Joining a Different NPC?

[When Doves Cry]

Maybe everyone should wait until the beginning of 2nd semester to hold formal recruitment. That way, all the freshmen get a chance to get used to college life and have a starting GPA already set. And then they could initiate at the end of the semester, just before summer, so they get to know the chapters they are pledging and get used to greek life & see if it's what they want before they initiate.

[carnation]

^^^ Total disaster for the big Southern schools.

[33girl]

It would be a disaster for one year until the housing overlap got figured out and then everyone would learn how to deal. I'm sure when Arkansas changed lfrom being a bed rush school they said that was a disaster... I'm sure when Ole Miss delayed their rush that was a disaster... They still have huge pledge classes there. You figure out your housing so that you don't bankrupt yourself and/or don't have to force freshman to rush before they are ready. I don't know how we can say we're about academics, and then urge women to pledge before they are even acclimated to school or have taken even one class.

My pledge program was 6 weeks and that was fine... We also had five pledges and thirty-five sisters at the time. I can't imagine doing that with even a chapter of 75, let alone those in the hundreds

[carnation]

Originally Posted by 33girl

It would be a disaster for one year until the housing overlap got figured out and then everyone would learn how to deal. I'm sure when Arkansas changed lfrom being a bed rush school they said that was a disaster... I'm sure when Ole Miss delayed their rush that was a disaster... They still have huge pledge classes there. You figure out your housing so that you don't bankrupt yourself and/or don't have to force freshman to rush before they are ready. I don't know how we can say we're about academics, and then urge women to pledge before they are even acclimated to school or have taken even one class.

33, you can go on about that until you're blue in the face but *the way we do it is the way that works for us*. The sororities' GPAs are significantly above the universities' women's averages and study hours have a lot to do with that--thank God for study hours that teach new members how to study and get them in a routine!

Plus our schools tend to go back right after New Year and trying to conduct a rush that wouldn't have women missing classes? No way! It would be about 4 months long to try to fit in all the parties as well.

The only disaster about Arkansas dropping their bed rush/sophomore rush was according to some Arkansas women, "Now we can't be as exclusive anymore." There was massive cheating as far as contact with freshmen. Sorority members were required to have "Coke dates" with a certain number of rushees over the summer and believe me, that got screwed up.

Most of my daughters pledged as freshmen and we're glad they did. They had groups to belong to right off to orient them to campus and give them a sense of belonging

[Cheerio]

Originally Posted by When Doves Cry

Maybe everyone should wait until the beginning of 2nd semester to hold formal recruitment. That way, all the freshmen get a chance to get used to college life and have a starting GPA already set. And then they could initiate at the end of the semester, just before summer, so they get to know the chapters they are pledging and get used to greek life & see if it's what they want before they initiate.

Originally Posted by carnation

^^^ Total disaster for the big Southern schools.

A lot of thoughts here:

What is the percentage of NPC-Initiated young women dropping-out of school due to poor grades before graduating?

Are there corresponding figures regarding only newly-initiated NPC members who drop out of school due to grades before beginning their second year at university?

Might NPC thus have an interest in making a change over a period of 6-10 years, initiating and keeping quality women within their ranks?

I would suspect cold Northern schools might object to snowy recruitments, but as I and others believe Change Is Good.

Quota/total numbers may become more manageable (IE may lower) under a 2nd semester recruitment requirement.

Referring to bolded/quoted above, the percentage of women allowed to rush after 1st semester grades are given would not excessively drop due to bad grades as women understand the goal: Study To Rush.

[irishpipes]

Originally Posted by Cheerio

A lot of thoughts here:

What is the percentage of NPC-Initiated young women dropping-out of school due to poor grades before graduating?

Are there corresponding figures regarding only newly-initiated NPC members who drop out of school due to grades before beginning their second year at university?

Might NPC thus have an interest in making a change over a period of 6-10 years, initiating and keeping quality women within their ranks?

I would suspect cold Northern schools might object to snowy recruitments, but as I and others believe Change Is Good.

Quota/total numbers may become more manageable (IE may lower) under a 2nd semester recruitment requirement.

Referring to bolded/quoted above, the percentage of women allowed to rush after 1st semester grades are given would not excessively drop due to bad grades as women understand the goal: Study To Rush.

Yet the overwhelming majority of deferred recruitments are in colder places...

[NutBrnHair]

Anyway, back to the topic... I think the "lifetime membership" piece of joining an NPC group falls on deaf ears too often. Some of these young women act like they are joining a health club and want to change to another one after a few weeks!

[Munchkin03]

Originally Posted by NutBrnHair

Anyway, back to the topic... I think the "lifetime membership" piece of joining an NPC group falls on deaf ears too often. Some of these young women act like they are joining a health club and want to change to another one after a few weeks!

This is part of a much larger issue...young women wouldn't treat it like a health club if there wasn't a precedent for that. The active NPC alumnae here on GC are really the exception and not the rule.

What can we do to encourage the understanding that membership is a lifetime commitment? We see far too many women say, "well, I was an ABC in college." What can we learn from other organizations and councils?

[KSUViolet06]

In terms of lifetime membership:

There is also a level of burnout among collegians depending on their chapter size and issues their chapter had. Example: If you were in a really small chapter that required everyone to hold an office, and were President for two years, VP for one, and Membership Recruitment Director for one, you are most likely not going to jump into an alumna chapter or involvement right away.

I have been FAR more active as an alumna than I ever was as a collegian. I joined as a second semester sophomore and was only active for 2.5 years. I was heavily involved in another org and really only held chair positions in Sigma.

Since becoming an alumna in 2006, I have held a regional or national level volunteer position and attended Convention and Volunteer Summit twice, and have had NO period of inactivity.

I think that my alumna involvement is largely due to me NOT being a Sigma all four years of college. I just didn't have the time to become as burned out as some of the women who were "all Sigma all the time" for four years.

This is also why I am a proponent of chapters considering upperclassmen whenever possible. Some of our strongest and most active alumnae women weren't Sigmas all four years of college. Sophomores and juniors can be some real diamonds in the rough.

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

In terms of lifetime membership:

There is also a level of burnout among collegians depending on their chapter size and issues their chapter had. Example: If you were in a really small chapter that required everyone to hold an office, and were President for two years, VP for one, and Membership Recruitment Director for one, you are most likely not going to jump into an alumna chapter or involvement right away.

I have been FAR more active as an alumna than I ever was as a collegian. I joined as a second semester sophomore and was only active for 2.5 years. I was heavily involved in another org and really only held chair positions in Sigma.

Since becoming an alumna in 2006, I have held a regional or national level volunteer position and attended Convention and Volunteer Summit twice, and have had NO period of inactivity.

I think that my alumna involvement is largely due to me NOT being a Sigma all four years of college. I just didn't have the time to become as burned out as some of the women who were "all Sigma all the time" for four years.

This is also why I am a proponent of chapters considering upperclassmen whenever possible. Some of our strongest and most active alumnae women weren't Sigmas all four years of college. Sophomores and juniors can be some real diamonds in the rough.

Interesting observation.

However, I think… it really just depends.

I came from one of those small chapters. I also joined as a second semester sophomore and in the time I was active I held the positions of Bylaws, Secretary, New Member Educator, Panhellenic VP, and Panhellenic President. For the most part, we only had between 8-12 sisters (not including new members), so we were holding two or more positions at once. And everyone had to pitch in and help each other when big events came up (recruitment, formal, pageant, etc.).

After graduation, I got involved as the chapter's Recruitment Advisor as soon as I could. I assisted in starting up the Erie Alumnae Chapter. I then moved to NJ where there was no alumnae chapter in the immediate area (and I had a job that kept me traveling most of the time, anyway), but then a couple years later I moved to Texas and got involved with the alumnae chapter there. I was elected to the Secretary position. In addition, I'm now the Lead Editor for the national magazine.

There is such a mix of alumnae involvement from my chapter sisters and how long they were involved as collegians. In the time I was active/the Recruitment Advisor, I saw three different Presidents make their way through. Each of them held the position for two years. One of them joined second semester freshman year, and two of them joined in their sophomore year. The freshman-joiner was basically AST's cheerleader and best recruitment asset while she was a collegian, but she dropped off the face of the earth after she graduated. One of the sophomore-joiners also assisted in starting the Erie Alumnae Chapter, but in the middle of that process, she also disappeared. The last of the three worked her butt off for the sorority in college, worked as an Educational Consultant after graduation, and has moved her way up working at Headquarters in a couple different positions.

I know of two chapter sisters who joined in their second semester senior year. One of them did nothing with the sorority after graduation; the other was the one who really got the Alumnae Chapter off the ground and made it as successful as it is today. She made it known that she wanted to join so that she could contribute as an alumna member.

There were five new members in my class. All of us were at the same point in our college careers (second semester sophomores) when we joined, except one who was a junior. One of the girls dropped out almost immediately after initiation, two others haven't been involved after graduation at all (one of which was the junior-joiner), and two of us have worked as advisors and have been involved with alumnae chapters.

Again… I think it just all depends. But I have definitely witnessed the burnout, and I can understand why that would turn some people away. However, there are others who still think, "If I don't do it, no one will," or they move to a new place and want to make some fast friends, or they just love the sorority and want to do anything they can to help, and they just keep on keeping on and find out that alumnae membership is completely different than collegiate membership.

[33girl]

Then if it is so "impossible" I agree completely with bringing back the option for chapters to pick the length of pledge period that works for them. I'd rather see a girl drop after 9 weeks and before initiating if she realizes the school or the chapter is not for her. Heck, I agree with that if no one can rush till they're a junior.

If you give someone something instantly it's no wonder they think they can jettison it just as quickly.

[exlurker]

Originally Posted by irishpipes

Yet the overwhelming majority of deferred recruitments are in colder places...

irishpipes, you beat me to it.