IU PNM Numbers

[RedRaider16]

Texas A&M (an SEC school) has had a rule (every year before this year) that if you make it to pref night, you'll be guaranteed a bid. So many girls rushed this year that they had to turn girls away, not anywhere near 1/2 of the girls (that's crazy) but some. I'd imagine the numbers this year were similar to what thetalady said, 85-90+% and a lot of snap bids.

[Titchou]

Originally Posted by RedRaider16

Texas A&M (an SEC school) has had a rule (every year before this year) that if you make it to pref night, you'll be guaranteed a bid. So many girls rushed this year that they had to turn girls away, not anywhere near 1/2 of the girls (that's crazy) but some. I'd imagine the numbers this year were similar to what thetalady said, 85-90+% and a lot of snap bids.

That guarantee is a result of NPC's RFM procedures, not an A & M specific one. So that attending pref and signing a bid card is a guarantee that you will get a bid to one of the groups whose pref you attended. Well, unless, of course, one strips or shows up drunk or high to pref...that can get you dropped. but all things being equal, you'll be one someone's bid list no matter what school you attend. No one was "turned away" due to the numbers. Women are released due to grade and other "considerations." And of course, there are always those women who drop out, even on Bid Day, for various reasons. But Indiana is the only school with a bed quota that requires so many women to be released due to lack of space.

[AZTheta]

And the question I continue to ask regarding bed rush at Indiana is "how do the participating NPC chapters' headquarters/leadership justify this practice for one campus only?" Because it appears to me that all are condoning the practice, since it continues.

No one here can answer that question.

[WhiteRose1912]

Originally Posted by AZTheta

And the question I continue to ask regarding bed rush at Indiana is "how do the participating NPC chapters' headquarters/leadership justify this practice for one campus only?" Because it appears to me that all are condoning the practice, since it continues.

No one here can answer that question.

Is there a UA saying that RFM must be used? If not, why can't collegians choose how they want their system to work? Don't get me wrong, I think their system is dated and ill-advised.

[Titchou]

Originally Posted by WhiteRose1912

Is there a UA saying that RFM must be used? If not, why can't collegians choose how they want their system to work? Don't get me wrong, I think their system is dated and ill-advised.

Well, they do use RFM. They just have a different way of setting quota. They use RFM for everthing else. It's sort of like starting with the end number and working backwards instead of starting with everyone and working down.

The reasons behind bed quota are very old and really don't apply today. Some of it has to do with housing them. But that's no longer valid. The main problems today are 1) getting past tradition - and this is the hardest one and 2) getting a formula for slowly increasing the new member class sizes so that the actives are not overwhelmed. Consider a house hold 100 members. So right now, in November, the house is full. Suppose they will graduate 35 members. And the house can handle the 100 for chapter meeting, dinner, etc. So jump forward to a NM class the size of one at Alabama (since their pool of PNMs is close in size) and try to cram 120 more people in - today - when they've never had that many before. They don't have procedures to pick who lives in. They ALL live in. They don't have schedules for meals. How can a chapter of 100 or so handle a NM class of 120? Once they are initiated, there is a power shift in the chapter....and the old members don't like that. All sorts of issues that have to be handled on a gradual trend, not over night. I'm not saying they shouldn't do it - they should. It's just they can't change overnight.

[AZTheta]

Originally Posted by Titchou

Well, they do use RFM. They just have a different way of setting quota. They use RFM for everthing else. It's sort of like starting with the end number and working backwards instead of starting with everyone and working down.

The reasons behind bed quota are very old and really don't apply today. Some of it has to do with housing them. But that's no longer valid. The main problems today are 1) getting past tradition - and this is the hardest one and 2) getting a formula for slowly increasing the new member class sizes so that the actives are not overwhelmed. Consider a house hold 100 members. So right now, in November, the house is full. Suppose they will graduate 35 members. And the house can handle the 100 for chapter meeting, dinner, etc. So jump forward to a NM class the size of one at Alabama (since their pool of PNMs is close in size) and try to cram 120 more people in - today - when they've never had that many before. They don't have procedures to pick who lives in. They ALL live in. They don't have schedules for meals. How can a chapter of 100 or so handle a NM class of 120? Once they are initiated, there is a power shift in the chapter....and the old members don't like that. All sorts of issues that have to be handled on a gradual trend, not over night. I'm not saying they shouldn't do it - they should. It's just they can't change overnight.

Thank you for your thoughtful comments. I suspect there are other strong reasons for the opposition. Your comments suggest that change needs to come very very gradually. Not a toggle switch type of change. I wonder that this system isn't an intentional anachronism in many ways.

[Titchou]

Originally Posted by AZTheta

Thank you for your thoughtful comments. I suspect there are other strong reasons for the opposition. Your comments suggest that change needs to come very very gradually. Not a toggle switch type of change. I wonder that this system isn't an intentional anachronism in many ways.

Exactly.

[DubaiSis]

And I think they are. A FEW chapters seem to be taking a FEW members beyond what can live in. Don't expect pledge classes of 100 at IU as the norm, but I think you'll see a handful of quota additions at most chapters (that is utterly unscientific thinking on my part - just conjecture). Some are going to keep a death-grip on the old style and that's their prerogative, but I think many of the chapters will start to see the value in allowing some or all of the seniors to live out. With the importance on MONEY right now as all of us grow nationwide, I think headquarters is going to start being more firm about allowing all available cash flow. Because yes this is about friends, sisterhood, leadership, parties. But it's also big business and there are some big-ass houses that need to be built around the country. And you need to make hay while the sun shines.

[pbear19]

Just checked some numbers, for anyone curious. Between 2009 and 2014, average individual quota increased by 5, from 42.5 to 47.7. Average chapter size has increased from 150 to 170. Total number of women receiving bids has increased from 789 to 1002, with big gains coming with new chapters.

Not what I would call a statistically significant change in the % of women who are ultimately matched. Over 6 years, an average of 59% of women who sign up for recruitment receive bids, and an average of 85% of women who attend preference receive bids. Some years better, some worse. No trend up or down.

[ComradesTrue]

Originally Posted by pbear19

Just checked some numbers, for anyone curious. Between 2009 and 2014, average individual quota increased by 5, from 42.5 to 47.7. Average chapter size has increased from 150 to 170. Total number of women receiving bids has increased from 789 to 1002, with big gains coming with new chapters.

Interesting stats. As a point of clarification: did the average individual quota rise simply because the 3 new chapters took larger classes compared to the other groups? Does that number include the colony class which would have been significantly larger? In other words, take those three groups fully out of the mix, and how do the quota numbers look over that same time period?

[pbear19]

I actually just took the "individual quota" number that each chapter submitted, and divided it by the number of chapters who participated in formal recruitment. So it doesn't account for any quota additions, or colonizations that happened outside of formal recruitment.

In 2009, the smallest reported "individual quota" was 29 and the largest was 55. In 2014, smallest was 37 and the largest was 74.

Not particularly scientific!! The newest chapter isn't included yet, because this will be their first year in FR.

Looking at just the 19 sororities that were there in 2009, from 2009 to 2014 based on total numbers immediately after formal recruitment:
1 stayed exactly the same
3 are smaller in 2014 than 2009
5 have 1-5 members more in 2014 than 2009
4 have 6-20 members more in 2014 than 2009
6 have 21+ members more in 2014 than 2009

Average chapter size for the older 19 chapters went from 149.6 in 2009 to 167.9 in 2014.

[KDMafia]

A woman in my church is a member of an IU sorority and she indicated that the discussions and opening up towards moving away from Bed Quota are starting although in very small ways. Mostly it looks like chapters are allowing seniors to live out, thus opening up more room but that still is not going to allow for maximum placement in any way. My guess is that, short of continuing expansions to help pick up the slack this is going to be a slow process.

[irishpipes]

Originally Posted by KDMafia

A woman in my church is a member of an IU sorority and she indicated that the discussions and opening up towards moving away from Bed Quota are starting although in very small ways. Mostly it looks like chapters are allowing seniors to live out, thus opening up more room but that still is not going to allow for maximum placement in any way. My guess is that, short of continuing expansions to help pick up the slack this is going to be a slow process.

Problem is, they've just about run out of sororities.

[navane]

Originally Posted by irishpipes

Problem is, they've just about run out of sororities.

Imagine a scenario where a campus has all 26 NPC sororities and still can't/won't achieve a high(er) placement rate.

[wsucalsigmakapp]

I know the numbers at Indiana and the bed quota is not a favorable situation. But, with a deferred recruitment, many women are released due to grades. I think that information should be included when mentioning that only 59% of women who signed up for recruitment receive a bid to join a chapter. The women that sign up for recruitment are responsible for making the grade requirements, the releases that happen due to grades are to be expected.