Recruitment Glossary
 

Since we have a lot of newer GC members and are probably going to have a wealth of people coming here for recruitment advice, let's start a "Recruitment Glossary" of words/terms to know:

Bid: an invitation to join an organization
National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) : the governing body of sororities in the United States and Canada composed of delegates from 26 recognized women’s social fraternities
New Member: a member of an organization who has not yet been initiated
Pan-Hellenic : the governing body of national, historically African-American sororities and fraternities
Post Office: times when potential new members will meet with Recruitment Counselors to accept invitations for the next round of parties.
Potential New Member (PNM) : a prospective Greek member who is attending recruitment parties as a registered guest and has fulfilled all eligibility requirements
Preference (Pref): the last invitational round in Formal/Structured Recruitment
Quota: the number of new members that may join each sorority based on the number of women accepting invitations to
Invitational Round II divided by the number of sororities participating in Formal/Structured Recruitment
Recruitment Counselor (Rho Chi, Rho Alpha): a Panhellenic representative who has completely deaffiliated from her sorority in order to assist potential new members by offering objective advise and support during the Formal/Structured Recruitment process
Suicide (Interntional Single Preference): putting down only one sorority on your Formal/Structured Recruitment bid card

Add more as you think of them or ask questions about terms here. :)

I've never heard of Post Office, but here's a few more:

Ceiling: The maximum number of women a chapter can have, although it can go over this number by taking in up to quota in a formal rush pledge class.

COB (Continuous Open Bidding), aka Informal: A (more or less) unstructured rush held at any time other than during formal rush by sororities that are not at ceiling and would like to pledge more women.

No-frills: Formal rush system where costumes, elaborate foods, skits, etc. are forbidden at all or most rounds.

Cut: When a sorority either does not invite a woman back to further parties, or the rushee does not go back to a house she was invited to.

Legacy: Definitions vary slightly depending on the sorority, but generally a mother, daughter, neice, grand-daughter, step-whatever, etc. of an initiated sister/alumna. Sorority rules sometimes dictate she cannot be cut from the first round of parties; if she is cut, national HQ will generally inform the family member.

Oh yeah, and NPC has officially ended the use of the term Rho Chi, but you know it's not going to disappear anytime soon!

At my school suicide is a no-no word. We say SIP, or single intentional preference. But as Recruitment Counselers we're not supposed to even talk about it cause we don't want to encourage it. Also we're not allowed to use the word "dorm" anymore, they're residence halls.....There is such a thing as too PC....

Snap bid: A sorority can bid on someone on their list following after all PNM are placed from their bid list. I think that is correct. Someone please correct me if I'm not. Thanks.

This is correct, but just to clarify...A snap bid is given to a PNM who was not placed during bid matching. The PNM would be on XYZ sorority's list, but that PNM did not list XYZ on her bid card. On my campus, snap bids are not offered to PNMs who suicide.

recruitment vs rush
 

do you all still refer to recruitment as rush? on my campus, you would be fined for calling it that during recruitment. in fact, in my chapter, we never even call it "rush" in casual conversation among ourselves. what's it like where you are?:confused:

Good glossary! I was given a list like this when I went through rush, I mean recruitment, and lived in the dorm, I mean residence hall. :p :D

Snap Bids at my school can be given to any woman that attended at least the first round of parties and met your house, but dropped out of rush for whatever reason. It is also for women who did not match. You can't snap bid a girl that your chapter cut, though, it must be someone that cut you.

How would you define cross cutting? This happened to me and I was told that my first preference had me on their second list and my second choice had me on their first bid list.

When I was a frosh and living in the dorms... er, rez halls, we were told that a dorm and a rez hall are actually two different things. A dorm is just the place that you live, but a rez hall is supposed to foster a sense of community.

Of course, knowing the distinction didn't stop us from calling it a dorm...

AggieAXO, you have it down right about cross-cutting. We weren't allowed to mention that in front of the PNMs, though. I suppose that the dean didn't want them to suspect that something like that could happen but y'know, hiding it is stupid! It does happen! Maybe this is one reason that quota plus was instituted.

"cross cutting" happens during bid matching and isn't really cutting at all. What happens is that the PNM was not on the first bid list of any of her stated preferences and each of them reached quota prior to reaching her name of their second bid list. This results in the PNM not getting a bid thus the application of the term "cut".

Can someone explain quota plus? I heard about that for the first time at UW; it wasn't something we did at my school. The only way anyone got over quota at my school was they got quota via formal and then snap bid a few more girls since they weren't at ceiling (but this didn't actually happen since only the largest chapters would get quota and then they were at/over ceiling).

FuzzieAlum, at my school some groups are allowed to take "quota plus" during bid matching. First the sororities do the basic bid matching and afterward they look at all the girls that didn't match. If Patty the PNM didn't match anyone and XYZ has her on their A List, XYZ can offer her a snap bid even though they are at quota, as long as they are not at ceiling/chapter total. So, the easy definition would be that "quota plus" occurs when a sorority who gets quota during structured recruitment but is not at chapter total offers a snap bid (and it is accepted of course).

hmmmm, I guess crosscutting means different things at different schools. All of the chapters at A&M were allowed to take quota +3 even if they were at ceiling (the 3 extra were juniors). I am not even sure if we had a set ceiling??? That was never mentioned, I know we had a set house total which was at 145-meaning if you did not have 145 woman then you could do COB if you wanted to.

Ok ... here's what the NPC "Green Book" has to say about quota addition (aka Quota plus) - suppliment from 1991

< QUOTE
NPC continues to recomment that bids be matched to quota only. It is recognized, however, that unusual campus conditions may indicate that some women whose bids fail to match in the normal bid matching process may be placed even if this puts a chapter over quota.

Because most unmatched bids are a direct results of a chapter issuing more invitations to preference parties than it has a reasonable expectation to offer bids, Panhellenics using quota additions must encourage collegiate chapters to carefully observe the recruitment release numbers.

The following procedures should be followed if women whose bids did not match in the normal course of bid matching must be placed in fraternity chapters who have already reached quota.
[list=1][*]No college Panhellenic may adopt this quota addition procedure unless there is compilance with the College Panhellenics Committee recommendations for release figures. [*]The PNM will be matched to the fraternity chapter she has listed on her preference card which is the smallest in chapter size, as long as her name apprears on that chapter's preferential bid list, and that by matching her there that group does not exceed quota by more than five percent.[*]Consideration must be given to the PNM's listed preferences, chapters' bid lists and the size of the chapters involved.[*]No group may exceed quota by more than five percent of quota. If five percent is a fractional number, that number shall be rounded up to the next whole number.[*]This procedure shall never include a PNM who lists an intentional single preference or one who has failed to accept or attend any recruitment event for which there was room in her schedule.[*]Quota additions do not raise or increase the number of quota and this process is used only during the bid matching process itself. Quota additions do not create quota vacancies under any circumstances. Quota additions are never involved in COB.[/list=1]

end QUOTE >

Quota addition is different from snap bidding. Here's the NPC statement on snap bidding (adopted in 1993)

<Quote[list=1][*]Snap bidding is an option available to chapters which did not fill formal recruitment Quota spaces in bid matching, whether matching by hand or by computer. Snap bidding is not indended to fill spaces in the chapter total.[*]Snap bidding is limited to any woman who participated in the designated formal recruitment. A woman who lists an intentional single preference is ineligible for snap bidding.[*]Snap bidding should be under the direction of College Panhellenic Recruitment Committee, working with the chaptes who have quota vacancies.[*]A signed preference card shall be filed with the College Panhellenic Office before a women who has accepted a snap bid may be pledged.[*]Snap bidding shall begin immediately after bid matching and end with the distribution of bids, at which time COB shall begin.[/list=1]

end QUOTE>

Thus .. quota addition is for chapters who have already reached quota and PNMs who signed bid cards but didn't get a bid (for example - she was on the second bid list of all her preference chapters and each made quota before reaching her name).

Snap bidding is to give chapters who didn't reach quota a chance to "snap up" woman who may have dropped from recruitment or not signed a preference card.

Bump :)

For those commenting about res. halls vs. dorms. The difference as far as I know is that a dorm is where you live and eat, while a res. hall is only where you live. Atleast that is what I have been told.

Some more terms, all violation-related.

Hot Boxing: Combination of two or more active members speaking with a Potential New Member for more than two minutes. Potential New Members may be introduced to alumnae to affiliate members, but are only allowed to have a conversation with active members.

Verbal Bid: Verbal bids may not be given at any time during the Recruitment process. A verbal bid is defined as a statement that makes a reference to you becoming a member of a particular chapter. A verbal bid also implies any further connections with the chapter, including future meetings during Recruitment.

Outside Contact: During Recruitment, undergraduate and alumnae sorority women are not permitted to contact Potential New Members. No telephone calls, letters, e-mails, or gifts may be offered personally or delivered. Contact with sorority women is only permitted during the scheduled Recruitment parties.

Seperation: At no time during Recruitment should you be seperated from your group. This includes being taken to a seperate room or scheduled area. If you are escorted to a room, the door must remain open at all times.

Ceiling and Total are the same thing

Snap bidding - chapters that do not make quota during bid match are allowed to snap bid to quota. This takes place before bid drop (usually). Only those that did not make quota can snap bid and then they can only snap bid to quota.

COB - chapters that are not at total/ceiling may COB to total/ceiling. COB occurs after bid drop.

The idea is that chapter not a quota get a change to take women before those that made quota. Who can be snapped varies from campus to campus.

Full Defintion Glossary
 

Here are all the definitions so far from everyones post so far :)

Bid: an invitation to join an organization

National Panhellenic Conference (NPC): the governing body of sororities in the United States and Canada composed of delegates from 26 recognized women’s social fraternities.

New Member: a member of an organization who has not yet been initiated.

Pan-Hellenic: the governing body of national, historically African-American sororities and fraternities

Post Office: times when potential new members will meet with Recruitment Counselors to accept invitations for the next round of parties.

Potential New Member (PNM): a prospective Greek member who is attending recruitment parties as a registered guest and has fulfilled all eligibility requirements.

Preference (Pref): the last invitational round in Formal/Structured Recruitment
Quota: the number of new members that may join each sorority based on the number of women accepting invitations to Invitational Round II divided by the number of sororities participating in Formal/Structured Recruitment.

Recruitment Counselor (Rho Chi, Rho Alpha): a Panhellenic representative who has completely deaffiliated from her sorority in order to assist potential new members by offering objective advise and support during the Formal/Structured Recruitment process.

Suicide (Interntional Single Preference): putting down only one sorority on your Formal/Structured Recruitment bid card

Ceiling: The maximum number of women a chapter can have, although it can go over this number by taking in up to quota in a formal rush pledge class.

No-frills: Formal rush system where costumes, elaborate foods, skits, etc. are forbidden at all or most rounds.

Cut: When a sorority either does not invite a woman back to further parties, or the rushee does not go back to a house she was invited to.

Legacy: Definitions vary slightly depending on the sorority, but generally a mother,daughter, neice, grand-daughter, step-whatever, etc. of an initiated sister/alumna.Sorority rules sometimes dictate she cannot be cut from the first round of parties; if she is cut, national HQ will generally inform the family member.

Snap bid: A sorority can bid on someone who was or was not on their list following after all PNM are placed from their bid list.

Cross cutting: happens during bid matching and isn't really cutting at all. What happens is that the PNM was not on the first bid list of any of her stated preferences and each of them reached quota prior to reaching her name of their second bid list. This results in the PNM not getting a bid thus the application of the term "cut".

Hot Boxing: Combination of two or more active members speaking with a Potential New Member for more than two minutes. Potential New Members may be introduced to alumnae to affiliate members, but are only allowed to have a conversation with active members.

Verbal Bid: Verbal bids may not be given at any time during the Recruitment process. A verbal bid is defined as a statement that makes a reference to you becoming a member of a particular chapter. A verbal bid also implies any further connections with the chapter, including future meetings during Recruitment.

Outside Contact: During Recruitment, undergraduate and alumnae sorority women are not permitted to contact Potential New Members. No telephone calls, letters, e-mails, or gifts may be offered personally or delivered. Contact with sorority women is only permitted during the scheduled Recruitment parties.

Seperation: At no time during Recruitment should you be seperated from your group. This includes being taken to a seperate room or scheduled area. If you are escorted to a room, the door must remain open at all times.

Free: One some campuses Juniors and Seniors who rush. They do not count towards quota.

Local: A social greek organization that is not part of the NPC, NPHC or NIC. Can be nation wide or just situated in certain areas of the country or state.

Roof: Generally if housing is available, the number of girls that can live in the house. HOWEVER, I have heard a school use it to mean the same as Ceiling/Total.

Types of Recruitment/Rushes

** (I'm not sure whether many campuses do a friend's rush and part of me doesnt think it's legal):

Formal Recruitment/Rush: Recruitment of potential new members that happens in the late summer/fall where all houses participate.

Informal Recruitment/Rush: A more casual/relaxed recruitment of potential new members by only select houses. On some campuses those are the houses that didnt meet quota.

Continuous Open Bidding (COB): Recruitment of potential new members throughout the term and/or school year, and doesnt involve any type of organized events.

Friend's Rush: Recruitment of sister's friends as potential new members and no one else. No necessary organization of events.

Dirty Rush: Promising a guaranteed bid to a potential new member before they go through the whole rush process. If someone presents you with this they are breaking a violation and the house will receive a infraction.

Mixers: The different events/parties that one attends at the houses during rush.

Sets: The consecutive days a PNM has rush. For example week one, rush days are on Friday and Saturday...this is First Sets. *Note* Rush days are different on every campus.

Silence/Hush Period: The point from which rush/recruitment starts until it ends, where no sisters in houses and PMN are allowed to speak about the details of rush/recruitment.


[size=3.5]*** NOTE***[/size]
As stated in the previous threads many of the defintions vary by organization and campus. Furthermore not all campuses acknowledge all these terms or the different rushes mentioned.

Bump

Bump! :)

OK, party terminology. Most formal rushes are divided into four "groups." Some call them parties, some call them sets, some call them days, some call them rounds. (I'm going to use rounds here.) Some schools call each one by the number of sororities you mingle with that round (19 round, 12 round, 6 round, 3 round for example.) At some schools, they are named by what you can serve - waters for first night and cokes for second, for example.

ROUND ONE: At some campuses called "tours." You meet every single sorority, even if they know they have to cut you because of grades. If there are enough chapters, this will be spread over two days to prevent utter shellshock and exhaustion.

ROUND TWO: You go back to many of the houses. It may be all or a little more than half, depending on how many chapters there are on campus. You'll go to fewer quicker the more chapters there are.

ROUND THREE: Frequently "skit" or "video" night.

ROUND FOUR: Generally called "preference." Rushees attend two or three parties only. Sororities will generally do a moving ceremony. It is the dressiest of the rounds. Generally speaking, if a chapter invites you to preference and you attend, you will be somewhere on their bid list. That does not guarantee you a bid, but it does mean they are willing to accept you as a sister.

BID DAY: Rushees find out who has offered them a bid. Generally done fairly publicly, so everyone can size up who got who and who didn't fare so well numbers-wise. (OK, maybe that's cynical). It also allows rushees to see where their friends went, and for sisters to give congratulations to rushees they liked who went elsewhere.