NPC Extension Questions
 

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Wow. I hope your group's hard work pays off. Good luck.

1) Unless you are a group with formal university recognition (that is, a recognized student organization) then most likely not. Usually they want to choose their own members but it is possible that they could. That could be a talking point between you and the administration and then the administration and the NPC groups when they present.
2) I haven't been involved that recently. The most recent one was UC-Merced. You might contact their Greek life people along with UT-Tyler and UA- Ft Smith as all 3 started Greek Life within the past 6-8 years.
3) Only if you get university recognition as a group - not necessarily as a sorority but as a formal U group. Otherwise, I don't think you have much to offer anyone in the way of a future but I may be wrong and welcome other points of view.

Are you a university recognized local sorority, or are you an unrecognized interest group? I think that would make a difference in your first question. It sounds like you're an interest group, looking to bring an NPC group to campus. If that takes place, the NPC group may or may not recognize the interest group. If you were a local sorority that had more control over choosing interested NPC groups who would like to absorb your established local, I think you'd be able to ensure that all your members would be able to join the NPC group. I think you'd be able to make that one of your criteria for selecting an interested NPC group. It seems like the university is making you jump through a lot of hoops if they're sincerely interested in bringing back Greek Life.

I have a question. Since the university isn't technically open for expansion right now, would the NPC no contact rule apply? It makes sense when a university with Greek life is looking to add a new chapter, but in this situation, it seems like a huge disadvantage, if the school truly does want to reestablish sororities on campus.

Well, NPC groups will pretty much stick to the spirit of the rule. I doubt you'd find one that wanted to come in and colonize without U recognition.

Sciencewoman, that's what I was thinking too. Of course, OP said that a fraternity had been brought on, so maybe the school is sincere about wanting to reintroduce Greek Life.

What happened with the fraternity? Did they take all of the former interest group members? Was the local group presented as an "all or nothing" member affiliation when the fraternity was selected? Who selected the fraternity? Was it the local interest group, or the university?

Careful. Membership in an organization is not an entitlement.

The school should not have made you "pick" an organization at all. That was wrong, wrong, wrong and sends a totally wrong message about how extension works - not to mention the rumor could get started that Pi Phi is coming to campus when in fact they have zero interest. They are obviously looking at it from the fraternity and not the sorority point of view.

Sometimes groups pull a bait and switch just so they can get on a campus, sometimes the group gets screwed over by local Panhel or the school. It happens and there are several stories of it on here. The best course to take is to keep in constant contact with the GL director when they are choosing what groups to invite for extension, and also to keep a high profile in social media associated with your school's Greek life (i.e. so any NPC doing their homework will know you exist, even if you can't contact them directly). There's been more than once when an NPC has gotten to what they thought was a ground up extension opportunity, only to be confronted with an interest group of 40 women the school neglected to inform them about.

It's possible that your members don't meet their criteria. We have seen interest groups with women who didn't make grades, and they are left out of the colonization.

Did the fraternity have to go through the same stuff you did, filling out the packet, presenting, etc.?

I don't contribute that often, although I lurk daily. I am well versed with NPC expansion due to a previous but very recent volunteer roll.

Based on your description, it seems that the Director is not knowledgeable about NPC and that is fine. It can be confusing. What you were asked to do is more typical for a fraternity expansion via interest group so it isn't surprising that you were asked to do the same if that was the only recent reference point. 33girl is correct, you should have never been asked to select a group because it could set you up for disappointment. Pi Phi is a wonderful choice, as are all NPC member groups because extension is about fit. Additionally, there can be no Greek Council who can decide if your campus can proceed but that is another discussion for a different time. The proper authority remains with your student affairs folks.

The University has to be the one who says they want to open for extension and that is all about your University's student/co-curricular goals. This should really be a discussion with those who influence the student experience first. Some NPC marketing materials already showcase why our member groups contribute to the fulfillment of a University mission, increased engagement, etc.

In all honesty, I think your best bet may be to ask the NPC Office/Carole for recommendations that you can provide the Director as to how NPC expansion works with an interest group. However, NPC will not do the sell. Universities are all about the student so the "sell" needs to happen internally.

Your "should we recruit" question need to be answered by the University. Do they want you to demonstrate you have a critical mass of interest or would they rather not get anyone's hopes up.

If and when the campus opens, I believe any host institution needs to be sure they market themselves well to be attractive. Extension is expensive. Ground up Greek communities may be perceived as a great opportunity for some NPC groups and too great a risk for others. Each group has its own strategy for where they see their organization growing as well as the metrics they use for evaluating opportunities.

I do hope you have the opportunity to experience the extension process. I would say to keep an open mind. The other answers regarding offering an invitation to membership to interest group members is accurate. You won't know until you get to that step due to membership selection processes but hopefully that won't deter those interested.

Best of luck! Keep us posted ;)

I don't know all that much about how exactly the specifics of the process works, but have you checked the NPC website? I believe they have some info that could help.

https://www.npcwomen.org/college-pan...sion-info.aspx

I would give Nicki Meneley a call. She's the NPC ED. I think she could help you. I serve on the NPC Housing Committee and if there was housing involved, we could contact the university and offer our assistance on housing. I'm sure the expansion committee can do that but you'd need some direction from NPC and she may have the information you need. Or you could check with the 3 campuses I mentioned and see how they handled starting a new system.

Let me just weigh in here that I'm impressed with the amount of work you've done and your enthusiasm.

For my part, I would continue with recruitment. An extended group of members of multiple grades, majors, etc. will go a long way toward proving NPC involvement on your campus is viable. To improve your standing with Student Affairs, make sure your grades stay high (as a group) and you perform some sort of philanthropy service project. I might keep it local and try to keep it generic - not too similar to any particular NPC group's national philanthropy. That way you can avoid a perceived interest in any particular group. American Red Cross blood drive, reading to children, a homeless shelter, those sorts of things wouldn't scream WE THINK WE'RE ALREADY PI PHIs or whatever.

The other thing I think I'd work on is getting status as an official interest group/recognized student group. While it can take a very long time to go from interest to actual sorority membership, you can help your "members" feel part of something real by making yourselves official.

Best of luck!