Pledge Education Course

[Royal_Blue_True]

Originally Posted by naraht

That's cool. I *might* add a general description of service projects which have been done regularly, but that's about all I can think of.

http://www.apo.org/site/site_files/pledgemanual.pdf

Previous pledge masters... Ouch.

Nice. I think I will include two projects from my pledge class, and one of our annual projects; I have the 2011-2012 Manual, which actually leads me to another question: Is another edition going to be put out?
I plan to assemble my binders for both Fall and Winter Pledge class at the same time, and I just want to make sure before I spend the chapters money on a MAJOR print job.

And yes, officer retention for my chapter sucks

[naraht]

Originally Posted by Royal_Blue_True

Nice. I think I will include two projects from my pledge class, and one of our annual projects; I have the 2011-2012 Manual, which actually leads me to another question: Is another edition going to be put out?
I plan to assemble my binders for both Fall and Winter Pledge class at the same time, and I just want to make sure before I spend the chapters money on a MAJOR print job.

And yes, officer retention for my chapter sucks

As opposed to back in the 1950s, over the last 30 years, the Fraternity has put out one pledge manual for each convention cycle. So a new pledge manual won't be produced until after the 2012 convention. The one on apo.org is good for this fall.

Fall and Winter pledge classes? Is Wayne State on a quarter system or is the Winter pledge class the one that starts in January/February?

As for the pledge manuals, you can order those from the National Office for free, pick a large enough number that you are sure and order them. Beats having to have the chapter pay for printing...

[Royal_Blue_True]

Originally Posted by naraht

As opposed to back in the 1950s, over the last 30 years, the Fraternity has put out one pledge manual for each convention cycle. So a new pledge manual won't be produced until after the 2012 convention. The one on apo.org is good for this fall.

Fall and Winter pledge classes? Is Wayne State on a quarter system or is the Winter pledge class the one that starts in January/February?

As for the pledge manuals, you can order those from the National Office for free, pick a large enough number that you are sure and order them. Beats having to have the chapter pay for printing...

Wayne is on the semester system, The Winter pledge class is the one that starts January/February.
So I am guessing that it would be wise to wait on the winter binder assembly, since convention is in December, right?

I asked the chapter president to order the manuals for me. I feel like 20 would be a fairly decent number if we are ordering for fall and winter, half that if we only order for one semester.

I should look this up, but just in case I can't find it: Do chapters have to pay s&h?

You are sooo helpful by the way; sometimes I feel like no one in my chapter knows anymore than I do and that I am just shooting wildly into air, hoping I hit something!

[arvid1978]

Originally Posted by Royal_Blue_True

Wayne is on the semester system, The Winter pledge class is the one that starts January/February.
So I am guessing that it would be wise to wait on the winter binder assembly, since convention is in December, right?

I asked the chapter president to order the manuals for me. I feel like 20 would be a fairly decent number if we are ordering for fall and winter, half that if we only order for one semester.

I should look this up, but just in case I can't find it: Do chapters have to pay s&h?

You are sooo helpful by the way; sometimes I feel like no one in my chapter knows anymore than I do and that I am just shooting wildly into air, hoping I hit something!

Chapters do have to pay for Shipping & Handling, so if you have stuff to order it is best to package as much as you can. I always recommend chapters order:

- Enough pledge books for this semester and next (just in case you get a large pledge class, and so you have ex
- 100 of the "Leave college with more than a degree" and 100 of the "Make college more rewarding" pamphlets for recruitment tables
- Enough pledge pins to up the chapter supply to cover your pledges

One of my chapters just made this order, and I think shipping came out to $15 or $18 (they ordered 40 pledge books)

-Justin

[Royal_Blue_True]

Originally Posted by arvid1978

Chapters do have to pay for Shipping & Handling, so if you have stuff to order it is best to package as much as you can. I always recommend chapters order:

- Enough pledge books for this semester and next (just in case you get a large pledge class, and so you have ex
- 100 of the "Leave college with more than a degree" and 100 of the "Make college more rewarding" pamphlets for recruitment tables
- Enough pledge pins to up the chapter supply to cover your pledges

One of my chapters just made this order, and I think shipping came out to $15 or $18 (they ordered 40 pledge books)

-Justin

Forgot ALL ABOUT the pins. Before I left my post as treasurer, I was supposed to authorize a pin purchase

That is perfect, that only takes 20 out of my overall budget for pledge education!!! w00t!

Also the recruiting pamphlets are an excellent idea Justin. I will talk to our membership chair about that!

All my Brothers are amazing Lifesavers! I am learning so much from everyone!

[naraht]

My guess is that the changes in the pledge manual after convention won't be complete before pledging starts and even if it is available as a PDF, it may not be as a hard copy version from the National Office. Maybe they've gotten better, I don't know.

(If the national board went after chapters for either using old pledge manuals or old pledge rituals in the winter/spring after convention, there wouldn't be much of a fraternity left).

[Royal_Blue_True]

That is perfect, I won't wait then.
My chapter has a requirement that the pledges complete 3 Tests and a Final Exam.
On each test I give 20 questions; half multiple choice and half short answer. The pledges have 30 minutes to complete each test. I haven't gotten to the Final Exam yet.

But are the test requirements reasonable? I don't want to overwhelm the pledges.