NPC chapter not participating in formal recruitment
 

I have read on GC that some NPC chapters do not participate in their campus formal recruitment and hold their recruitment after formal. Do these chapters need to get permission to do so? If so, from their HQ, from the Campus Panhellenic, from the NPC? Or any combination? And do they follow COR guidelines and are simply allowed to bid up to campus total?

Yes.

From their HQ and the Campus Panhel.

They can bid up to total. There is no quota, as quota is something that only happens in formal rush.

I've never heard of this. Why would a chapter choose not to participate in FR?

Because they are considerably smaller than the other chapters and are unable to handle a large amount of rushees coming through formal rush. A chapter this small often does not do well in formal, so why waste the money and time?

EEK! Sounds to me that if a chapter were small enough to feel that they couldn't compete in FR was on their way to being closed by their HQ for low numbers :( My chapter was small when I was in college but we never considered NOT doing FR. We would just double up on girls and make sure to do COB events.

SDT does not participate in formal rush at Bama or (I think this is what someone said) Purdue. They are smaller than most of the groups at those schools. Their HQ is cool with this, which is nice to see when most HQs are pushing numbers-numbers-numbers.

You can double up on girls if you have 30 members and there are 60 women per party. But, if you have 15 members and there are 60 PNMs per party and 15 parties, and you never end up getting more than 5 new members out of formal recruitment after you spend $14,000 on it every year, what's the point?

You've got to have a Return on Investment. Sometimes, this happens when one chapter on a campus doesn't have a house but all the others do. They can chug along fine with 20 members and have a quality experience for a lesser cost and have a niche on the campus. It doesn't make sense to close them if they're doing alright and are financially viable but it doesn't make sense for them to spend thousands of dollars on formal recruitment either.

I had just never heard of chapters doing this but I guess it makes sense. Thanks GC for always teaching me new things!

:eek: Please tell me this is an exaggeration.

I believe this is the case with Alpha Delta Pi at Nebraska. NU sets quota based on the number of "open" beds in each chapter's physical house. (I believe "locals" - i.e. Lincoln girls - are considered "free" if they live at home or in the dorms.) In any case, Alpha Delta Pi does not have a house. As I understand it, they participate in the open rounds, but then "drop out" until after formal. They then have their rush events.

And to be clear, this chapter is doing quite well and is not viewed as a negative thing at all. I don't know how their total is set, but I do know that in many years, they may take more new members than other chapters.

Nope.

I guess if you play your cards right, like ADPi at NU it seems, not participating completely in FR could be to your advantage - you could seem more exclusive than the other chapters...

I was actually thinking about SDT at Bama a few days ago. I'm glad that SDT HQ isn't obsessed with them getting as many members as the rest of the chapters at Bama. I don't know how much diversity this chapter has (almost all Jewish or a mix), but either way, they fulfill a niche that might otherwise go unmet. So if their HQ were to close the chapter for numbers related reasons, there would probably be another Jewish interest group form shortly after, maybe they'd affiliate with an NPC, and then the cycle could start all over again if the HQ were not satisfied with having fewer members than the rest of the chapters. The demand for a Jewish chapter may not be as big as other schools, but the demand will always be there.

As long as SDT at Bama is financially stable, the members are happy, and they are a contributing, active member of the Panhellenic community at Bama, that's what really matters, and it's good that SDT HQ realizes that.