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02-04-2009, 12:03 AM
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Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Beautiful West Michigan
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This is bothering me so much I can't even go to bed!
Silverpearls, does your chapter have a regional recruitment advisor? Or you should have someone in your national organization who handles recruitment issues for your area/region/whathaveyou.
I'm assuming you are in the EST zone and it is only just now 11:00. That is still early in the evening for recruitment stuff. I would strongly encourage you to call someone with some clout and explain what has happened. If it turns out your panhel is right, then you will know.
BUT.... if they are wrong and you don't make the call you might seriously regret it and wonder what if for a long time if you end up with girls who are not going to be an asset to your chapter.
When in doubt, seek help. That is what national workers and officers are for.
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"Let us found a society that shall be kind alike to all and think more of a girl's inner self and character than of her personal appearance." Sarah Ida Shaw
My recruitment story: My sorority membership changed my life.
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02-04-2009, 12:14 AM
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Join Date: Jan 2009
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You all are so sweet and helpful!! Let me stress than I am not 100% positive we are not allowed to cut more - it may just be that we do because our advisors or the Greek Life office make us. It does seem really off, but the whole Recruitment/release figures stuff is kept really secret so I honestly don't know what's going on - just that we're "not allowed" to cut more and PNMs we don't want squeak through because of it. Seniors have told me this has happened every year they've been here and is not a new thing. It's horribly frustrating. Let me try to get more info on it and if there's anything that can be done.
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02-04-2009, 12:32 AM
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Join Date: Jan 2009
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So, I just called and talked to our Panhellenic person and she explained the situation to me. Basically, our return rate is so low that we are not allowed to cut many (or in some cases any) PNMs because if we cut too many girls we would have literally no one returning to our party. This figure is based on 1) how PNMs are ranking us this year (which apparently isn't great... the majority rank us last) and 2) how our return rates have been in the past (which also aren't great). It's supposed to help us, but in some cases it does backfire. It's not a school rule, it's Panhellenic and there's really nothing we can do about it. I think it's the situation KSUviolet was describing.
Overall, I think it'll be ok... I'm calming down. I'm not thrilled, but looking over the list there are only about 4 or 5 PNMs that we really don't want who will Pref us and probably accept bids. It won't be good for the chapter, but the fact that we have a lot of great PNMs returning will hopefully outweight the bad.
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02-04-2009, 09:37 AM
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Location: Santa Monica/Beverly Hills
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Quote:
Originally Posted by silverpearls
So, I just called and talked to our Panhellenic person and she explained the situation to me. Basically, our return rate is so low that we are not allowed to cut many (or in some cases any) PNMs because if we cut too many girls we would have literally no one returning to our party. This figure is based on 1) how PNMs are ranking us this year (which apparently isn't great... the majority rank us last) and 2) how our return rates have been in the past (which also aren't great). It's supposed to help us, but in some cases it does backfire. It's not a school rule, it's Panhellenic and there's really nothing we can do about it. I think it's the situation KSUviolet was describing.
Overall, I think it'll be ok... I'm calming down. I'm not thrilled, but looking over the list there are only about 4 or 5 PNMs that we really don't want who will Pref us and probably accept bids. It won't be good for the chapter, but the fact that we have a lot of great PNMs returning will hopefully outweight the bad.
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I suggest that your chapter have a long discussion with your (Inter)National organization after this recruitment. It's probably too late now to fix this mistake, but PHA CANNOT make you extend bids to girls that your chapter does not want. All they can say is that you will not be eligible for quota additions and snap bids if you don't maximize your options. Just like with PNMs, you are encouraged to invite back the maximum number, but if you absolutely don't want a girl, you don't have to! PHA is essentially trying to substitute your organizations membership selection criteria with their own, and that is not allowed! Your chapter may have taken their advice and agreed with PHA, but they shouldn't be bullied into it.
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02-04-2009, 10:33 AM
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Join Date: Feb 2008
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Silverpearls, I know you said that it is just 4 or 5 girls that you don't want, but in a smaller chapter, 4 or 5 girls who will be a detriment to your chapter can really hurt. I would rather come in a few under quota than take a few girls that no one wants. It's not fair to the chapter...or the girls.
On another note, good luck with pref, and good luck with bid day tomorrow!
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02-04-2009, 10:52 AM
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Remember that there is no guarantee that those 4 or 5 women will in fact receive a bid from your chapter. I know you said it will take a lot (essentially doubling your chapter size) to reach quota, but you have 80ish amazing women attending your preference event- if you all knock it out of the park, you could reach quota before those 4/5 women. Despite the confusion about your Panhellenic release numbers, there is NO WAY Panhellenic can tell you how to complete your bid list. Although this is a membership selection matter, so I know your sorority has its own rules on how the bid list is set, if these 4/5 women don’t endear themselves to your chapter any more at preference, talk to you advisor about ensuring they are on the bottom of your bid list. If you reach quota before you get to them, they WON’T receive a bid and you won’t have to worry about them joining your chapter!
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I love the violets! Sigma Kappa Sorority, Alpha Theta Chapter
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02-04-2009, 11:50 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by OneHeartOneWay
Remember that there is no guarantee that those 4 or 5 women will in fact receive a bid from your chapter. I know you said it will take a lot (essentially doubling your chapter size) to reach quota, but you have 80ish amazing women attending your preference event- if you all knock it out of the park, you could reach quota before those 4/5 women. Despite the confusion about your Panhellenic release numbers, there is NO WAY Panhellenic can tell you how to complete your bid list. Although this is a membership selection matter, so I know your sorority has its own rules on how the bid list is set, if these 4/5 women don’t endear themselves to your chapter any more at preference, talk to you advisor about ensuring they are on the bottom of your bid list. If you reach quota before you get to them, they WON’T receive a bid and you won’t have to worry about them joining your chapter!
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I just want to point out that this depends on whether silverpearls' campus has guaranteed placement or not. The campus I advise at does, which means that if a women attends all the pref parties she has on her schedule and doesn't SIP or "suicide", she is guaranteed a bid to one of the chapters she preffed at. In silverpearls' chapter's case, if there are women who are only attending their pref party and their campus has guaranteed placement (and those women don't drop out after pref), then those women would in fact get bids to silverpearls' chapter.
Silverpearls, I'm sure this is all very difficult to digest - the nitty gritty of Recruitment often is. And if you're not a member of your chapter's Recruitment team you may never know exactly the reasoning behind why things are done a certain way. That said, I do agree with above posters that Panhell should not force ANY chapter to take girls they don't want. And while it may be too late this year to do anything about it, I hope you are able to discuss what has happened with a regional or national officer so the same thing doesn't happen next year.
Best of luck to you and your chapter!
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Autism Speaks & Alpha Xi Delta -Sharing the Love
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02-04-2009, 11:59 AM
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Join Date: Sep 2008
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I know what Silverpearls is going through, actually. The same thing happens to my chapter. It's frustrating when you rank/score/list/whatever a girl low, and you're hoping she's going to be released, and she continually comes back to your parties. Our nationals was actually enforcing our low release numbers (nationals like it when we make quota). However, I will say that many of the girls that I wasn't originally thrilled with being in our pledge class turned out to be great members -- they were often enthusiastic about the sorority, and they grew up quite a bit. It's not ideal (a sorority is not a charity -- you shouldn't have to take anyone, and you shouldn't take them just because it'll "be good for them") but mostly it works out in the long run.
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02-04-2009, 12:08 PM
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Join Date: Jan 2009
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Ok, so delving a little deeper into the situation, here's what happened. Basically, I have been told all along that we were forced to invite back all these girls and that the few cuts we did make were not entirely kosher, so to speak. After talking with a chapter advisor who was there, that's not the case.
It turns out that we could have "gone against" our release figures and released more, but our Recruitment chair decided not to under pressure from advisors to keep our Pref numbers as high as possible. Basically when our Recruitment chair told us she wasn't allowed to release more, that was not really the case. She's a good friend of mine and I know it was a difficult decision which girls to release, especially with advisors breathing down your neck telling you not to cut anyone, but I feel like she made a mistake not releasing some girls that the chapter really didn't want. She did cut a few that the vast majority didn't like, but she needed to cut about 5 more than she did. I hate to criticize my sister, especially in such a sensitive situation, but I really worry our chapter will be the worse for it.
Anyway, because it actually turns out to be our Recruitment chair's decision, there's nothing that can be done now. It wasn't forced on us by Panhellenic as we were originally led to believe. I'm just frustrated that it feels like our votes didn't count for anything because in the end, the call about who to release was made by a chapter officers and some advisors. While they did take our votes into account, I just feel powerless to make any real difference. I feel like this is flawed... but I didn't see how the chapter voted and I could be way off in my estimation of how many sisters didn't like these few girls. All the sisters I've talked to didn't, but I'm just talking to my close friends within the chapter, not the quieter girls who may have identified with them more and voted them up. The bottom line is that the decision was made, the invitations were submitted to Greek Life and we'll be seing these girls at Pref tonight. As frustrating as that is, I accept tht we voted our officers in and that ultimately, our Recruitment chair is trying to do what's best for the chapter with the advice given to her by our advisors.
In any case, now that it's "case closed" I'd like to get back to the telling of the story! Tonight is Pref and despite all the drama of the last few days I'm very excited. I'm thrilled that so many of my favorites are invited back, and the fact that Bid Day is tomorrow seems almost unreal! I'll update you tonight after Pref to let you know how everything went.
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02-04-2009, 12:10 PM
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I might also point out that getting a few undesirable girls won't necessarily be the end of the world. These girls may have given your sisters a bad first impression but be wonderful members when you get to know them better. My chapter actually had a girl that we cut right before pref. We did not have a digital system, so at the time, our Panhel rep would handwrite a list of invitees for Panhellenic to use. When we cut this girl, however, while our Panhel rep was in the bathroom. When she came back, she assumed we'd invited the girl back and put her on our list. Imagine our surprise the next day when she was on our schedule for prefs! She was put dead last on our list for pref, but she ended up coming down our hall on bid day. I have to say that it was a good mistake. That girl became one our most dedicated and enthusiastic sisters.
Moral of the story: if you get these girls in the end, give them a chance to show you that you were wrong about them! Best of luck with prefs!!
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AOII
One Motto, One Badge, One Bond and Singleness of Heart!
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02-04-2009, 12:31 PM
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silverpearls, I can understand what you're going through. My chapter was pressured by the Greek advisor to not release anyone, and the Greek advisor claimed our nationals really really wanted us not to release anyone. I smell a rat, because why would our nationals go through her and not come right to the chapter, but pressure is pressure.
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02-04-2009, 06:03 PM
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Best of luck tonight!!
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02-05-2009, 01:50 AM
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Good-luck tonight! Your story is very exciting to read. I will keep my fingers crossed that you get fantastic returns & a great new member class.
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By the time a woman realizes her mother was right, she has a daughter who thinks she is wrong.
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02-05-2009, 02:07 AM
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Join Date: Jan 2009
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Pref
Pref went absolutely wonderfully! It was a really stressful day getting ready, but it all came together beautifully. We invited invited 115, had 82 match and had 72 walk through the door (some dropped when they got their schedules that night). 3 were Venus legacies and 26 were only preffing Venus. While some seemed a little bummed, most were very happy and excited. We didn't have to double-rush anyone except one pair, so that was a really nice change.
I preffed Lily and she was so sweet... she actually started crying during our ceremony and told me how badly she wanted to be a Venus. As I said before Danielle, Tasha, Zoe, Elizabeth, Ashley and Jenny were there, too! Danielle and Lily were only Preffing us. All the girls seemed to be having a good time! A lot of them were also Preffing Minerva, so we'll see how things go. I'm so, so nervous for Bid Day... but beyond excited! It seems unreal that recruitment is over - it's been practically my whole life for the last month. I know our new Venuses will make it all worth it tomorrow!
So, I wanted to save the best news for last! Last year quota was 42 and we matched 25. I just found out a few minutes ago that this year quota is 40... and we matched 39!!!! I am so proud of us!! It's hard to say how many girls will accept their bids, but I'm hoping many will. I already know of quite a few who definitely will. After augmenting the class through COB I really believe we're going to have a big, wonderful class!
I'll update you as soon as I know anything tomorrow. The chapter won't know anything until Bid Night, so I'm very excited to be one of the first to know!!
Last edited by silverpearls; 02-05-2009 at 02:53 AM.
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02-05-2009, 02:11 AM
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Join Date: Jan 2003
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Quote:
Originally Posted by silverpearls
So, I wanted to save the best news for last! Last year quota was 42 and we matched 25. I just found out a few minutes ago that this year quota is 40... and we matched 39!!!!
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This is very exciting news!
Here's hoping that everyone accepts.
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"Remember that apathy has no place in our Sorority." - Kelly Jo Karnes, Pi
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