If you could design an AI program.........
 

(since this topic comes up all the time, I'm just going to open up the can of worms all the way)

How would you do it?
Would you do it?

And no, I'm not asking for official policies. I'm just looking for some idea sharing of how you would do it if you were in charge, anything and everything you would like to share.

I'll start.....

I'd like to see it structured much more like collegiate recruitment.

I don't have allot of experience with the AI however if I would design a program, I would say:
-the potential AI should have some sort of manditory period of service to the sorority. Serving as an advisor, on a corp board, etc. before initiation or maybe before an invitation to AI is even extended.
- have some sort of pledge class or new member class, where there are more than one AI. Maybe all the AIs from a geographic region get together for a one day retreat

I guess if AI is the wave of the future, I would want to see an AI program similar to the Junior League's Probationary Period. That would require more AIs rather than less however. And if you want the Junior league type experience, you can just join that instead of AI.

I would like to see alumni/alumnae initiation for NIC/IFC/NPC to be more like the alumni/alumnae intake of the NPHC organizations.

That wouldn't be a bad thing. I would add a few steps that some NPHCs may have that others may not:

• Convening a "recruitment period" at the alumnae chapter's discretion only
• Having the informational session be by invitation-only, yet having the invites fairly distributed (meaning an interested woman would have to at minimum fill out an information form through the website)
• Having a strict vetting process which eliminates weirdoes, freaks, and known sorority hoppers
• Letters of recommendation from more alumnae than what is required for collegians
• Letters from others in the community who can vouch for the woman's service (if she has not been volunteering with the sorority directly)

These are just thoughts.... I love thinking about systems and best practices and crap like that.

Are there many NIC/IFC or similar fraternities that have Alumni Initiation, at least as it is found in NPC sororities? I know many fraternities have honorary initiations (HI?), but to me that's not really the same thing. (Although I know some NPCers would like to see AI function more like HI.)

HI is different from AI, at least in practice, because (in my experience, at least) HI always begins with a chapter or national office that desires to honor someone who has assisted the chapter/fraternity in significant ways or who otherwise is perceived to exemplify the best that the fraternity stands for. (There can, of course, also be the factor that the honoree is a person of some celebrity who could bring distinction to the fraternity's "Famous Member" list.) There just doesn't seem to be any "pursuing" HI. Again, though, I'm basing this on my own experience and on what I've seen.

If a woman is going to bear a collegiate chapter's designation, she should have to be approved by a majority vote of that collegiate chapter and/or have a connection to that chapter that is more than one person, BEFORE she is initiated.

If a group doesn't want to do that or feels it would be putting too many hurdles up in the process, they should create a separate chapter designation that is for AIs only.

Chapter designations are not just something cute to use as a dangle on your pin. They have meaning and merit. They point up the fact that GLOs cannot survive without their host institutions.

I think that AI should be reserved for those women who work closely with the chapter (house mom, member mom, aunt, etc), alumnae of absorbed locals, and those who have shown exceptional character and service in community/society.


These PNAM's should always be approached by initiated members, and PNAM's should never approach the sorority for membership information. Those that contact us out of the blue seeking AI info in this manner should automatically not be extended a bid to membership.

^^^Why?

It's hard to weed out the crazies if you don't really know them already.

My chapter's initiated well over 50+ AIs over the years, with the majority of them being initiated with the charter class. These women are exemplary women from the community and campus and have been very involved in supporting the collegiate chapter. These women are also women who had some kind of strong connection to a current member of the Alumnae Chapter prior to their AI process. We've been very lucky.

Okay.....with that said, let's use the Alpha intake process as an example (the selection component, which is public information).

We require two letters of sponsorship from within the alumni chapter and one letter of sponsorship from any other active Alpha.

We do not have information sessions -- our first was last December and I would not recommend a repeat.

For your specific AIs, how do you know whether or not the women who were helpful to the collegiate chapter were doing so because they wanted to get noticed for AI? (Not saying that they are bad people, but what if they just happened to know that's how the game is played?)

I agree!

Really? Do you really think it's the wave of the future?

I hope not.

She was referring to a GC inside joke. :)

A then-GC member proclaimed that AI was the "wave of the future" -- and this prompted the Hair Transplant thread.

Agreed. Think about your own recruitment and new member programs. You can do all of the research that you want about a chapter, and you can be informed going in, but if that chapter doesn't extend you an invitation, you won't be a part of that group. Essentially, chapters have a couple months to truly get to know those girls wanting to be a member of their organization. During the new member process, a new member can still be voted out. This is a "trial period" to get to know these new girls, and to see how they will be as sisters.

I don't necessarily think that the person HAS to work closely with the chapter, but I think that there should be at least be some general interest in what the sorority is about. It shouldn't be "I want to become a member, where do I sign up?" There should be selfless acts and a genuine interest that eventually amount to an invitation being presented by a member of the sorority.

If a woman is batshit crazy enough to advise for years or donate money to the chapter just so she can AI, I'm inclined to give her an A for effort. If nothing else, she undoubtedly has some efficient (if not legal) fundraising or rush methods up her sleeve.

You have to be vetted to serve in advisory positions if you're a member, and I'm sure for a nonmember they're looked into even more.

Quite frankly, most of the (non-member) advisors I've come in contact with are humbled and surprised when they're offered membership. They are doing this because they want to help young people, not to gain something for themselves. This includes men and women.