Formal Recruitment Question
 

I was talking with my recruitment director (I'm assistant recruitment director) and she told me that our Panhel wants to charge potential new members to go through formal recruitment. I totally disagree with this.

First, I will give you a lil insight on how greek life is on my campus. First, we are a commuter school but we do have dorms but majority of the people on campus are commuters. There are 4 National sororities on campus and one local. 3 National fraternities. The population of Greek life is small. The biggest fraternity is Sigma Pi and they have like 40 brothers. The other two fraternities are small, 15-20. As for us sororities, two of them are close to total and two are not and the local is very small. The school however does support Greek life and we are working to make it bigger.

I disagree with charging PNM's because one, why should they have to pay to meet the 4 National sororities :confused: (local doesn't particiapate). If they were charging to go through formal when I did, I wouldn't of even gone through. But anyway, I was wondering if any of you heard of this on another campus and do you think it would be a good idea. Formal is when we get the most girls to come out....but if they have to pay, I doubt we'll get as many.

My school has a large commuter population, as well as a large percentage of students who live off campus (not with parents).
There are 5 Nationals and no locals. We charge for formal, but it is very small ($5) and is used to cover things like Recruitment Counselor t-shirts, name tags for PNM, etc.

Whatever money we have leftover after we buy the things that get supplied to PNM/RC and things that are supplied to the sororites from Panhel is donated to the local Boys and Girls Club.

I think it would be fine to charge something small, but I would not go any higher than $5-10.

We charge PNMs to go through recruitment and the fee is about $50. But we have a hugely popular Greek system, so the PNMs have no problem paying.

To Charge or Not to Charge...That is the Question
 

I think charging some kind of fee for formal recruitment (each campus decides what it is) forces the PNMs to show a level of commitment. If there is no fee, I would think there would be a tendency to not take the process seriously and you'd have more no-shows at your parties.

There have been posts pointing out that the girls who refuse to go through if it costs money are usually not too serious about it in the first place and are probably the ones that are going to drop out anyway.

I'm not sure I agree that this is always the case, especially at generally non-Greek commuter campuses, but I do think it's the case more often than not.

Anyway, I believe that if a small fee -- $5-10 -- deters people from rushing, how the heck are they going to be able to handle ponying up $100+ a semester for dues?

I think the issue here is that PNMs are being asked to fork over $5, $10, $50, whatever, with absolutely no guarantee that they will receive the return on investment that they want - i.e. a bid. So even though the FR fee may be nominal, and even if it's spelled out to PNMs that they're getting a T-shirt and a pizza dinner with their rush groups for their $10, it can be a deterrent to registration.

In an environment like LSU, Ole Miss, etc. a rush fee will work and will not scare PNMs away, but at schools where Greek Life is not as big (say, in the Northeast, at commuter schools, etc) it's tough enough to get PNMs to come out for FR even without charging a fee.

I have no probllem with a Registration Fee. Everyone paid an application fee when they applied for school. So they should be able to grasp the concept behind it. UCSD raised their fee last year (to $15-20, I believe) and it did not seem to have a negative impact on the overall number of rushees that signed up. However, there was definitely a differance in retention through out rush. A LOT more stuck around than in previous years.

Boo!
 

I don't want anyone who is scared of a five dollar bill! LOL

Re: Boo!
 

I agree. This is the real world, and as long you are honest with the PNMs, you won't have a problem. The $5-10 is for operations, and it doesn't guarantee membership in any sorority, but most PNMs do get in a sorority if they follow the rules and recomendations (don't suicide.) That's all.

There is nothing unethical about covering your costs by charging a reasonable fee.

Re: Boo!
 

lol

i think sugar and spice has a good point- if this woman won't put up $5 to go through recruitment, how is she going to pay the $500+ for new member fees (and 500 is going by my "cheap" campus fees for new members)

Re: Boo!
 

:) $5 wouldn't have scared me away, but $50 might.

I went to school in the Northeast. It's tough to get people to come out for rush. Not everyone is reasonable enough to understand that their $5-$10 is getting them a T-shirt, a couple of meals, whatever... and more importantly, the chance to find a sisterhood they can call home.

ETA: My school did not charge for FR; Panhel-related rush expenses were covered through Panhel dues.

I know at my school it is cheeper the earlier you register... Also we have a discount for returning students registering for recruitment early... I think the price ranged from $5 early for sophomores and up and up to $20 if you waited till the day of to register... We mainly did this to try to get people to register early, since we had huge issues with everyone waiting til the day of (and yes we do still except apps then)... We are not a big greek supportive campus, so we can't afford to turn women away who register late...

I paid a fee at Ole Miss... I didn't think anything of it. And, at MTSU, you have to pay a fee as well. (MTSU is highly commuter-oriented.) MTSU never has had an issue with people not wanting to rush because of a fee...

Nothing is free... And, I don't see anything wrong with charging a fee to defray some of the admistrative costs. Plus, usually you get a shirt for the fee as well...

It's like auditioning for something or applying for a job. You'd have to have a portfolio, nice outfit, resume. If auditioning, the costs can go even higher with the necessity of headshots, portfolio, etc... And, there is never a guarantee of success there either. So, the whole theory of, "It's wrong to charge someone a fee when they might not be getting anything in return" is a load of bunk to me... :rolleyes:

ASTLuv, in your situation, I think a $5-$10 fee wouldn't be bad especially if the rushee got a t-shirt with it. That way you all have a better idea of how many women are coming and you know there aren't going to be people there who want to come through rush just to act like jerks (which does happen).

Any more than that though, and it will hurt the number of people who rush. I don't think what flies at Ole Miss or Auburn will fly here. It's a completely different situation.