After Several Years: What Do You Think of the New Release Figures?

[Just interested]

All I know is I applaud Chi O for sticking to their guns and waiting until after the semester and grades are made to initiate. I feel it makes membership much more special and moms I've talked to like it as well. I don't know about retention and all that but I think the way it is now girls feel they are just joining a club and not a life long affiliation. Change is good but at what cost, numbers or lifelong members. Just random thoughts

[honeychile]

Originally Posted by Just interested

All I know is I applaud Chi O for sticking to their guns and waiting until after the semester and grades are made to initiate. I feel it makes it that it makes membership much more special and moms I've talked to like it as well. I don't know about retention and all that but I think the way it is now girls feel they are just joining a club and not a life long affiliation. Change is good but at what cost, mumbers or lifelong members. Just random thoughts

I have my moments of appreciating the wait, also. I can honestly see both sides of the matter, but the bottom line is that women go to college for an education.

[AGDee]

In my 20 years as a volunteer, I actually see more women making grades these days than in the past. We have also raised our minimum requirements for good standing for both individuals and chapters in those years. Our national average GPA increased with the birth of our Strive for Pi program (an incentive program with awards for members/chapters that achieve a GPA of Pi .. 3.14). I don't see huge numbers of new initiates not making grades. In fact, it seems like it's usually sophomores who have trouble with grades. In fact, overall GPAs have increased so much that I really wonder about grade inflation on the schools' parts. Almost always, a change in major improves a woman's grades a lot. Sometimes they are just in a major that doesn't fit their skill set and when they change to something that fits them better, their grades improve tremendously.

As for release figures, it does seem to be working to help more chapters get quota/total. I agree that no chapter should ever be pressured by PH to invite a woman that they cut just so that they meet their release figures. We are, by nature, supposed to be selective organizations so it's only natural that some women will get dropped by all chapters or not receive a bid. It does seem to me that the disappointment of being dropped from the 'dream' chapter early on would be less than going through the whole process to find out you don't have a bid because your favorite three chapters invited 5 times quota to pref, knowing full well that most of those women wouldn't get a bid.

[kddani]

Though I don't have a ton of knowledge on the subject, the new release figures seems to have greatly helped my alma matter- Pitt. I graduated in 02, and since then, the membership among sororities has evened out and actually gone up- before, there would be as many as 5 out of the 11 sororities not at total. Now, there's only 1 that's consistently under total (by their own choice, I might add). It's really evened the playing field.

[ZTA72]

Originally Posted by Just interested

All I know is I applaud Chi O for sticking to their guns and waiting until after the semester and grades are made to initiate. I feel it makes membership much more special and moms I've talked to like it as well. I don't know about retention and all that but I think the way it is now girls feel they are just joining a club and not a life long affiliation. Change is good but at what cost, numbers or lifelong members. Just random thoughts

Back in the day, 70s, we (ZTA) waited until January for initiation. Our grades determined whether or not we could be initiated. Our pledge period was the entire quarter. I don't remember if other groups waited or initiated earlier in the quarter. At the risk of sounding " old school", I totally agree that it is worth the wait.

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by Just interested

All I know is I applaud Chi O for sticking to their guns and waiting until after the semester and grades are made to initiate. I feel it makes membership much more special and moms I've talked to like it as well. I don't know about retention and all that but I think the way it is now girls feel they are just joining a club and not a life long affiliation. Change is good but at what cost, numbers or lifelong members. Just random thoughts

Are their any studies or numbers that support this? How does an extra month of waiting for initiation improve the odds that a girl will take the lifelong membership seriously? Have you seen more people intiated then have to be dropped for grades? There is a relatively small difference in time of the new member period in both situations...I fail to see how it can make that big of a difference. I don't think AOII has seen a change in grades over the years, which is the only thing that I can see would actually be different between the two options.

[SWTXBelle]

I too wondered how waiting a few extra weeks = taking membership more seriously. We had to wait until the next semester to initiate - and still had those who did not take their membership seriously. Not making grades hasn't been a big issue in the chapters with which I was involved. If anything, I can think of a case where the fact that a member was already initiated but on scholastic probation made her study that much harder to get her grades up and remain on campus and an unfettered active. It all depends on the individual.

I am sure each NPC group has carefully considered the pros and cons of a shortened pledge period and continues to monitor its success. I personally think the most important determining factor is the new member education program itself, whether it is 6 weeks or 6 months. Also, don't discount the examples set by actives and alumnae. New members are more likely to believe in lifetime membership if that's what they see around them.

[gee_ess]

Originally Posted by SWTXBelle

I personally think the most important determining factor is the new member education program itself, whether it is 6 weeks or 6 months. Also, don't discount the examples set by actives and alumnae. New members are more likely to believe in lifetime membership if that's what they see around them.

This is my position. The shortened new member period seems here to stay, but from what I have seen, a new and improved program that takes into consideration this shorter period has not surfaced within my GLO. Add to that, much larger pledge classes and activity restrictions (read: no testing of pledge material, for example) and it makes for woefully disinfranchised new members.

[ree-Xi]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Just interested
All I know is I applaud Chi O for sticking to their guns and waiting until after the semester and grades are made to initiate. I feel it makes membership much more special and moms I've talked to like it as well. I don't know about retention and all that but I think the way it is now girls feel they are just joining a club and not a life long affiliation. Change is good but at what cost, numbers or lifelong members. Just random thoughts

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

Are their any studies or numbers that support this? How does an extra month of waiting for initiation improve the odds that a girl will take the lifelong membership seriously? Have you seen more people intiated then have to be dropped for grades? There is a relatively small difference in time of the new member period in both situations...I fail to see how it can make that big of a difference. I don't think AOII has seen a change in grades over the years, which is the only thing that I can see would actually be different between the two options.

My thoughts: I read this more as suggesting that the mystery of "will I or won't I be initiated" gives NM more incentive to keep going, consistently improving, because only by achieveing something (here, it's grades, but if you look at old school pledge programs, where everything was covered in mystery) would you get to initiation.

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by ree-Xi

Quote:
Originally Posted by Just interested
All I know is I applaud Chi O for sticking to their guns and waiting until after the semester and grades are made to initiate. I feel it makes membership much more special and moms I've talked to like it as well. I don't know about retention and all that but I think the way it is now girls feel they are just joining a club and not a life long affiliation. Change is good but at what cost, numbers or lifelong members. Just random thoughts



I read this more as suggesting that the mystery of "will I or won't I be initiated" gives NM more incentive to keep going, consistently improving, because only by achieveing something (here, it's grades, but if you look at old school pledge programs, where everything was covered in mystery) would you get to initiation.

So the extra month of wondering really makes them more eager to be a true lifelong member? I don't buy it! Also, if you think about it, many of our organizations immediately initiated new members in the early days. Our first "pledge" was initiated almost immediately. This long pledging period evolved over time and was not an original ideal of at least the AOII founders. If it was good enough for them, it's good enough for me!

[33girl]

Originally Posted by Just interested

All I know is I applaud Chi O for sticking to their guns and waiting until after the semester and grades are made to initiate. I feel it makes membership much more special and moms I've talked to like it as well. I don't know about retention and all that but I think the way it is now girls feel they are just joining a club and not a life long affiliation. Change is good but at what cost, numbers or lifelong members. Just random thoughts

Well, if everyone would just wait and have rush second semester like they should, this would be a moot point.

I mean, is there anything showing that Chi Omega has lower disaffiliation figures than other groups because of this?

[agzg]

Originally Posted by 33girl

Well, if everyone would just wait and have rush second semester like they should, this would be a moot point.

I mean, is there anything showing that Chi Omega has lower disaffiliation figures than other groups because of this?

I know there have been debates about deferred recruitment here and I hope this doesn't turn into one. I also know that you know I agree with you.

Deferred recruitment, while it has many cons, has many pros. One of which is that you have college grades to go on, rather than high school. It doesn't guarantee that every new member will make grades, but the majority will. Just like you can't guarantee that every active will make grades on a given semester.

I still believe that the only reason why I was able to maintain my grades during my new member period (lovin' these PC terms) was because I'd been through a couple semesters before (I didn't join until the fall of my sophomore year). I may not have had my best grades ever (I was sick most of the semester, was still joining, and a full courseload - honestly I don't know how I lived through that semester), but at least I was able to maintain my dean's list status.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by alphagamzetagam

I know there have been debates about deferred recruitment here and I hope this doesn't turn into one.

Hence my .

I just think of people like my high school's yearbook editor and NHS president (among other things) who got to Penn State, partied too much, and promptly flunked out. She looked fabulous on paper and had a great personality - any chapter would have been falling over themselves to bid her. But the fact is, she just couldn't handle college life - at least at that college - and knowing her, I don't think study hours or (in the case of Chi O) the threat of not initiating would have changed that.

Danielle, this is an odd question, but do you think there are people from a wider geographic area going to Pitt & going Greek there now?

[honeychile]

Pre-shortened NM periods, we pledged more than one woman who never did make the grades, so that's not the only reason I'm against the shortened NM periods. We also had women who were so grade-oriented, they only attended sorority functions which were mandatory. I will always say that one of the biggest advantages of being in a sorority is learning how to balance grades (job) and social obligations responsibly!

ThetaGirl, when I was a pledge, we had a 15-18 week pledge period, and had to have one term's GPA prior to initiation. During Recruitment, many sororities wouldn't cut PNMs until the last moment, keeping the quota really high, and having the PNMs hold out to see if they were going to get a invitation to Pref from the "highly regarded" sororities.

[Thetagirl218]

Originally Posted by honeychile

Pre-shortened NM periods, we pledged more than one woman who never did make the grades, so that's not the only reason I'm against the shortened NM periods. We also had women who were so grade-oriented, they only attended sorority functions which were mandatory. I will always say that one of the biggest advantages of being in a sorority is learning how to balance grades (job) and social obligations responsibly!

ThetaGirl, when I was a pledge, we had a 15-18 week pledge period, and had to have one term's GPA prior to initiation. During Recruitment, many sororities wouldn't cut PNMs until the last moment, keeping the quota really high, and having the PNMs hold out to see if they were going to get a invitation to Pref from the "highly regarded" sororities.

Sounds like I like the previous system better! When I was an active I would have loved to have had a longer NM period for are girls....