Indiana Recruitment

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Originally Posted by DubaiSis

KSUViolet, that is an EXCELLENT explanation of competition. At schools were there are basically no grade cuts because college entry requirements are higher than typical sorority minimums, technically every single girl could get placed. And really, at a school like Bama, with 75% placement rates and a substantial number of those being dropouts or SIPs, the numbers lend themselves to really very few girls getting cut completely.

The "competition" aspect that most girls are thinking of really only applies to IU and Nebraska, but since nobody seems to complain about Nebraska, the number of girls interested must match desired chapter sizes.

Refresh my memory...does Nebraska also use a bed quota?

[TSteven]

Originally Posted by DeltaBetaBaby

Refresh my memory...does Nebraska also use a bed quota?

Yes. However, my understanding is each chapter may (if they want) also bid over the number of beds. The formula is based on the number of PNMs at preference, less the number of “beds” divided by the number of chapters.

So as an example, say 100 PNMs make it to preference and there were three chapters (just to make the math easy).

ABC has 20 bed spots
DEF has 17 bed spots
XYZ has 33 bed spots

70 total bed spots between all three chapters.

Using the formula above, this is how is should play out.

100 PNMs less 70 bed spots = 30 total PNM additions. 30 total PNM additions divided by 3 chapters = 10 additions per chapter.

Thus ABC could pledge 30 (20 bed spots plus 10 additions)
DEF could pledge 27 (17 bed spots plus 10 additions)
XYZ could pledge 43 (33 bed spots plus 10 additions)

ETA: I am not sure how this works, but Lincoln (where the University of Nebraska is located) women are (were) considered “free” PNMs. Meaning they didn’t count toward the bed total. I don’t know if Lincoln women were part of the additions or a separate number.

By the way, UNL changed the way recruitment is conducted this year. So I don’t know if these quotas, additions and “free” Lincoln women still apply.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Originally Posted by TSteven

Yes. However, my understanding is each chapter may (if they want) also bid over the number of beds. The formula is based on the number of PNMs at preference, less the number of “beds” divided by the number of chapters.

So as an example, say 100 PNMs make it to preference and there were three chapters (just to make the math easy).

ABC has 20 bed spots
DEF has 17 bed spots
XYZ has 33 bed spots

70 total bed spots between all three chapters.

Using the formula above, this is how is should play out.

100 PNMs less 70 bed spots = 30 total PNM additions. 30 total PNM additions divided by 3 chapters = 10 additions per chapter.

Thus ABC could pledge 30 (20 bed spots plus 10 additions)
DEF could pledge 27 (17 bed spots plus 10 additions)
XYZ could pledge 43 (33 bed spots plus 10 additions)

Okay, so ultimately, there are enough spots for all of the women going through, they just allocate them among the chapters in a non-standard way.

[TSteven]

Originally Posted by DeltaBetaBaby

Okay, so ultimately, there are enough spots for all of the women going through, they just allocate them among the chapters in a non-standard way.

If all chapters take the additions then in theory, yes there are enough spots for all of the women going through. However, my understanding is that not all chapters take all the possible additions every year - unless their classes are relatively even.

The theory (reason) being the chapter may not want "too large" of a freshman class “now” in case the overall PNM pool happens to be smaller down the line. If that were to happen (a smaller pool after a large number of members graduate), then it is possible that a chapter might have more “open beds” than PNMs.

ETA: The "...unless their classes are relatively even" above, refers to bed spots.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Originally Posted by TSteven

If all chapters take the additions then in theory, yes there are enough spots for all of the women going through. However, my understanding is that not all chapters take all the possible additions every year - unless their classes are relatively even.

The theory (reason) being the chapter may not want "too large" of a freshman class “now” in case the overall PNM pool happens to be smaller down the line. If that were to happen (a smaller pool after a large number of members graduate), then it is possible that a chapter might have more “open beds” than PNMs.

Um, that makes no sense whatsoever. If there is a small PNM pool, it doesn't matter whether 20 of your members or 30 of your members just graduated.

[TSteven]

Originally Posted by DeltaBetaBaby

Um, that makes no sense whatsoever. If there is a small PNM pool, it doesn't matter whether 20 of your members or 30 of your members just graduated.

Sorry, I am sure I am not explaining it correctly.

Again, for potential ease of discussion, say a chapter has 60 bed spaces which is allocated evenly to 20 bed spaces per academic year. In other words, 20 sophomores (Class of 2014), 20 juniors (Class of 2013) and 20 seniors (Class of 2012) live in.

Now this past rush (fall of 2011), the bed quota would have been 20 based on the number of graduating seniors in spring of 2012. Say with additions, the chapter pledges 30 women (the Class of 2015). And over the next two to three years, all members of the Class of 2015 move into the chapter house thus increasing the number of bed spots for that one class to 30. And decreasing the number of beds for other classes. Meaning not as many sophomores or juniors would be able to live in the house. That can be viewed as a negitive at UNL since most women do want to live in.

Then when Nebraska’s fall 2014 recruitment comes around, the “bed quota” would be 30 based on the senior class membership of 30. While the chapter could still pledge up to 30 as their bed quota, they may not be able to get to that number simply because the overall pool is lower that year. This chapter would then be competing with all the UNL chapters who also need to fill their beds as well. And if a chapter does not fill their beds, they may be perceived as having issues.

Does that make sense? I can “see it” in my head, but I am not sure if I am explaining it well.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Originally Posted by TSteven

Sorry, I am sure I am not explaining it correctly.

Again, for potential ease of discussion, say a chapter has 60 bed spaces which is allocated evenly to 20 bed spaces per academic year. In other words, 20 sophomores (Class of 2014), 20 juniors (Class of 2013) and 20 seniors (Class of 2012) live in.

Now this past rush (fall of 2011), the bed quota would have been 20 based on the number of graduating seniors in spring of 2012. Say with additions, the chapter pledges 30 women (the Class of 2015). And over the next two to three years, all members of the Class of 2015 move into the chapter house thus increasing the number of bed spots for that one class to 30. And decreasing the number of beds for other classes. Meaning not as many sophomores or juniors would be able to live in the house. That can be viewed as a negitive at UNL since most women do want to live in.

Then when Nebraska’s fall 2014 recruitment comes around, the “bed quota” would be 30 based on the senior class membership of 30. While the chapter could still pledge up to 30 as their bed quota, they may not be able to get to that number simply because the overall pool is lower that year. This chapter would then be competing with all the UNL chapters who also need to fill their beds as well. And if a chapter does not fill their beds, they may be perceived as having issues.

Does that make sense? I can “see it” in my head, but I am not sure if I am explaining it well.

Ah, okay, you are saying that taking more this year means you can take fewer next year. That's something different, and yes, it makes sense.

[Herbie]

Originally Posted by TSteven

Yes. However, my understanding is each chapter may (if they want) also bid over the number of beds. The formula is based on the number of PNMs at preference, less the number of “beds” divided by the number of chapters.

So as an example, say 100 PNMs make it to preference and there were three chapters (just to make the math easy).

ABC has 20 bed spots
DEF has 17 bed spots
XYZ has 33 bed spots

70 total bed spots between all three chapters.

Using the formula above, this is how is should play out.

100 PNMs less 70 bed spots = 30 total PNM additions. 30 total PNM additions divided by 3 chapters = 10 additions per chapter.

Thus ABC could pledge 30 (20 bed spots plus 10 additions)
DEF could pledge 27 (17 bed spots plus 10 additions)
XYZ could pledge 43 (33 bed spots plus 10 additions)

ETA: I am not sure how this works, but Lincoln (where the University of Nebraska is located) women are (were) considered “free” PNMs. Meaning they didn’t count toward the bed total. I don’t know if Lincoln women were part of the additions or a separate number.

By the way, UNL changed the way recruitment is conducted this year. So I don’t know if these quotas, additions and “free” Lincoln women still apply.

I am a long time lurker and felt like I should come out of the woodwork to clear things up about recruitment at Nebraska. I had heard that recruitment changed a bit at UNL this year so I am not sure if this is still how quota works or not. From what I hear though, the changes were mostly to the structure of recruitment (i.e. no more skits, visiting all houses first round instead of presentations at the Union, no food at parties).

The earlier theories on quota at Nebraska are way more complicated than reality. There is no bed quota. Very rarely do freshmen move into the house. Most women move in the Fall of their sophomore year. This is how quote was determined at least 5 years ago. After pref, Greek Affairs take a look at all of the women who attended and come up with a new campus total. I have no idea how this was done but in theory it would allow for all women who attended pref to get a bid. Each chapter's quota would then be the number of new members that chapter needs to meet total. It's as simple as that. If a chapter had a large senior class graduate the previous spring then most likely, that chapter would take a large pledge class. If a chapter had a small senior class the previous spring and had good retention, they would only need a small pledge class to reach total. Quota additions are available and taken pretty regularly. The houses on campus are all very similar in the total number of members as quota is determined based upon the new total determined in the Fall. Greek Affairs is great about working their hardest to place every woman who goes through recruitment.

Here is a link to the semester reports for all UNL greek chapters. If you look at them, you can see chapter totals and pledges each semester.
http://www.unl.edu/greek/semester_report.shtml

Also, women from Lincoln are not "free". They count towards quota just like everyone else. I have heard stories from alums that a long time ago, women from Lincoln were not allowed to live in the house.