Suggestions for a new Recruitment Counselor?

[violetpretty]

Congratulations on being chosen as a Pi Chi!

Here are the links to my recruitment story as a PNM (since I talked about my Rho Gamma in it) and when I was a Rho Gamma.

One thing that I've noticed when I was a Rho Gamma (and it's a common theme around the country apparently), is that few Rho Gammas have full understanding of recruitment rules/bidmatching procedures/etc. and many give out misinformation as a result. My training way over-emphasized counseling at the expense of understanding bid matching. I took the initiative to ask the Panhellenic Advisor all of my questions so I knew I was equipped with the most accurate information I could have.

This usually manifests itself when a Rho Gamma will try to convince a PNM to rank all of her remaining options when the PNM doesn't want to. If a PNM would not show up on bid day, she shouldn't put it on her MRAA. It only boosts the school's placement stats. It hurts the chapter by having someone not show, it takes the place of another PNM that wanted to be there, and it binds the PNM to a chapter for a whole year.

Give PNMs accurate information so they understand the implications of their choices. Make sure you know how bid matching works inside and out. We've had so many sob stories on GC to the tune of "I put XYZ on my bid card even though I didn't want them because I was told I had to...can I still depledge and go through recruitment next semester?" Of course the answer is no. The rules don't bend for someone who was given misinformation.

[VandalSquirrel]

Originally Posted by violetpretty

Congratulations on being chosen as a Pi Chi!

Here are the links to my recruitment story as a PNM (since I talked about my Rho Gamma in it) and when I was a Rho Gamma.

One thing that I've noticed when I was a Rho Gamma (and it's a common theme around the country apparently), is that few Rho Gammas have full understanding of recruitment rules/bidmatching procedures/etc. and many give out misinformation as a result. My training way over-emphasized counseling at the expense of understanding bid matching. I took the initiative to ask the Panhellenic Advisor all of my questions so I knew I was equipped with the most accurate information I could have.

This usually manifests itself when a Rho Gamma will try to convince a PNM to rank all of her remaining options when the PNM doesn't want to. If a PNM would not show up on bid day, she shouldn't put it on her MRAA. It only boosts the school's placement stats. It hurts the chapter by having someone not show, it takes the place of another PNM that wanted to be there, and it binds the PNM to a chapter for a whole year.

Give PNMs accurate information so they understand the implications of their choices. Make sure you know how bid matching works inside and out. We've had so many sob stories on GC to the tune of "I put XYZ on my bid card even though I didn't want them because I was told I had to...can I still depledge and go through recruitment next semester?" Of course the answer is no. The rules don't bend for someone who was given misinformation.

Originally Posted by 33girl

I think this is the best suggestion yet. It seems like so much of rush nowadays takes place out in the open - I mean, we got invites in our private mailboxes at our dorms. We had sorority members come to our individual rooms to offer us bids, rather than having to "run" to them in public or open your bid cards in a huge room with all the other rushees (both of which sound absolutely barbaric to me). It's not just seeing what you didn't get, it's seeing the girls who DID get what they wanted being crazy happy and excited.

Re the "maximize your options" - be blunt. Let her know that she is binding herself for a year if she writes them down (even as her third choice) and ends up matching to them, but ALSO let her know (if this applies to your school) that not putting all her groups down may mean she might not be Greek at all. After that, it's her decision.

What they said, and please please please, always double check information for PNMs on policies. It may be embarrassing to say you don't know, but call the Panhellenic officers or admit you're wrong if it comes up.

I'd also say, if something seems really odd in a schedule, double check if you can, especially if women have similar names. Probably do this on the sly without telling the woman first, but it can happen with 8 spelling variations of the name Hailey or Brittany.