Not Making Quota

[dphies00]

Hey - time for my two cents and a story...

Some chapters choose to invite women back to keep their retention rates high. ABC invites back the maximum amount allowed during formal recruitment. They're a very popular chapter on campus, so their parties are always full. Pref Night rolls around and their parties are full - but they're surpirsed to find that a few of their rush crushes went to other houses. They have some of the best and the brightest women going through rush. Oh and oops, they have a couple of people that slipped by, but hey, they had a 87% retention rate on their invites back.

Then Bid Day rolls around. They are shocked to see that their bid list is made up of three girls from their first bid list and the rest of their new members are from their second bid list, and some barely made it. They got quota but most of their rush crushes went to other houses and they have eight new members that they never even wanted as sisters. But - they got quota.

So then there's another chapter, XYZ on this campus. Throughout rush, they've been consistently cutting about 35% of the women that come to their parties. This is harsh cutting for them as their retention rates are around 25-35%. They did not make quota - 2 short. However, they don't invite back anyone they do not want to "pay to be their sisters." (yes, we use this phrase as a standard during rush - would you pay to hang out with this rushee?) After rush ends, sisters of ABC come up to three new members of XYZ and ask where they were on bid night. Eight days after rush, four new members of ABC depledged - two that were hated and two that ABC liked but were friends of the unliked new members.

Who wins in this situation? Slippery slope...

Not making quota is not the tragedy that some sororities make it out to be. Sometimes its worse to make quota and not get the new members you want. If anything, if a large amount of sororities make quota on campus - as mine did last week - then it shows that Panhel is doing something right. Sorority rush is being promoted, not specfic chapters. Greek Life is attractive as many women feel comfortable signing up for rush. And the chapters themselves have confidence and realize that women want to join them.

Quality comes first and quantity follows.

[shadokat]

I agree with a lot of the points made here, I just have seen that slippery slope so many times, that it's sort of frightening to say that not making quota isn't a big deal. Look how we are talking on other threads that this group made quota and so did this one and praising them. And when we see a group didn't make quota, we say "sorry!".

Also, not making quota is ok I guess, if you're then COBing to hit quota and/or total. But how often does that happen at large schools where COB is "stigma". I guess you can look at this in many different ways, but if you don't hit quota, and you don't COB to hit that number, then your group won't remain at the standards it's had in the past, and that causes a world of problems, as many of us can attest to.

[carnation]

I stumbled upon this old thread about making quota. This is a fabulous discussion and I especially liked the points brought up by dphies00.

It's hard! You want quality over quantity but you have to maintain your "image" or live up to the number your national demands. And no group wants to pledge a woman who's pretty much disliked by everyone but there's that number you have to reach...

I would say that the only thing that has changed in 20 years is that it seems to be less embarrassing to COB. Lately, I've noticed that several chapters who never would have done so years ago are picking up COB members and announcing it on Instagram, to the point that I might advise women who drop out of recruitment to sign up for COB. Their options would be a lot wider than they were at the end of formal recruitment.

[FSUZeta]

Originally Posted by carnation

I would say that the only thing that has changed in 20 years is that it seems to be less embarrassing to COB. Lately, I've noticed that several chapters who never would have done so years ago are picking up COB members and announcing it on Instagram, to the point that I might advise women who drop out of recruitment to sign up for COB. Their options would be a lot wider than they were at the end of formal recruitment.

This. I, too, have noticed many more chapters announcing COB classes, instead of being so hush-hush about it, as was done in the past. I still advise PNMs to attend all parties through preference round, and THEN, if they could truly not see themselves in their remaining choices, remove themselves from rush.

[Cheerio]

Originally Posted by carnation

I would say that the only thing that has changed in 20 years is that it seems to be less embarrassing to COB. Lately, I've noticed that several chapters who never would have done so years ago are picking up COB members and announcing it on Instagram, to the point that I might advise women who drop out of recruitment to sign up for COB. Their options would be a lot wider than they were at the end of formal recruitment.

Originally Posted by FSUZeta

This. I, too, have noticed many more chapters announcing COB classes, instead of being so hush-hush about it, as was done in the past. I still advise PNMs to attend all parties through preference round, and THEN, if they could truly not see themselves in their remaining choices, remove themselves from rush.

A larger sense of belonging to the chapter may be instilled in new COB members by this new growth in social media postings pertaining to COB classes.

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by carnation

I would say that the only thing that has changed in 20 years is that it seems to be less embarrassing to COB. Lately, I've noticed that several chapters who never would have done so years ago are picking up COB members and announcing it on Instagram, to the point that I might advise women who drop out of recruitment to sign up for COB. Their options would be a lot wider than they were at the end of formal recruitment.

Originally Posted by FSUZeta

This. I, too, have noticed many more chapters announcing COB classes, instead of being so hush-hush about it, as was done in the past. I still advise PNMs to attend all parties through preference round, and THEN, if they could truly not see themselves in their remaining choices, remove themselves from rush.

Having studied Gen Z extensively, this doesn't surprise me at all.

I clearly couldnt post all the resources that will tell you everything you need to know about this generation, but this is a start:

https://blog.phiredup.com/recruiting...sorority-life/

Based on the overall timing and circumstances of when they grew up, they're tech-savvy, looking for a cause to support, careful with how and on what they spend their money, and they're yearning for meaningful connections.

Those last two points are important, and it doesn't appear nowadays that a portion of potential members are willing to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on an organization when they've only had a few 30-min conversations with a handful of sisters they were paired with randomly.

That's not to say we should shut the entire system down as we know it, but it seems more recently there are a lot more women who are looking for the more personal connection one gets through COB.

In general, members of Gen Z want less structure and conformity, but they're looking for a sense of community. They prefer individual tasks and learning but want to avoid isolation. They're entrepreneurial and want to invest in things they deem worthy. They want a "work-life balance." They're not looking for recognition and accolades but for meaning in what they do.

How does sorority life cater to all of this, and how does it push away the new members of today?

[carnation]

This depiction of Gen Z makes them sound awfully self-centered, much more than previous generations.

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by carnation

This depiction of Gen Z makes them sound awfully self-centered, much more than previous generations.

How so?

[carnation]

This whole thing is me, me, me. Several of my own children are Gen Z and I hope they never act like this, all "what can you do for me?"

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by carnation

This whole thing is me, me, me. Several of my own children are Gen Z and I hope they never act like this, all "what can you do for me?"

Me, me, me? Again, wondering why you're interpreting it that way.

Longing for personal connections, working for meaningful causes, and spending their money on things they deem worthy - after growing up through the recession of 2008, the COVID pandemic, and paying more for college than any generation before them by a long shot - doesn't scream self-centered and selfish to me.

[carnation]

Like I said, I'm seeing, "What can you do for me?" These are the kids who are quitting Greek life in droves after soph or junior year because they want to live off campus and they never thought they would actually be required to live in the house, even though they knew it was the rule. This is only in recent years. These are the kids who have decorators come in and do their dorm rooms freshman year, the kids who consider how fancy the dorms are when they're choosing a college.

I have seen this as a parent, teacher, and professor over the last several years and it's disheartening.

[Titchou]

Originally Posted by carnation

I have seen this as a parent, teacher, and professor over the last several years and it's disheartening.

We sure are going to have a lot to talk about!

[AGDee]

Being relatively close to a lot of Gen Zs at home and at work, I would say that we were far more "about me" than they are. We worked a job that gave us a good salary and whether we liked it or not was not important, leaving many of us horribly burned out and cynical. Gen Zs are doing things that MATTER regardless of pay. I don't see that as selfish- I see it as quite the opposite. They want to work for companies who are doing things to better the world, non-profits, etc. over big corporate conglomerations who are only there to make rich people richer. They are not afraid to break out of traditional work situations to start their own businesses and give themselves flexibility so they have time to do volunteer work or spend time with their families. I think they are much healthier.

Back to the other topic though- I think COB is more acceptable because they are re-setting Total after every formal recruitment and more chapters are below that Total as a result. There were campuses I worked with (including my own) who NEVER changed Total so the big chapters stayed pretty big and the smaller chapters stayed small because they couldn't COB over certain numbers. Quota would be 15 and 3 chapters took 15 but the other 3 took less than 10 and they could never get to the 60 members the larger chapters had because the larger chapters insisted Total stay at 40. It was crazy. Re-setting Total every year helps that a lot.

Especially during the pandemic, I really have a hard time seeing what greek life is offering to young people that they can't get elsewhere. It's getting ridiculously expensive for kids who are already taking out a ton of student loans to be in school. The housing is significantly more expensive than other off campus housing options. There are so many student organizations and residential living options at a lot of campuses that don't carry the cost. We have to really figure out what young people are looking for from greek life these days.

[AnchorAlumna]

Originally Posted by 33girl

As I have said before, for me it is more about retention. What is the point of making quota by hook or by crook, just to say "we made quota" and then having half those girls drop out before initiation because the sorority isn't what they were promised during rush? On the other side of the coin, you can have the sorority who rarely makes quota through formal, but open bids up to total and has a 95-100% initiation rate. I wish that the Greek world would learn to look at long term success instead of short term.

I do agree with what A&As is saying though - on a campus where there is NO shortage of rushees, why are so few groups making quota? That's not a rip on the groups, it's a rip on the system, because obviously you have both parts of the puzzle but somehow they are not fitting together. If it is an issue of rushees saying "I want XYZ or nothing" then the system as a whole has to be marketed differently.

Oh yes!!!!