Chapter Acknowledgements to Rec Writers

alum · #1 01-19-2007, 07:11 PM

All you actives who are Rush Chairs etc:

PLEASE send a postcard or something to your alumnae who write recs. Women representing 2 different NPC GLOs who wrote recs for my D never never received a courtesy response or acknowlegement from their GLO when the recs were sent. My friends assumed the chapters received the recs but were afraid to ask because they didn't want to be nagging helicopter-alums who would have a detrimental affect on my D's recruitment. Now that recruitment is over, they are complaining to their directors of actives.

We all know that recruitment is a very busy time. However, actives need to remember that rec-writers are taking time out of their busy schedules to interview girls, analyze resumes, and actually write the recommendations. They are fellow members of YOUR fraternity/sorority and deserve at least a postcard saying that the rec. arrived.

kddani · #2 01-19-2007, 07:38 PM

Postcards cost 24 cents apiece to mail, not to mention the cost of the postcard itself and the large amount of time involved to address them and write them. That can add up to be a lot, particularly for chapters who don't have a big budget. And time-wise, it's THE busiest time of the year. That's a lot of time and money.

I've heard of people asking for some sort of notification of where a girl went after rush. But you want a postcard acknowledging that it was received?

UGAalum94 · #3 01-19-2007, 08:42 PM

I understand that things are really busy during rush, but if the rec. was not received by the chapter, the person writing the rec. could really be of more help if she knew that the rec. didn't get there so that she could send another.

If you have contacted the chapter and they know they can ask you for recs for certain town or whatever, you don't have to worry too much. If they needed one, they would call. But when you've written one for a girl to a chapter at which you don't know anyone, you do kind of wonder if they got it.

I can see that at big rush, acknowledging each rec. as it was received (as opposed to after rush, when it's nice but not useful if it turns out there was a problem), would be very time consuming.

But it seems like there'd be a way to make notification possible. Maybe a master list could be posted on the chapter website? Of course, I don't mean anything about the content of the recs, but maybe PNM names, checks by the ones with recs, and columns with name of rec. writer.

At some point the rush or membership chair looks at the recs anyway, so it wouldn't take that much additional time to enter that small amount information. It's possible that such a spreadsheet already exists at a lot of chapters, and all a person would have to do is add or delete certain info, and make it public.

If you were worried about confidentiality, it could be protected by password somehow.

AZ-AlphaXi · #4 01-20-2007, 12:19 PM

Not sure how this would work ... but how about including a self address and stamped post card? Then all the chapter has to do is drop it in the mail.

or include your email address and ask that the chapter just drop you an email saying they got the rec.

Neither of these would be costly or time consuming.

aephi alum · #5 01-20-2007, 01:19 PM

Like kddani said, postcards cost 24 cents each. If you have 1000 PNMs who arrange for recs, that's $240.00. That money could be better spent on, say, decorations for recruitment or a fun bid day activity.

If the alum really wants to know if the rec arrived, a SASE or an email address is a good idea. It doesn't cost the chapter anything to pop an SASE in the mail or fire off a quick email.

FSUZeta · #6 01-20-2007, 01:50 PM

i don't agree-if an alum. took the time to write a recommendation, the chapter should take the time to acknowledge receipt of said rec. a chapter that would receive 1000 recs. would certainly have the funds to have a pre-printed postcard that states, ________ chapter of ABC sorority acknowledges receipt of your recommendation for ___________. We thank you for your information and look forward to meeting ________.-or something to that effect. also, recs. are received thru out the summer,not all at once. if acknowledgement was made when the rec. was received, the task would be much more managable.

this past summer,i wrote recs. for 5 girls to three different chapters. two of the chapters acknowledged receipt of the recs. and even followed up after recruitment with another postcard telling me where the girls had pledged. it took someone maybe 10 seconds to check the appropriate box and place the stamp on the postcard.