How long does it take for a colony to become a chapter in your organization?
 

Simple question. I'm interested in finding out for as many organizations - fraternities and sororities.

From the time the colony is founded, what is - on average - the length of time it takes for them to get their charter and be a full fledged chapter?

In my org, there are certain steps that must be taken and requirements that must be met before a colony is granted chapter status. I've seen some colonies become chapters within a year and a half; some 3 or more years (don't really have an average number). It all depends on how quickly that colony gets its work done.

(sorry to make your simple question complicated, ha)

Yeah in my fraternity it really depends. There are a bunch of requirements that each chapter has to meet before becoming a full chapter. May I ask why you are interested?

same here -the turnaround can be as quick as a semester (very rare) or as long as a few years. its a matter of getting recognized by the campus and having enough eligible candidates for membership to charter.

It took my SAI chapter from January 1999 to October 1999. But, there are other chapters that take longer. As it was state above, it really depends on a lot of things. They have to have the required number of non-graduating senior members and complete the MIT program. We recently had a colony at WSSU (which I was really excited about) that was shut down before the MIT process was completed.

In Phi Sig, they set up a timeline which is supposed to only take one semester from the time the colony is recognized to the time the charter is recieved. I bet in most places it takes longer than that, though.

Um, I think this seems to be a general consensus, I know we have a list of requirements that have to be completed. Ive seen a chapter do it in 91 days, but I tell you that is not common.

in my chapters history, it took 4 years. we started as a local in '02 and were picked up by DU that same year. we chartered in feb 06.

I've not seen one of our colonies take more than a semester. The colonizaton/recolonization occurs early in the semester and they are installed by the end of that semester. We do have a special volunteer team that continues to work with them while they are a new chapter (new chapter development) and it can take some time for them to be removed from that status. That is just to ensure that they receive a lot of extra support until they are financially, organizationally, and numerically stable.

I'm curious.. when it takes longer than a semester and a colonist ends up graduating before the colony is installed, what happens with their membership?

Sigma Chi usually takes 1-2 years. They have many steps that have to be completed.

To answer ADGee's question: In Sigma Chi, if a member of a colony graduates before chartering, he can come back at any time and be initiated. He does not have to be initiated at the chartering ceremony.

I have always wondered that! I would say AI (or whatever the org calls it) would be appropriate, but I guess you never know.

I agree with AGDee. My sense is with NPC that unless there are major problems evident very early on (eg small size, way below campus total) NPC sororities will generally send the colony through the standard new member program and initiate them at the end of that time. For Pi Phi, for example, that would be 8 weeks.

Of course there could be exceptions that I'm not aware of, and as noted if there are issues with the colony it might be extended. One example of this on campus is that the year before Pi Phi tried to colonize, another NPC tried to colonize, and it quickly became evident the colony wasn't successful so they gave up almost immediately, before initiation occurred.

Chi Omega -- typically one semester or less.


(Great to see breathesgelatin back!!!)

Thank you!! :D

We were colonized from a local to a colony within the school year.:)

But, LXA has certain requirments to be met before they are given charter status. This normaly is 2-3 years. But they must be met to make sure they have full knowledge to be able to regulate themselves under LXA rules and regulations.