What about your pledge program...
 

Since the school year is fast approaching I wanted to start a thread and ask about other chapters pledge programs.

My chapter (Xi Alpha) initiated 35 pledges last semester and despite good planning by all the brothers the pledge process came off a little weak. The pledges were unable to learn the information we suggested, they did not bond as a class and even worse some cliques have begun to develope.

I have some plans to change this but I want to know what other people do first. How many times a week do the pledges meet? Is there Service hour requirements? How much info do the Pledges learn? Any unique thing you have them do? Stuff like that.

Any help you can give will be great.

There was a thread on this a while back that you can find here, it touched on the service hour requirement and other misc. requirements.

When I was a pledge we met every other week, right before the active meeting. (which we could stay for) At the meetings we took quizzes on material (it was in our pledge manual...we were told each week what would be on the next quiz and we just read it on our own), did some icebreakers, planned the pledge project, etc. I don't remember exactly since it was almost 11 years ago! :eek:

What was your last pledge program like, if I may ask?

Thanks for the reply. Our last program had the pledges meet every week and they were required to attend one Brotherhood meeting before initiation.

We also gave them weekly quizes based on information from the pledge manual.

They had a pledge service project and fundraiser to run as well. It seemed like a good setup but with so many pledges something didn't fit right.

Re: What about your pledge program...
 

First off, get a copy of the Pledge Master Handbook off the National website. its part of the leadership series. Should give you a lot of info (and samples of pledge requirements, etc). (am a little biased. I wrote it)

ALSO, read and understand the National Pledging Standards. It sets down the info as to what should (and should not) be part of the pledge program.

To answer some of your questions.

Most chapters have the pledges meet atleast once a week. Ideally the pledge meeting should have 2 parts: instruction by the pledge master &/or other Brother on information they should know, the other half the pledge class meeting as a group to plan out their pledge class service project and any other activities they are expected (my chapter has the pledges plan out a fundraiser and a fellowship event).

Each chapter will have their own set of pledge requirements. These should be modeled on your active requirements, with the intention that pledges get into the habits you expect of actives. Service Hours are pretty much a standard part. HOW MANY will vary from chapter to chapter and should never exceed what you require of actives. Other requirements will be: attendence at pledge meetings, attendence at chapter meeting, meeting brothers, wearing the pledge pin, learning about apo and passing tests, etc. The details are up to each chapter. See the PM Leadership Series book for several examples.

In general, pledges should learn: what is apo all about, our history as a national org and chapter history, how our national organization works, how our chapter works, etc. The details are left to each chapter. ALL information that the pledges should learn should be included in their pledge books (National Pledge Manual, National bylaws, chapter bylaws, etc). I developed a series of powerpoint presentations and accompanying worksheets for chapters to use. These PPT cover the topics I feel is important (APO facts, scouting info, APO history, chapter history, National org, chapter operations, leadership program, service program, parliamentary procedure). the worksheets cover everything a pledge will be expected to learn from these presentations and be tested on.

An older version of these presentations is on the leadership clearinghouse. Any chapter can request the latest version from me, as I update it after National Convention.

Now, beyond that, there are a lot of unique things you can do in your chapter to make things interesting. The pledge class projects are a great way to get the pledges to work together as a team. You need to have some fun ways for the pledges to interact and get to know the Brothers. Many chapters also incorporate a Big Brother/Little Brother program, which if done well will also help.

Hope this answers your questions.