Where are all the Potential PNMs?

[AnchorAlumna]

I've had an interest in doing recs since I was in college - don't know why, it's some obsessive desire to fill out forms!

Recruitment is a crazy time, especially if it's a very competitive school. You have chapters pledge girls they had no original intention of pledging...cut girls that nobody can remember...drop girls that nobody voted against...no matter how many times it's written here or discussed girl-to-girl, it's STILL the CHAPTER'S RESPONSIBILITY to get a rec.

Yes, I still believe that. A chapter has years to build up a network of alumnae contacts. If the sponsorship officer is doing her job, and her committee is helping her, there's no reason they can't find an alum sponsor 70 to 85% of the time. The PNM should not have to feel like it's all on her!

The other 30 to 15% of the time? That would be the gals from small towns with no nearby alum...from faraway states...military families who move a lot...100% is idea, but it's never going to happen.

So....you do the best you can, and leave the rest to the chapter to judge.

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by AnchorAlumna

No matter how many times it's written here or discussed girl-to-girl, it's STILL the CHAPTER'S RESPONSIBILITY to get a rec.

Yes, I still believe that. A chapter has years to build up a network of alumnae contacts. If the sponsorship officer is doing her job, and her committee is helping her, there's no reason they can't find an alum sponsor 70 to 85% of the time. The PNM should not have to feel like it's all on her!


So....you do the best you can, and leave the rest to the chapter to judge.

I know that all of the SEC school's Panhellenic websites say "it is the CHAPTER'S RESPONSIBILITY TO GET RECS."

However, I find that in most cases (and this has been confirmed by several SEC GCers), the chapter IS NOT going to do it.

Sure, they'll do it for some of the girls, but think about how many PNMs there are. They just can't find one for everyone.

That's where finding them yourself comes in.

Also, I find that MOST of the girls who rush at the bigger SEC schools know the "inside scoop" in terms of the chapter securing recs. So they already know to try and get them.

Unforunately, the girls who are not "in the know" (1st generation college students, small town girls, etc) tend to actually believe the official word from Panhellenic and think that every chapter is going to take care of it and they don't need to worry about it.

I'd imagine that these are the girls who get cut the heaviest. This is part of the reason why I WISH that some of the school's Panhellenics would start just being honest with PNMs and saying something like "Chapter can't secure recs for every girl, so try your best to secure them on your own."

[FSUZeta]

while it is stated that it ultimately is the chapters responsibility to find a recommendation for a pnm, i see that happening for girls who are offered bids and who did not have a rec. prior to recruitment starting.

pnms without recs. in a competitive recruitment at a popular(with the pnms)house, often do not fair so well.

[AnchorAlumna]

Originally Posted by FSUZeta

pnms without recs. in a competitive recruitment at a popular(with the pnms)house, often do not fair so well.

Very true, but PNMs WITH recs often don't fare well, either.

As we all know, having a rec, like being a legacy, is a guarantee of nothing.

[Zillini]

Originally Posted by AnchorAlumna

I've had an interest in doing recs since I was in college - don't know why, it's some obsessive desire to fill out forms!

Recruitment is a crazy time, especially if it's a very competitive school. You have chapters pledge girls they had no original intention of pledging...cut girls that nobody can remember...drop girls that nobody voted against...no matter how many times it's written here or discussed girl-to-girl, it's STILL the CHAPTER'S RESPONSIBILITY to get a rec.

Yes, I still believe that. A chapter has years to build up a network of alumnae contacts. If the sponsorship officer is doing her job, and her committee is helping her, there's no reason they can't find an alum sponsor 70 to 85% of the time. The PNM should not have to feel like it's all on her!

The other 30 to 15% of the time? That would be the gals from small towns with no nearby alum...from faraway states...military families who move a lot...100% is idea, but it's never going to happen.

So....you do the best you can, and leave the rest to the chapter to judge.

While I agree with you in theory, reality can be quite different -- at least for a large SEC campus. Let's look at some real life #'s from 2008 at Bama. There were roughly 1600 PNMs. My chapter received Recs on about 1000 of these women, leaving 600 without. For the chapter to find 75% of the missing Recs, that's still 450 Recs we would need to track down.

Also keep in mind that the majority of PNMs didn't start signing up for Recruitment until the about mid June, plus they have right up until the night before Recruitment starts to sign up. What's known as the "Rec flood" starts in July. So if a chapter were responsible for finding Recs, there's no point in even starting until at least mid to late July. That would leave only a very few weeks to track down those 450 Recs

Considering that most of PNMs from Alabama and the surrounding states know the importance of Recs on this campus, it's pretty fair to say the majority of those PNMs without are from a few states away. Yes we have built up a network of known alumnae who we can call for help out of the blue, but I'm sorry to say our network doesn't extend that far.