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

[33girl]

I think that since interviews and things like that have been eradicated (worst idea ever but that isn't the point of this post) 6 weeks should be ample to complete a nationally mandated, cookie cutter pledge program. The only thing that I think would suck is getting to know enough people well enough to choose your big.

Originally Posted by AnchorAlumna

I, too, hate the shortened NM period. Even a couple of weeks longer would help, I think. Members don't know histories, policies or procedures as well. I've seen members clueless about our Founders, and we only have 3!

That isn't because they don't have time to learn it. That's because your national program isn't making it a priority. Which seems to be a trend, sadly.

[DoctorD]

Originally Posted by AnchorAlumna

I, too, hate the shortened NM period. Even a couple of weeks longer would help, I think. Members don't know histories, policies or procedures as well. I've seen members clueless about our Founders, and we only have 3!

Originally Posted by 33girl

I think that since interviews and things like that have been eradicated (worst idea ever but that isn't the point of this post) 6 weeks should be ample to complete a nationally mandated, cookie cutter pledge program. The only thing that I think would suck is getting to know enough people well enough to choose your big.


That isn't because they don't have time to learn it. That's because your national program isn't making it a priority. Which seems to be a trend, sadly.

But seriously, folks - do you REALLY need to learn EVERYTHING in the new member period? Can't some of this be spread out and learned later on? What is really the most important for an 18 year old to learn as she joins an organization? In my mind, it is to learn that the women she is with are fabulous people, and these are the people she will WANT to be with for the next few years [and beyond] - she wants to bond with these women and make connections. Interviewing folks doesn't make connections... doing things with them does. New member periods should be about beginnings.... not about everything. Cramming in information that is book work or just like school is boring. Have education, yes, but make it interesting and fun. The new member period should still be a recruitment period... a 6-8 week "wooing" that "teaches" the new member "yep, I chose wisely... and I want others to experience this, too." It should be "the basics" - how do I function within this particular chapter?

There's plenty of time for education about the sorority if you look at the opportunities for education about the organization over the course of 3-4 years vs. 6-8 weeks. I know that is how our organization is moving, and from what I can tell a number of others are doing the same. Learning about the founders, our history, and our values is STILL a priority - but only the groundwork has to be accomplished during the new member period.

My $.02. That and $5 will get you a cup of coffee at Starbucks.

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by DoctorD

But seriously, folks - do you REALLY need to learn EVERYTHING in the new member period? Can't some of this be spread out and learned later on? What is really the most important for an 18 year old to learn as she joins an organization? In my mind, it is to learn that the women she is with are fabulous people, and these are the people she will WANT to be with for the next few years [and beyond] - she wants to bond with these women and make connections. Interviewing folks doesn't make connections... doing things with them does. New member periods should be about beginnings.... not about everything. Cramming in information that is book work or just like school is boring. Have education, yes, but make it interesting and fun. The new member period should still be a recruitment period... a 6-8 week "wooing" that "teaches" the new member "yep, I chose wisely... and I want others to experience this, too." It should be "the basics" - how do I function within this particular chapter?

There's plenty of time for education about the sorority if you look at the opportunities for education about the organization over the course of 3-4 years vs. 6-8 weeks. I know that is how our organization is moving, and from what I can tell a number of others are doing the same. Learning about the founders, our history, and our values is STILL a priority - but only the groundwork has to be accomplished during the new member period.

My $.02. That and $5 will get you a cup of coffee at Starbucks.

Ditto!

[33girl]

Originally Posted by DoctorD

But seriously, folks - do you REALLY need to learn EVERYTHING in the new member period? Can't some of this be spread out and learned later on? What is really the most important for an 18 year old to learn as she joins an organization? In my mind, it is to learn that the women she is with are fabulous people, and these are the people she will WANT to be with for the next few years [and beyond] - she wants to bond with these women and make connections. Interviewing folks doesn't make connections... doing things with them does. New member periods should be about beginnings.... not about everything. Cramming in information that is book work or just like school is boring. Have education, yes, but make it interesting and fun. The new member period should still be a recruitment period... a 6-8 week "wooing" that "teaches" the new member "yep, I chose wisely... and I want others to experience this, too." It should be "the basics" - how do I function within this particular chapter?

There's plenty of time for education about the sorority if you look at the opportunities for education about the organization over the course of 3-4 years vs. 6-8 weeks. I know that is how our organization is moving, and from what I can tell a number of others are doing the same. Learning about the founders, our history, and our values is STILL a priority - but only the groundwork has to be accomplished during the new member period.

My $.02. That and $5 will get you a cup of coffee at Starbucks.

I disagree that interviews don't make connections but whatever, that's your opinion and I'm sorry if you didn't get the positive full effect of them. Part of the problem isn't just that interviews have been eliminated, but in some cases ALL one on one contact has. Not everyone shines in a group or is bold enough to start to make connections on their own. We see that over and over in posts on here.

As far as the history - no you won't learn everything, but for God's sake, a college educated woman can't learn the names of THREE women for a membership test? That's shameful.

And in some smaller chapters, you go from being a pledge right into offices that are important. You NEED to know what you're doing.

ETA: Can we please split this into another topic? Shortened NM periods have nothing to do with release figures during rush.

[KSUViolet06]

My campus started using the RFM in my senior year. There were some pros and cons to it. Overall, I feel as though they work well.

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

My campus started using the RFM in my senior year. There were some pros and cons to it. Overall, I feel as though they work well.

I think many of the problems in the beginning were mainly due to chapters misunderstanding the way RFM works. For the most part, many greeks have no real concept of how bid matching works in the first place, so making changes like RFM can be very confusing. I also think that it shocked the "better" chapters who finally realized that they actually will have to work for their NMs since they can't just string along a list of girls to fill in the gaps for PNMs who get away! I know of many anecdotal stories of chapters missing quota who had never missed it before. I think that sometimes these chapters think they suddenly should be ever more selective and not keep all of the girls they can when in the past, they willingly kept tons of girls that would never get a bid. It's just a new game, and chapters are slowly learning how to play it! One of the hardest parts is realizing that your chapter and every chapter that competes with you probably has the same group of girls attending parties....only one group can get a girl, so their chances of filling quota drop significantly. If one top chapter wants a girl, there is a high likelihood that other top chapters do, too.

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

One of the hardest parts is realizing that your chapter and every chapter that competes with you probably has the same group of girls attending parties....only one group can get a girl, so their chances of filling quota drop significantly. If one top chapter wants a girl, there is a high likelihood that other top chapters do, too.

This is really true, but it's also worth remembering and promoting that at many campuses almost all groups are still making quota.

I think the idea that release figures make it harder for the "better" chapters is one of the reasons that more people haven't been that happy with them, and that's why I think it's so important that we remember that at many places quota is as big as ever and that groups are eligible for quota additions. So, there's a reward to the top groups too even if it's a little harder than it used to be to pick the exact right girls.

And really wasn't one of the biggest problems getting the right data and the groups to follow it? It probably took a number of years before it could be said with any accuracy how many any group needed to invite back to really end up with quota. The perceptions of some chapters popularity may have always been a little different than the numerical reality.

[UGAalum94]

33Girl, I apologize for continuing the shortened new member period conversation here, but. . .

and as always, I want to make clear that I have no formal position in my group other than being an alumna.

Here's my deal about shortened new member periods: I do think that when the new member period was direct instruction and little assessments about knowledge of the group or required projects and you had to make grades, it build a sense of anticipation about initiation. It reflected the idea of initiation as we probably really think of initiation generally (assuming you think about the word "initiation" ever): a sort of transformational ceremony at which because you had acquired the required knowledge or demonstrated your worthiness, you became a full member of a group and gained any knowledge that members had to be a full participant within that body.

I don't know how accurate our perceptions were, but you had a sense that there were hard and fast requirements about what you had to do to be eligible to be initiated and they required that you demonstrate traits rather than merely showing up at required meetings and going through the motions. (And by showing up and going through the motions, I mean the difference in participating in a learning activity for the fun of it vs. the sense that if you fail your membership test, you won't get initiated.)

While most of us, I think, accept that because hazing was a real issue at some chapters that the idea of proving your worthiness had to be diminished in importance, I wonder if a process that includes un-initiated members into more things previously reserved for full members (like chapter) and that reduces or even eliminates the previous "requirements" for initiation, allows people to value being initiated as much as the old system.

I think most of us see anticipation as heightening positive experiences generally. Think about little kids and Christmas. Would they get as much out of their presents and toys if they were just there one day when they came home from school. Or maybe more seriously, with the idea of religious seasons at church thorough the year. Does the season of Advent make the celebration of Christmas better? Does observing Lent heighten your awareness of Easter?

I'm not trying to equate Greek membership with religion sincerely, but my point is that it kind of makes sense that a reduction in the things that build anticipation for initiation might make initiation less special and less valued.

Sure, I can see that you probably don't remember your pledge test material any better 20 years later than if you had learned it after initiation and I even doubt that this anticipation would necessarily make you more likely to stick around for senior year, but I just think that the once in a lifetime experience of being initiated is that much more spectacular the more you've looked forward to and anticipated it.