The Best Strategy for a "Weak Recruiting" Chapter

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by DeltaBetaBaby

Ah, this is a good point. I think the problem would be how many of those women I put in the 40-21 bucket would stick around if WRC was the only chapter on their list.

^^^Not very many. In my experience, your 40-21 bucket girls tend to perceive that they are in the 20-1 bracket and therefore are deserving of a 20-1 chapter. Their expectations don't match reality. But that's a whole other thread.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

How did this thread get stickied?

[carnation]

I stickied it.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Originally Posted by carnation

I stickied it.

Oh, I thought I had done something wrong when I started the thread. Carry on.

[Greek_or_Geek?]

I think there are a couple of flaws in your logic.

It assumes that those women will accept a bid if given one by the WRC.We know from experience that so many PNMs will sign a bid card that ranks a choice they won't consider because they believe it will give them a better chance at their first choice. (Whether Panhellenic gives them that impression is a whole other discussion.)

It assumes that a much larger percentage of PNMs are especially strong and especially weak. My experience has been that perhaps 10% on either end at the maximum. Almost all the PNMs will be somewhere in that 80%, although a good number of them will believe they are in the top 10%.

It assumes that all similarly ranked PNMs have the same strengths, weaknesses and interests and the chapters (with the exception of the WRC) are homogeneous. In actuality many PNMs will naturally gravitate to chapters with familiar feels (eg: the extra studious chapter, the sporty chapter etc.)

That said, I have no idea what an effective strategy would be. I have to think that it would vary significantly with the campus culture and the attitudes of the incoming PNMs.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Originally Posted by Greek_or_Geek?

I think there are a couple of flaws in your logic.

It assumes that those women will accept a bid if given one by the WRC.We know from experience that so many PNMs will sign a bid card that ranks a choice they won't consider because they believe it will give them a better chance at their first choice. (Whether Panhellenic gives them that impression is a whole other discussion.)

It assumes that a much larger percentage of PNMs are especially strong and especially weak. My experience has been that perhaps 10% on either end at the maximum. Almost all the PNMs will be somewhere in that 80%, although a good number of them will believe they are in the top 10%.

It assumes that all similarly ranked PNMs have the same strengths, weaknesses and interests and the chapters (with the exception of the WRC) are homogeneous. In actuality many PNMs will naturally gravitate to chapters with familiar feels (eg: the extra studious chapter, the sporty chapter etc.)

That said, I have no idea what an effective strategy would be. I have to think that it would vary significantly with the campus culture and the attitudes of the incoming PNMs.

To be sure, I'm not saying "oh, the WRC should cut all the so-so PNM's so they can have better ones". I also know that, in the real world, there is nothing even close to a simple ranking of PNM's or chapters.

My line of thinking is more along the lines of what the WRC should do when women come through who really don't fit well, for one reason or another. The conventional wisdom, I think, is that the WRC should be maxing out their RFM with anyone who meets their minimum criteria, and I'm saying that mathematically, that may or may not be true.

[FSUZeta]

On many campuses, if the WRC does not keep within a competitive number of the next lowest chapter, they run the risk of being closed. Even if there is no tent talk(and we know that doesn't happen), the PNMs can tell that the chapter has less members when the members all have to take more than one PNM to rush. I would venture to say the perception would be smaller=troubled=less desirable, whether that is true or not.

The year I was a rush counselor was the last rush for a couple of the sororities on campus. All the chapters still did the Busby Berkley front yard song and dance routines, and it was very apparent how many members each chapter had. The struggling chapters had a look of desperation about them-it was really sad, and I imagine that it was very stressful for their members. Three of the 4 (out of 18) WRC chapters closed that year, and the 4th one the following year. Would RFM have helped? I can't say, but I wonder if RFM will help prevent chapters from getting to the point of no return. I hope so. I think the point of RFM is to help the struggling become (or stay) viable, and it seems to me that the only way to do that is to grow, so that they are nearer to the average chapter size.

[LAblondeGPhi]

I think this is a fascinating idea.

I disagree with some of the comments on how impossible it is to judge all PNMs on a universal scale. Of course some PNMs will fit/gravitate/be loved by some chapters more than others, but this is about averages.

The main problem I see is whether the RFM specialist will allow carry figures to adjust according to the forced release of 20% of the PNM population by one chapter. Since Panhellenic groups have very little real ability to enforce adherence to RFM, I would think that this would be one area they could use to punish a chapter for not abiding. If you don't adjust the carry figures to account for a Q=20 instead of a Q=25, you screw Chapter 1 into a pledge class of 5 new members when everyone else has 25.

The second issue is whether one chapter has the ability to skew the PNM population like that - if there's another WRC, they might be encouraged to carry most of those PNMs, thus keeping all of the original quota figures intact.

There's another interesting question in here: do the WRCs in a Greek system benefit when there is some selectivity of the WHOLE Greek system? I'm thinking of an Indiana vs. the rest of the world kind of scenario. Are the WRCs better off on campuses where being any kind of Greek is prestigious? Some schools consider being independent better than being in a WRC, so where is the incentive for PNMs to stick it out when that's all they have left?

[dukedg]

I'm so glad you started this thread, DBB. I have long thought about this as a strategy that in my mind would definitely benefit the WRC, but I never put in the work to really think through an example.

The way I have always thought about it, you would take this gamble only on day one and remove the PNMs that no one else wants and that give you the reputation of taking "anyone". After that, you would go back to maximizing your list for the rest of the days of RFM. The risk is you are now competing with stronger recruiting chapters for the same PNMs, so you will have to convince them to stick with your chapter rather than drop out.

As an added bonus, I think it starts to counter some of that argument that you take everyone and builds your chapter's morale while it makes the Greek community stronger (caveat: I do not believe that there is a place for everyone in the Greek community).

ETA: One thing that has to be factored in is the group of PNMs that drop out when they don't get invited back to their favorites. I would hazard to say the biggest drop outs occur at the 40 - 60 range in your example, not 1 - 20. That's the one thing I can't figure out. Will this large cut and them dropping lead to a total pool of only 60 PNMs instead of 100? If so, Chapter 4 would get 100-85, Chapter 3 85-71, Chapter 2 70-61 and 40-36 and Chapter 1 35-20.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

I want to be clear that, when I say not-so-great PNM's (WRPNM's?), I'm not talking about women who are fashion-challenged or terribly shy or whatever. Obviously, those women can be great sisters if you take a chance on them, just as much as a WRC can have a great sisterhood if a PNM takes a chance on it.

I'm talking more about the women who come through rush, but you get the distinct impression they won't be able to handle the finances, or their grades are *just* high enough but they are CC transfers, etc.

[carnation]

..or they pulled a train at a fraternity house over the summer or slapped their boss at camp or have a notable police record (a few true examples).

[LAblondeGPhi]

Originally Posted by carnation

..or they pulled a train at a fraternity house over the summer or slapped their boss at camp or have a notable police record (a few true examples).

... or are in the adult entertainment industry (also, sadly, a true example)

[Titchou]

Originally Posted by LAblondeGPhi

... or are in the adult entertainment industry (also, sadly, a true example)

You had one too???? Isn't that fun when her place of employment is where all the frat guys go? Ugh!

[Mevara]

I think this scenario only works if there is only 1 WRC, because if WRC cuts those PNMs then they are cut out of Formal. If there are 2 then the ones that WRC#1 drops just go to WRC#2.

[HQWest]

^^^ It depends on the size of the school. In the example with only five chapters it is easier to see how changing quota will work.

I have often argued that for the all but the lowest recruiting chapters, you want quota to be as high as possible. The top chapter gets their top girls.
The middle chapters may not get all of their top girls, but they will only need a couple of girls to catch up at COB. They also don't get as many girls "cried" by the top chapter wandering around pissed off on bid day.
The problem is when there is a big disparity between the chapters and then the lowest chapters have to do a lot of catching up in COB. Making quota lower so everyone gets quota doesn't really help if it means one or two chapters wind up with a TON of QAs. (more than 4 or 5). They might not have to have COB, but they will have to work really hard to keep those girls (some of whom may not be all that happy bid day).

In the example with 15 schools - you also run into problems like this skit night. Suzi Q ranks her top 6, and gets them, but then finds out that her friends are all excited about her number 7 which is their number 2 or 3). Number 7 is better off focusing on the girls that ranked them higher than to try to get more girls to their parties.