How long does it take for a colony to become a chapter in your organization?
 

Simple question. I'm interested in finding out for as many organizations - fraternities and sororities.

From the time the colony is founded, what is - on average - the length of time it takes for them to get their charter and be a full fledged chapter?

In my org, there are certain steps that must be taken and requirements that must be met before a colony is granted chapter status. I've seen some colonies become chapters within a year and a half; some 3 or more years (don't really have an average number). It all depends on how quickly that colony gets its work done.

(sorry to make your simple question complicated, ha)

Yeah in my fraternity it really depends. There are a bunch of requirements that each chapter has to meet before becoming a full chapter. May I ask why you are interested?

same here -the turnaround can be as quick as a semester (very rare) or as long as a few years. its a matter of getting recognized by the campus and having enough eligible candidates for membership to charter.

It took my SAI chapter from January 1999 to October 1999. But, there are other chapters that take longer. As it was state above, it really depends on a lot of things. They have to have the required number of non-graduating senior members and complete the MIT program. We recently had a colony at WSSU (which I was really excited about) that was shut down before the MIT process was completed.

In Phi Sig, they set up a timeline which is supposed to only take one semester from the time the colony is recognized to the time the charter is recieved. I bet in most places it takes longer than that, though.

Um, I think this seems to be a general consensus, I know we have a list of requirements that have to be completed. Ive seen a chapter do it in 91 days, but I tell you that is not common.

in my chapters history, it took 4 years. we started as a local in '02 and were picked up by DU that same year. we chartered in feb 06.

I've not seen one of our colonies take more than a semester. The colonizaton/recolonization occurs early in the semester and they are installed by the end of that semester. We do have a special volunteer team that continues to work with them while they are a new chapter (new chapter development) and it can take some time for them to be removed from that status. That is just to ensure that they receive a lot of extra support until they are financially, organizationally, and numerically stable.

I'm curious.. when it takes longer than a semester and a colonist ends up graduating before the colony is installed, what happens with their membership?

Sigma Chi usually takes 1-2 years. They have many steps that have to be completed.

To answer ADGee's question: In Sigma Chi, if a member of a colony graduates before chartering, he can come back at any time and be initiated. He does not have to be initiated at the chartering ceremony.

I have always wondered that! I would say AI (or whatever the org calls it) would be appropriate, but I guess you never know.

I agree with AGDee. My sense is with NPC that unless there are major problems evident very early on (eg small size, way below campus total) NPC sororities will generally send the colony through the standard new member program and initiate them at the end of that time. For Pi Phi, for example, that would be 8 weeks.

Of course there could be exceptions that I'm not aware of, and as noted if there are issues with the colony it might be extended. One example of this on campus is that the year before Pi Phi tried to colonize, another NPC tried to colonize, and it quickly became evident the colony wasn't successful so they gave up almost immediately, before initiation occurred.

Chi Omega -- typically one semester or less.


(Great to see breathesgelatin back!!!)

Thank you!! :D

We were colonized from a local to a colony within the school year.:)

But, LXA has certain requirments to be met before they are given charter status. This normaly is 2-3 years. But they must be met to make sure they have full knowledge to be able to regulate themselves under LXA rules and regulations.

It took us 3 years. While our colony was still a colony, our organization revamped its expansion policy. I think they generally shoot for 3 semesters nowadays.

Likewise, we have requirements that must be met, and our colonization program is in two phases. Phase One can last up to two years. I'd say it usually takes at least one year and is considered complete when all requirements have been met and approved. Phase Two lasts nine weeks and ends with initiation/chartering.

1 year

In APO, there is no specific time line. There are phases that must be completed: Interest Group, then Petitioning Group, then Charter, then an 'after care' period that lasts about a year.

Ideally, the chartering effort should take about a year. There is concern that if a group gets it down in less then a year, there is a real chance they could collapse soon after being chartered (hence the new 'aftercare period'). If the group takes too long (more then two years), there is concern the group doesn't have their act together, and if progress isn't made, the effort could be shut down.

IN Phi Psi it can take anywhere from 1 semester to 2+ years. Generally we go from interest group to chapter charter in about 1 year. If someone is to graduate before that happy day, we let them come back to initiate.

the colony has 18 months to meet all the requirements of being a chapter. if after 18 months the women of the colony have failed to meet requirements, they stay initiated to the grand chapter but lose their chance to charter a chapter.

AD will initiate individual members before chartering, so that's not an issue.

In ZBT it has been done in 1 year but there is at least one colony that's almost 10 years old.

My chapter was colonized and chartered in the same semester.

The DU Chapter at my campus was colonized and chartered within a year.

There was also a Phi Delta Theta colony at one time on the campus, it was a colony for two semesters and then was removed for undisclosed reasons.

Someone asked earlier why I'm interested. I have heard from quite a few sources that Beta tends to coddle our colonies, and it's one of the things that bothers me about our expansion strategy (though I understand the reasoning). I just wanted to make sure it was as abnormal as I thought it was.

On a thread upkeep note, I realize that there are criteria that must be met in order to charter...that's not the question I'm after. I want to know how long it usually takes to complete those. I realize it's going to vary, but please, put what an average amount of time it takes to do these things. I'm not so much concerned about what they are, I'm just interested in the timeframe, and I'm really only interested in the timeframe as it currently stands, not how long it took 30 years ago.