Bid Day is Tuesday!

:)

that speed dating thing seems like a really good idea!

Yea, it worked out really well.

We actually did it last semester when we were matching bigs and littles. Many times in the past, the new members have said that they only know a few sisters really well, and they'd like to get to know more of them before they pick their big. So we used this method so that everyone could talk for 5-10 minutes, and then make a decision.

Your new members pick their big sister? That seems so backwards to me! We always did it the other way around, where the older sister picks her little.

Different chapters match bigs/littles differently. For example my collegiate chapter had each potential Big Sis list their top 5 choices for Little Sisters, and each of the New Members do the same. Then the VP matches them up. It depends on what works for the chapter..

We used to always do it this way. The new members would be told which sisters were eligible/who wanted a little, they would decide amongst themselves who wanted who, and then they would have a week to ask the sister to be their big. We always had smaller new member classes, so it was really easy to do it this way. And it was fun. New members would get really creative with the way they asked their bigs, and it was such a nice surprise for the active sister.

Starting last semester, it's now done this way. The sisters and new members list their top 3, and they are matched accordingly. This is basically because of the potential for larger new member classes and, for example, to have 10 girls deciding who has who as their big with only 13 sisters to choose from (subtracting the two New Member Directors), the situation could become complicated... and/or start a war.

I'm eager to read the next installment! I recently visited one of our smaller chapters on their first night of informal spring rush, and I'm excited for all of y'all!

Hope bid day goes well!! :)

Once when we did it the other way (having the new members pick their bigs without ranking) we allowed 2 girls to have the same big... only because we had 10 active sisters, 9 new members, and the new member meeting in which they picked bigs took forever! 2 girls wanted one sister as their big and neither of them were backing down. Hence the reason I said that to continue doing it this way now might start a war.

Last semester when this system was started, the new members and sisters matched up very closely in who they picked, and there weren't really two new members who desperately wanted the same big and/or two sisters who wanted the same little. I'm not sure how it will go this semester, but the sisters have talked about the possibility of someone having twins, and there are a lot of girls who would be ok with doing so. Yet the only reason they discussed this a few weeks ago was on the off chance that they'd have more new members than active sisters, or if some sisters didn't want to take a little at all. Because if a sister does not feel comfortable taking two littles, or doesn't want one that semester, we have never forced them to take one.

I'm not sure how it's going to work for them this semester. They're probably going to have to see who accepts their bids, play it by ear, and figure it all out when the time comes.

So the decisions have been made and all of the bids are out. And this semester, the number of bids the chapter is giving out is.....

.
..
...
....
...
..
.
..
...
....
...
..
.
..
...
....
...
..
.
..
...
....
...
..
.
..
...
....
...
..
.
..
...
....
...
..
.
..
...
....
...
..
.
..
...
....
...
..
.
..
...
....
...
..
.
..
...
....
...
..
.
..
...
....
...
..
.
..
...
....
...
..
.
..
...
....
...
..
.
..
...
....
...
..
.
..
...
....
...
..
.
Oh, sorry... can't tell! It's a secret! :D

While the chapter gave out bids today, the potential members can't start signing them until tomorrow. In the past, they've had 24 hours to sign them. Starting this semester, they're doing things a little differently. The potential members have certain times when they can go to Student Activities to sign them, and an active sister is assigned to be there at those times. Therefore... they're giving the girls who received bids until Friday to sign and accept them.

So you might just have to wait that long to find out how many new members there are!

:)

Cruel - you are cruel!

Srsly - that was not nice - especially since you KNOW how interested I am in your chapter's recruitment!

oh MAN! I was so looking forward to the answer and then...nothing! I agree with SWTXBelle - so so cruel.

SERIOUSLY???? I'm gonna be out of town Thurs morning through next week too! You suck! :P

Haha. Sorry everyone! It drives me crazy when other people do this.. but I just figured I should get to do it once! :p

And if they all sign their bids before Friday, then you'll get to find out sooner than that!

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrggghh

:p

I haven't been posting on this thread really, but I've been reading it!

And I do believe that it's Friday, so I'm waiting for the update sister!

PsychTau

Ok everyone. I’m sorry to have kept you waiting. But I’ve been keeping in touch with the sisters all week, and up until yesterday, they were still waiting on one more girl to accept her bid. But now I’m finally able to tell you that we got...
.
..
...
....
...
..
.
..
...
....
...
..
.
..
...
....
...
..
.
..
...
....
...
..
.
..
...
....
...
..
.
..
...
....
...
..
.
..
...
....
...
..
.
..
...
....
...
..
.
..
...
....
...
..
.
..
...
....
...
..
.
..
...
....
...
..
.
..
...
....
...
..
.
..
...
....
...
..
.
..
...
....
...
..
.
..
...
....
...
..
.

9 new members! ... bringing the chapter to 24 sisters, which is the most I’ve ever seen it at!

The chapter had originally voted on many PNMs, and they distributed 13 bids. 4 of the girls joined other chapters, but all of them were back and forth between us and another one, and made that known to the sisters, so it wasn’t that surprising. Still disappointing, but at least they weren’t completely blindsided.

But the sisters are all really excited and the new girls are already very involved with the chapter. One of the new members (the nice one that I met at the fraternity house a couple weeks ago) is very artistically talented, and she drew a picture of our letters with yellow roses around it for one of the sisters that she’s become close with. Everyone seems to talk on Facebook, congratulating the girls on receiving bids, and they try hang out together whenever possible. I’m happy to see the sisters are so welcoming and making the new girls comfortable with the sometimes uncomfortable situation that is the first week of being a new member.

One of the new members is a senior, but she’s already been talking about getting involved after she graduates. Myself and another alumna are attempting to start an alumnae chapter here in Erie, and she has already expressed interest in helping us to get it off the ground. Anyway, in addition to her leaving, there are only 2 other seniors this year. Which means the chapter will start with 21 active sisters in the fall. I’ve only seen the chapter at 19 members once, and that was in spring after a new member class was initiated. With 6 seniors graduating, that left 13 sisters starting the next semester. So they're definitely in good shape!

The chapter has clearly worked very hard over the past few weeks. With about 10 sisters graduating in spring of 2010, they are trying very hard to build the chapter numbers up, and I’m very proud of everything they’ve done.

I’ll be sure to post pictures when I get some!

(p.s. From what I’ve heard, ASA has 9 new members also, and Theta Phi gave out 8 bids, but I’m not sure if all of them accepted. Either way, it was a very successful recruitment period for all of the chapters, and I hope that the trend continues here!)

:)

YAY!!!!! Congratulations on the New Members!!!

PsychTau

Congratulations! What fun to hear this from the advisor's perspective. Everyone worked hard for this success, and I know you will all enjoy it!

This story has been great to read. Y'all worked really hard and it looks like it's paid off! Congratulations to all the ladies in the chapter! What a success!




(Y'all forgive me for a moment, but my very curious 7-year-old, who is peering over my shoulder, wants to add some smiley faces to this post... please indulge him for just a sec!)

:cool::D:);):D

This is such great news! So glad recruitment was a success for your chapter - and the others as well!

Thank you for sharing your story! I'm so glad it worked out so well!

I think this thread deserves smiley faces!

Thanks everyone!

The first ceremony is tomorrow night, so I'll try to snap some pictures while I'm there.

:)

Sorry it's taken forever, but I finally have pictures! (sorry they're not of the highest quality!)

Alpha Nu, Spring '09, after their ribboning ceremony :)

http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos...950_9427_n.jpg



And just to give everyone a little perspective, this was the chapter after initiation last semester.....

http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-...48234_5354.jpg


And this is everyone after the pinning ceremony earlier this week (minus one sister, but plus the Chapter Advisor)...

http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-...42944_5627.jpg


Check back in September for the next installment! :D

Yay!!! Congrats on everything! Enjoy your spring! :) Oh, and thanks for the pics!! Looks like everyone is very happy!

Yay for pictures! Everyone looks just thrilled! What a great job y'all did. :)

Congratulations! I love reading these kinds of success stories.

More good news:

As part of the updated new member program, the new members are to plan and put on their own recruitment party. Before one of their meetings, they hosted a mock recruitment party, where the active sisters acted as the PNMs. A couple weeks later, they were to invite actual PNMs to an event that they organized themselves. All of the sisters and new members were to be present at the recruitment party.

Much to my surprise, there were 12 PNMs at the event! I’m very excited that the girls are recruiting recruiters, and that the chapter is already in very good shape for next semestser.

:)

(P.S. There has been a lot of talk about changing total and recruitment style in the near future. I'll try to keep everyone updated)

I have really enjoyed your story, and particularly the creativity and excitement that the chapter exhibits. You are clearly a great advisor and your enthusiasm has rubbed off on the members. Looks like the chapter should be equal numbers-wise with the other chapters in no time.

Please continue to post updates. It will be interesting to see what direction your campus panhellenic decides to go with regards to recruitment.

It's that time of year again...

Today is the Greek-hosted BBQ during freshmen orientation. It was very successful last year, and hopefully that tradition will continue today.

As some of you have read in another thread of mine, it appears as though recruitment may be changing drastically this year. Tonight is the chapter's first meeting, so I will keep you all updated about the possible changes, the occurrences of today, and the excitement of the rest of recruitment. Good luck to everyone who is "rushing" in fall '09!

Happy recruiting! :)

I know I’ve been slacking when it comes to updates, so here is one giant one from the last three recruitment events (sorry, but it’ll probably be really long..)

Going back to last Sunday...

The all-Greek event went very well. It started at 11:00, right before one of the freshmen orientation meetings let out. There was a ridiculous number of people who came over to grab some free food all at once, and from what I hear, we went through 40 pizzas, I don’t even know how many pounds of wings, and tons of snacks. There were a lot more freshmen men than women, but it was still a successful day for all of the groups.

I was happy to see the sisters approaching other young women and talking to them. I also met a few who seemed to be excited about the idea of joining a sorority. The campus culture has changed so much in that respect since I first became a member, and it’s an exciting thing to witness.

The chapter’s first recruitment event was this past Thursday. They have tried to move away from extremely specific themes, so they did, “Be Sweet with AST” and they had tons of candy and cupcakes, all colored green and gold. They had 12 PNMs show up! It was a very diverse group of PNMs, in many senses of the word. While there were a few girls there who looked like they had just rolled out of bed, most looked very presentable and were more than fun to talk to. There were different races and ethnicities represented, which has been very rare in the past. I think the campus as a whole is becoming more diverse in that way, so it makes sense. It's great to see these changes making their way into sorority recruitment.

There were a few familiar faces from past semesters... including one girl who came to recruitment events two semesters ago, but then decided joining a sorority might not be for her... and another girl who has showed up for the third semester in a row. There were also a few girls who had come to the recruitment event that the new members had put on last semester, including a set of twins.

A couple of them actually approached me and introduced themselves, which was refreshing. Even though one of them started our talk with the question, “So do you girls throw parties?” the conversations I did have generally went well.

This past Monday, the girls held their latest recruitment event... “Spice It Up with AST” where they served chips and salsa. There were 9 PNMs who attended, a few of which had already shown up on Thursday. Everyone talked and mingled, and then as a group, everyone did an icebreaker... Truth and Lies. The girls all sat in a big circle, and each person said their name, two truths about themselves, and one lie. The next person in the circle had to determine which statement was a lie. It was actually pretty funny to listen to everyone’s statements, and the sisters and PNMs seemed to have a really good time with it.

After that, the Recruitment Chair explained a little about what we do as a sorority, and she had myself and another alumna who was there explain a little about how you can get involved after you graduate.

Then the girls all got up and talked some more. I was actually wearing a lettered shirt that had Patriots material for the letters that I’ve had for quite some time. One of the PNMs walked over to me and got all excited because I actually like the Patriots. Apparently she’s their biggest fan, and being in Steeler country, it was exciting to find a fellow outcast. Haha

Overall, it was a very good night and from what I could tell, there were a couple PNMs that the sisters REALLY liked.

*************

And to keep everyone up-to-date in terms of what’s going on with the more technical and complicated aspects of recruitment this semester...

We are now able to bid first semester freshmen. However, it is a trial-basis. The main thing that the administrators are going to be looking at are the GPAs of all of the new members to see if they can keep up with their school work, on top of joining a Greek organization.

The freshmen who are eligible: There is a number that is calculated for every incoming freshman. I forget what it’s called... their EI number? I don’t know. Anyway, from what I understand, it is somehow calculated using a student’s GPA, SAT score and University Entrance Exam. If this so-called calculated GPA is above a 3.0, a student may be considered for a bid to a fraternity or sorority. Those students were also sent a letter over the summer from the Greek life office, introducing them to the idea of going Greek. However, the chapters don’t receive that list of names, as members are encouraged to get to know all students, rather than a select few who are eligible this semester. Therefore, we have PNMs sign in on a grade release form when they attend recruitment events, as we always have, and it is submitted to the Greek Advisor so that she can tell us who is eligible to receive a bid.

The supplemental new program, which I mentioned here (http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...2C+alternative), is going to be implemented this semester. It will be 8 weeks in length, including two longer sessions; one which will cover alcohol and risk management issues, and another that will include a philanthropy project. The Greek life advisor’s view is, “If a student isn’t willing to join because of this extra program, then they obviously don’t want to be Greek,” and some of the members of the chapters are starting to say the same thing. I won’t get into my feelings about this here, but I’m curious to see whether or not this will affect the PNMs’ decisions to join. We will see...

*****************

Anyway... a recruitment kick-off event was added to this fall semester, which will take place tomorrow night. Why they pushed it back into the second week of school, after all of the sororities have already had recruitment events, I’m not sure. But we’ll see how that goes.

The chapter has also decided to require each sister to spend time with at least one PNM outside of a recruitment event. This worked very well last semester, and hopefully it will be beneficial again.

The rest of the recruitment schedule is as follows:

Recruitment event: Tuesday, September 8 (8:00pm)
Recruitment event: Wednesday, September 9 (8:00pm)
Bid Day: Wednesday, September 16 (6:00pm-10:00pm)

There might be an additional recruitment event thrown in between the second recruitment event and bid day, depending on whether or not the sisters feel comfortable that they know all of the PNMs well enough.

Excited for tomorrow...

:)