Formal Recruitment Questions

[33girl]

Originally Posted by AGDee

You may want to contact your NPC Area Advisor if you think the Greek Advisor is going to push for that. Just a few years ago, NPC identified 4 different styles of recruitment, Formal, Partially Structured, Minimally Structured and Informal. For campuses with 4 or less NPCs, they strongly recommend that you NOT do Formal Recruitment because it doesn't end up being worth the time and money for the number of new members that chapters get. The NPC Area Advisor can evaluate what's best for the campus based on average number of PNMs, number of NPC groups, etc.

I really hope it's not that cut and dried.

Two of our oldest and strongest chapters are at Emporia State and Pittsburg State in Kansas. Each of these schools has only 3 sororities, and each school has always done well with formal rush. There's no reason for them to change it.

The number of NPCs or even the campus population (unless it's 90% guys or something) should have nothing to do with what the best recruitment style is. The factors are a lot more complex than that.

[AGDee]

Originally Posted by 33girl

I really hope it's not that cut and dried.

Two of our oldest and strongest chapters are at Emporia State and Pittsburg State in Kansas. Each of these schools has only 3 sororities, and each school has always done well with formal rush. There's no reason for them to change it.

The number of NPCs or even the campus population (unless it's 90% guys or something) should have nothing to do with what the best recruitment style is. The factors are a lot more complex than that.

The other factors are the "etc", I just named the easy 2. It just seems to me that the NPC Area Advisor would be more qualified and experienced in making those decisions than a Greek Advisor.

ETA: It also seems to me that going from total COR to completely formal recruitment would be a huge transition for all of the chapters. They may want to use variations with the goal to move toward formal without going "BAM!" whole new method.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by AGDee

The other factors are the "etc", I just named the easy 2. It just seems to me that the NPC Area Advisor would be more qualified and experienced in making those decisions than a Greek Advisor.

ETA: It also seems to me that going from total COR to completely formal recruitment would be a huge transition for all of the chapters. They may want to use variations with the goal to move toward formal without going "BAM!" whole new method.

I don't think the GA at the OP's campus has any intention of that. I mean it's not a question of going from all COB to LSU style rush or something. A nice first step would be to make it mandatory for first time rushees to visit all chapters at least once, and go from there.

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by AGDee

You may want to contact your NPC Area Advisor if you think the Greek Advisor is going to push for that. Just a few years ago, NPC identified 4 different styles of recruitment, Formal, Partially Structured, Minimally Structured and Informal. For campuses with 4 or less NPCs, they strongly recommend that you NOT do Formal Recruitment because it doesn't end up being worth the time and money for the number of new members that chapters get. The NPC Area Advisor can evaluate what's best for the campus based on average number of PNMs, number of NPC groups, etc.

Ok, so... what is the difference between partially structured and minimally structured? Examples?

[AGDee]

This thread http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...ed+Recruitment
has some good examples of a partially structured recruitment. Quota is used and they have a Pref night. I'll try to find the thread that describes each method, although you may find that info on the NPC website too.

[lauralaylin]

Each campus seems to take pieces of Partially Structured and Minimally Structured to fit their needs, but in general PSR should have a quota while MSR does not, and therefore PSR has bid matching while MSR doesn't. PSR schools often has an easier time getting PNMs interested in signing up for recruitment, while MSR campuses need extra work by Panhel to drum up interest, often with year round marketing. MSR has less requirements for the PNMs, like visiting all the chapters, how long they stay, how many times they see each, etc. In the past, PSR used RFM while MSR didn't, but I wonder if that's still the case since RFM has been rolling out to many more campuses from what I understand.

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by 33girl

I don't think the GA at the OP's campus has any intention of that. I mean it's not a question of going from all COB to LSU style rush or something. A nice first step would be to make it mandatory for first time rushees to visit all chapters at least once, and go from there.

Correct. As I've said, the Greek Advisor and the Panhellenic President are looking to gradually move somewhere between informal and formal for the upcoming spring semesters.

I was the Panhellenic President 2 years ago, and I created and planned the first kick-off recruitment party with the past Greek Advisor. This is a recruitment event at the beginning of the spring semester where the PNMs who attend must visit all 3 chapters. But right now we don't have a recruitment sign-up, or anything like that, so while the PNMs who attend that event must visit all three, other PNMs are still able to join in recruitment later on. And they would not be required to visit with all of the chapters.

That event was basically the start of something removed from informal recruitment. And again, that was first utilized in Spring of 2007. So it's obviously a slow process.

As to what exactly is planned for this upcoming spring, I'm not sure. I actually wrote an email to the Greek Advisor asking her about any upcoming changes in the next year. She said that her and the Panhellenic President have been discussing a lot of new ideas. But obviously she wouldn't just say to all of the chapters, "ok, just kidding, you all have to do formal now."

[SmartBlondeGPhB]

Originally Posted by AZ-AlphaXi

preference ceremonies don't reveal anything "secret" as there will be PNMs attend the ceremony that will possibly be placed with another chapter or not get a bid at all.

preference ceremonies usually try to express the ritual atmosphere of ritual with actually exposing anything. poems are read, testimonials are given, the PNMs are shown what a ceremony will be like.

And your GLO probably has a formal ceremony that chapters copy. Ours has been done at convention so chapters could see how it's supposed to be done.