NPC chapter not participating in formal recruitment
 

I have read on GC that some NPC chapters do not participate in their campus formal recruitment and hold their recruitment after formal. Do these chapters need to get permission to do so? If so, from their HQ, from the Campus Panhellenic, from the NPC? Or any combination? And do they follow COR guidelines and are simply allowed to bid up to campus total?

Yes.

From their HQ and the Campus Panhel.

They can bid up to total. There is no quota, as quota is something that only happens in formal rush.

I've never heard of this. Why would a chapter choose not to participate in FR?

Because they are considerably smaller than the other chapters and are unable to handle a large amount of rushees coming through formal rush. A chapter this small often does not do well in formal, so why waste the money and time?

EEK! Sounds to me that if a chapter were small enough to feel that they couldn't compete in FR was on their way to being closed by their HQ for low numbers :( My chapter was small when I was in college but we never considered NOT doing FR. We would just double up on girls and make sure to do COB events.

SDT does not participate in formal rush at Bama or (I think this is what someone said) Purdue. They are smaller than most of the groups at those schools. Their HQ is cool with this, which is nice to see when most HQs are pushing numbers-numbers-numbers.

You can double up on girls if you have 30 members and there are 60 women per party. But, if you have 15 members and there are 60 PNMs per party and 15 parties, and you never end up getting more than 5 new members out of formal recruitment after you spend $14,000 on it every year, what's the point?

You've got to have a Return on Investment. Sometimes, this happens when one chapter on a campus doesn't have a house but all the others do. They can chug along fine with 20 members and have a quality experience for a lesser cost and have a niche on the campus. It doesn't make sense to close them if they're doing alright and are financially viable but it doesn't make sense for them to spend thousands of dollars on formal recruitment either.

I had just never heard of chapters doing this but I guess it makes sense. Thanks GC for always teaching me new things!

:eek: Please tell me this is an exaggeration.

I believe this is the case with Alpha Delta Pi at Nebraska. NU sets quota based on the number of "open" beds in each chapter's physical house. (I believe "locals" - i.e. Lincoln girls - are considered "free" if they live at home or in the dorms.) In any case, Alpha Delta Pi does not have a house. As I understand it, they participate in the open rounds, but then "drop out" until after formal. They then have their rush events.

And to be clear, this chapter is doing quite well and is not viewed as a negative thing at all. I don't know how their total is set, but I do know that in many years, they may take more new members than other chapters.

Nope.

I guess if you play your cards right, like ADPi at NU it seems, not participating completely in FR could be to your advantage - you could seem more exclusive than the other chapters...

I was actually thinking about SDT at Bama a few days ago. I'm glad that SDT HQ isn't obsessed with them getting as many members as the rest of the chapters at Bama. I don't know how much diversity this chapter has (almost all Jewish or a mix), but either way, they fulfill a niche that might otherwise go unmet. So if their HQ were to close the chapter for numbers related reasons, there would probably be another Jewish interest group form shortly after, maybe they'd affiliate with an NPC, and then the cycle could start all over again if the HQ were not satisfied with having fewer members than the rest of the chapters. The demand for a Jewish chapter may not be as big as other schools, but the demand will always be there.

As long as SDT at Bama is financially stable, the members are happy, and they are a contributing, active member of the Panhellenic community at Bama, that's what really matters, and it's good that SDT HQ realizes that.

I am so impressed with Sigma Delta Tau's commitment to their chapters, even when it means thinking outside the box.

I fixed it for ya. :)

Whoops - can you tell I'm a member of Sigma Tau Delta, the English honor society???

Purdue
 

Someone mentioned Purdue earlier, but Sigma Delta Tau there does not participate in formal recruitment. Again, props to the national organization for working with their chapters on these types of competitive campuses. From what I understand, the chapter at Purdue has low numbers compared to the other NPC groups on campus and also does not have a house. They hold their recruitment after the grueling 2 week process at Purdue along with the 5 local organizations on campus.

Having seen Purdue's recruitment, I can understand why their chapter of about 35 women would have difficulty handling first round parties of 70+ women with no house. Purdue Panhellenic also does a WONDERFUL job of helping SDT and the 5 locals with their recruitment style. These chapters also hold full membership in the PHA.

I'm glad that in some cases, the system is able to step away from the "one size fits all" formal recruitment approach and allow chapters to do what they need to do to attract new members. If formal recruitment doesn't work for a chapter for various reasons, why not give them the chance to recruit outside the normal pathway? If at some point they rectify the issues that make formal recruitment impossible, they can join the other NPCs to keep things fair.

Do you (anyone) mean "fair" to the chapter that withdraws from formal? As in the chapter would now rejoin in formal recruitment and have a crack at all the women rushing *at the same time* as the other chapters.

I think she means, as in if the chapter all of a sudden gets tons of women and is the same size or larger as the other NPC chapters, they should probably rush in the same way and not do a "special" recruitment.

Now I get it. Sort of like "all things being equal" the chapter should rejoin the rest of the chapters for formal recruitment.

Well then. What factors - other than numbers - might precipitate a chapter from not participating in formal recruitment?

This is what SDT is doing at Texas as well.

In the South, spending $14,000 on a rush/recruitment is very definitely not an exaggeration.

And the reason it's "only" $14,000 is because Panhellenic has put a limit on spending.

damn them!!

Of course, having a budget makes you creative. I think it was the Delta Zetas who got the brilliant idea of driving to Tyler to buy $1 bouquets of pink roses to give their pnms on pref night. (Back when you gave 'em presents).

Oh, Tyler Roses!

I remember being able to stop at an unmanned stand on the side of the road, leave $1, and walk away with a dozen roses!

What smart Delta Zetas!

Now it would cost you a lot more in gas to make the 3 1/2 hour drive!

Can we make a list of what the limits are on expenses for recruitment at some chapters or would it put us all in a bad light?

I'm thinking about my chapter, and I know that recruitment was expensive, but 14,000 is sort of blowing my mind anyway.

But I guess if 1,000 girls go through recruitment, it adds up quickly.

What's the cap on expenses at UGA these days?

An interesting new policy was adopted last year by Bama's Panhellenic. All donations had to be included in your total budget even though the chapter didn't spend the money. For example, if an Alum Assoc or a wealthy parent donated all the flowers they had to turn over the receipt and that counted against your total budget. The purpose was to make things more fair to those chapters who didn't have those sorts of benefactors available to them.

They have been budgeting for donations at Cal this way since at least 2000/2001 when I started helping out there.

Alum donations are also are requirement for the U of Arkansas budgets.

Alum donations also counted at my school. Or at least they were supposed to count.