[adpiucf]

Our ADPi new members attend chapter meetings and have the same requirements for service, sisterhood and scholarship as any initiated sister. They may also hold chapter offices, with a few exceptions.

The new member education program was revamped a few years ago. It is conducted online, with online tutorials and quizzes taken on the individual's own time. At weekly new member meetings, the women bring print-outs showing they've completed tutorials, and the meeting time is spent with the new members getting to know one another through activities and moderated open discussions on sisterhood, the Founders, how the sorority is structured, expectations for membership, discussing the tutorials, learning songs, etc.

I think this gives the women a chance to bond more, learn the material at a pace that is comfortable for them and have more time to interact with their sisters than in the past. We initiate within 6 weeks, so the more time for socializing with your peers and ask questions to decide "Is this right for me?" is very important.

ETA: No matter how much you may treat them the same as the initates, I think every sorority has a "let down" period when new members get initiated b/c the gifts and clapping ceases once initiation passes.... Some new initiates mistakenly feel unwanted all of a sudden because their isn't the intensive follow up and attention to keeping them happy anymore. I think this should be addressed, whether it is a talk with the new members before initation week, or something else entirely... I know we've addressed this partially by having membership trainings structured by each member's year in school-- some topics that are for rising sophomores may have more to do with study skills while graduating seniors have a training on resume writing and networking... but I don't think it really addresses with the new members that, "You're still special, we really like you, but you're a big girl now and we can't throw you a party every week for showing up."

They take an initation exam prior to initiation week, and the initiated members take a yearly membership exam which contains much of the same material.

So basically, our new members have the same privileges as the initiated members-- the only extra requirement they have is the new member meetings/tutorials.