Changes in Recruitment Rounds
 

The trend on some campuses is to take the frills out of recruitment. What changes are you seeing in recruitment?

The University of Arkansas PC just voted to eliminate Skit Round and has changed Round One to strictly conversation - no skit, no singing, no frills.

It looks like this:
Round One - Conversation Round
Round Two - Philanthropy
Round Three - House Tour
Round Four = Pref

Also, U of A went to deferred rush last fall (Mid Sept) but bumped it BACK to the first week of school - over Labor Day weekend- for this next fall.

Its hard for me to imagine formal recruitment without singing!!! :)

At my school there was always three rounds since we didn't have houses at the time.

Round 1: Icebreakers

Round 2: Philantrophy

Round 3: Pref Night

:tap: Starts Clock

Waiting for Carnation or PenguinTrak to pop in and remind us that the NPC agreed to make Formal recruitment no frills about a million years ago. :)

I can believe it was adopted some time ago as I have seen many of the changes take place slowly but surely; however, doing away with skits on this campus is a big deal and a big move, so it feels sudden and drastic.

Oh, and for clarification, there is singing - just not on the first round. :)

KSUViolet - U of A recruitment also moved from a two weekend process to a Wed - Mon process. This will mean LATE nights for the actives since rush parties will not start until 4:30 and end around 10:30. THEN, they vote into the wee hours... then, go to class the next morning.

I feel really bad for the girls with recruitment being deferred now. It's rough on them I know.

Hopefully they'll switch it back.

I cannot express my LOVE for "no frills" recruitment. Of course I think chapters should be able to decorate a little and look their best, but how much money/time/stress is put into making sure the decorations are PERFECT or everyone's outfit matches EXACTLY? I know this isn't a unique opinion, just needed to share. Also, when the women have to actually have conversations with their potential sisters it changes the whole dynamic of what type of member you are looking for. Ahhh, thank you NPC (and campuses who are actually moving in this direction)!

Also... "deferred" recruitment is used to describe a campus that does not have Fall Formal Recruitment but instead holds it in January or February (sometimes later), not whether it is in August compared to September. Or is it not?

I think EW is referring to "deferred" recruitment being held when classes are in session instead of before classes start, not fall vs spring.

When I hear "deferred", I automatically think spring semester.

Deferred recruitment is the term our PC used to describe the change in recruitment from August (before school starts) to later in the semester. I don't know if that is the official terminology though. I believe that is what Ole Miss calls it as well, and there recruitment time is similar to Arkansas...

Anyone else had skits eliminated from formal recruitment? Pros? Cons?

Yes, I suppose there are two types of "deferred." Deferred from before school to the Fall and from the Fall to the spring. Regardless I'm talking about Arkansas rush.

Oh SoCalGirl, give them a break with the clock thing. Sure, they can recall what happened "about a million years ago," but that probably means they aren't quite as fast on their feet as they used to be. :)

Then again, who is?

Having experienced rush pre- and post- removal of frills, I think you'll be surprised at how nice the process runs without those expensive frills. When you don't waste half your party singing songs and doing a stupid skit that no one likes anyway (unless they are in love with musicals or something!) sisters actually have time to have real conversations with PNMs. I personally hated the skits and stuff when I went through...it's not like we go around all year singing to each other. The no frills method gives a more realistic picture of sorority life.

I have experienced both types of recruitment (w/ and w/out the frills) since my short time out of college, and I must say that I really have seen the benefit of the girls being able to have more time to really talk to the sorority members rather than be entertained w/ the frills. Esp at larger schools where recruitment is very competetive, I think this streamlining of recruitment can be a great thing.

Next fall my school is moving from a two party pref night to three. They're trying to lower the number of girls that drop out of rush or suicide.

How would more pref parties help with that? :confused:

I don't understand...can you give us more information on this?

If her school only has one invite round, that might be a factor.

Re removing "frills" and such, you can still do a skit without costumes by Bob Mackie and decorating the whole house to look like the Emerald City. I can see where they have a point - for the PNMs to be able to relax and just watch for a few minutes, rather than having to be on for the entire party. If you have really limited time though, and take up half an hour of it w/ a skit, that doesn't make sense.

I don't think matching outfits are ever going to go away - I thought it was horrid when I first heard about it, but after all these years on GC I came to realize it's the ONLY way you can feel at all secure about 200 women's fashion choices.

My chapter never did skits as far as I know. We just thought it took up too much valuable time that one could spend with a PNM.

Actually, that can't happen. The recruitment rules are very strict. If they say no skit, then no skit. And, they determine who, what, and where decorations can be used. These things are spelled out in detail (right down to how big the outside banner can be and what actually constitutes a decoration.

As I am typing this, I am reminded of one Pan rule in particular, (just to give you an idea) ...
All Active members are required to touch their foot on the threshold of the front door when welcoming a pmn into OR out of the house during FR.

The rational adult in me sees that this is to keep actives from rushing onto the front porch to greet a top rushee or to keep a girl from wandering through the house unescorted. BUT, the actives actually practice over and over this foot business and Gamma Chi's seriously look to see if it's happening correctly during the rounds. A bit much in my book.

i think skits can be used as a welcome break, both for the pnm and the sorority member. it's that many minutes that they can both relax and not have to worry about being "on" and asking witty questions and giving witty answers. when you have a 45 minute party, not having to talk to someone for 7 to 10 minutes is something to look forward to.

a lot of information about the particular chapter can be shared in that short skit, especially if the skits theme is a recap of the last year, and gives both the pnm and the member other topics to talk about when the skit is over.

I didn't mean this situation in particular, I meant skits in general.

That is insane.

(I continue to be amazed at how sorority women adhere to the letter every ticky tacky Panhellenic rule, but are less intimidated by federal and state laws!)

VERY well said, FSUZeta.

Currently at JessLynn's school, PNMs only go to two chapters on Pref night. I think the hope is that by offering another chapter for Pref, that will give PNMs another opportunity to spend more time with a third chapter and potentially keep them open to accepting a bid from that chapter.

That is very interesting. It's been a two-pref system for more than ten years, and two chapters have left during that time. I don't know if it will necessarily change the number of girls who drop out or SIP, at least right away. I know there was an issue a few years ago with dirty rushing and chapters telling PNMs to drop out of rush and go through COB; I don't know if that's improved at all.

^^^
Oh, I understand. It sounds like this will help, although, like you said, possibly not right away. I think that the obvious positive side to the pref night change is the willingness of PC to come up with solutions to help with what sounds like a slightly ailing situation.
Keep us posted, JessLynn.

There are other ways to spend this time. My school switched to no-frills after our first year as a national greek system, and we never regretted it. Everyone hated the skits! Instead, we did slide show/movie day, which was a REAL look at the chapter over the year(s). We still had entrance and exit songs, though, and decorations were over the top for preference round, the only round they were really permitted.

Just FYI, a lot of campuses do recruitment while classes are in session. It is a lot of hard work and late nights for everyone involved, but at some schools that's the only time they're permitted to do it due to various reasons (facilities, optimal participation).