Partially Structured Recruitment
 

Hey Ladies,
I am the Panhellenic President and my advisor approached me today and asked about possibly switching to partially structured recruitment for next fall instead of formal recruitment. I know NOTHING about it!! Do any of you have schools that have partially structured recruitment, and if so how has it worked for your school. We are a smaller school that has 4 NPC chapters, total is 40 and our pledge classes from formal recruitment are usually about 10. Any information is greatly appreciated!

This is the only partially structured recruitment that i know

Have an orientation night where each chapter hosts 4 parties (cause you have four chapters) and potentials rotate. Some schools may choose to host a second orientation night for girls who cannot attend the first one.


After this potentials can attend what ever events they want for whatever chapter for a two week period. (Note, some schools may make girls attend one other event for each chapter. Also, if a girl was not able to attend either orientation, she might have to attend two parties for each chapter)

For example:
On Wednesday ABC will be hosting fondue from 5-7, and DFE will be hosting Mocktails from 7-9.
On Thursday GHI will be hosting Philantory night from 4-6 and JKL will host Cookie Making from 6:30-8:30.
on Friday GHI will host a Luau from 5-7 and ABC will host Pumpkin Carving from 730-930

The chapters work together to make sure that their events dont conflict, so that a PNM can attend as many as she can. No chapter has a designated day of the week or time of day.

Then on the last day of recruitment PNM go the the Greek Life office to see which chapters invite them to Pref night. The PNM will then attend a max of two, and sign her bid card as usual.

(Chapters are also allowed to have one invite only night before pref. Girls know if they are invited by either a phone call from their Rho Gamma or a visit to the greek life office)

Also, schools that do this usually make the Phi Chi or Rho Gammas or whatever you call them, at the events keep track of girls who attend parties to make sure they are attending their minimum amount, come to the greek life office when they are supposed to and know the rules.

There is not strict silence, because of course you need to advertise for you events, but of course you cannot take a PNM off campus or invite them back to your room alone.

Please let me know if you have questions or need any clarification. I think this is a great system for schools without a big greek life scene because it lets girls see all the chapter with the stress of formal)

are the pnms required to attend all the parties up until prefs.?

I know of a few schools that have moved to a partially structured format. DePaul University in Chicago, IL and Ferris State University in MI are two that come to mind. They have used it very successfully and are very open with sharing their experiences.

I will check my Greek Life resources later today to see if I can remember any other schools.

no. usually they have to attend a minimum of one other for each organization (besides the orientation) and if they cannot attend the organization the PNM has to attend 2 for each org. After the minimum is completed, she can attend parties for only the org that she is interested in.

Many schools do booths the first night in a big room. Often times they will limit the number of sisters that can be there so it's not too crowded, and the PNMs go around to all the booths as they choose.

I really think that the campus should contact other schools with a similar number of sororities, PNMs, etc to see how they do it and what works and doesn't work. I work with modified recruitments a lot, and I've noticed that every school does things different, so you can learn a lot by contacting them and seeing all the potential options out there.

Also, have you considered contacting your local NPC advisor about what she recommends for your campus?

personally, this sounds great for a school with a small greek life like somebody said before ... i would think if you had 4 or less sororities you definitely should do partially structured recruitment, it would make so much more sense :-)

but that's my .2

We are currently preparing for our annual eval with our NPC advisor to discuss recruitment and if we should switch

my undergrad did a combo of partially structured/formal defered recruitment with 3 chapters

total was 45, quota was anywhere from 15-20 (the 4 years i was there) with about 80pnm

in the fall, at the clubs day we each would have a table to spread more info on greek life then there was a fall panhel tea, with each sorority would have a table and a chance to meet and mingle, as well as we would each have a few events in the fall open to girls interested in greek life (we would invite those we knew, but anyone could show up)

for recruitment:
sunday - panhel tea - sign up for recruitment, each sorority has a table, pnm's walk around and talk to the sororities
monday - xyz's party, 8.30-10.00, all pnm's
tuesday - def's party, 8.30-10.00, all pnm's
wednesday - ghi's part 8.30-10.00, all pnm's
thursday - pnm's pick up invites, can attend 2 pref. parties
xyz - 6-7
def - 7.30- 8.30
ghi - 9.00-10.00
pnm's then sign bid cards at 10.30
friday - bid day, bids are given out at 7.30pm

girls must attend each party mon, tues and wed, except with a class/sport excuse.

its kinda rough, having 75ish girls at a time, but it works since you know most girls going through from the fall and its a small campus with 1300 students, we had about 45 sisters at the time of recruitment and after recruitment with the new class about 60-65.

speedsters, thanks for your explanation. i was imagining the most popular sorority being overrun with pnms, while the least desired having a party with 3 pnms in attendance.

how hard is it to plan for an unknown number of attendees? are refreshments served?

see... i would think having booths in a big room would be awkward.

i mean what if you are talking to abc for a while decided to move on the def, they bore you, wouldnt it be rude to then go back to abc.

i think it just leaves room for a lot of awkwardness.... :\

I agree - if it's outdoors at a campus-wide activities fair that's one thing, but if everyone's in a big room and you can see everything (which sorority has the most rushees looking, where the other rushees are and how long they stay there) that's kinda dicey.

FSUZeta - sometimes there are refreshments but they're basically things that if a lot of pnms don't show up, the sorority can eat the leftovers. :) (Cold h'ors d'ouvres, things like that).

it is slightly annoying to not know how many pnm's will sign up, especially if you have the monday party! but we are pretty constant with about 80ish girls signing up, last year i was on panhel, and we plan for 100, so when we made the booklets and bought tshirts we did 100, then sold the extra shirts to sisters who wanted them.

for refreshments, its usually something like cookies and punch that fits into the theme, last year we had a camp theme, so we did smores along with cookies. and with things like nametags, invites, booklets on our chapter and sisters, and goodie bags we make about 100, it isn't really that difficult.

the panhel tea on sunday to start recruitment, is crazy! i hate the way it is done, and this is one thing we are looking to change. it reminds me of the scene from finding nemo, with the pelican's - mine,mine,mine,mine...
after pnm's filled out forms they went upstairs to the room where all the sisters were, and each sorority would have 4,5 sisters at the door, pretty much grabbing you and pulling you over to their table, after talking with 4-5 sisters, you could head over to the other ones. i only went to all 3 tables, because i knew girls from crew in all 3, so wanted to say hi to the ones i knew, even though the only sorority i liked on my campus was ZTA. but its really so crowded, with about 200 people in the room.

it works with our campus, and it is nice to have off two nights during the week, and be able to have an extra day for prepare for pref (if you aren't wednesday), i do like a lot of things about the formal system, and we've talked about changing it, but it would be more difficult.

it is really just finding which system works for your campus.

That visual is priceless.

I am assuming you are at JU? I would reach out to the alum Panhellenic chapter, with the help of your adviser. They are very strong in Jacksonville, and they may have some suggestions about this type of recruitment.