Panhellenic Recruitment 2011

1. Panhellenic Recruitment 2011 Texas Christian University

2. What is a Sorority? General Fraternities and Sororities were established in the eighteenth century and are commonly called �social� fraternities/sororities. Other fraternities are honor societies, and not join through mutual selection. Fraternities & Sororities have been recognized at TCU since 1955. Our organizations are formed with the goals of contributing to the collegiate development of members Focus on academics Promote community service and philanthropy Time and financial commitment Lifetime organizations provide networking, support, and sisterhood

3. Terms & Definitions PNM Potential New Member (your daughter) Rho Gamma sorority woman who serves as a recruitment counselor for your daughter Priority Preference Process used for selection Fraternity/Sorority Women�s fraternities are commonly referred to as sororities. Round/Day Refers to each day of recruitment Parties/events Refers to individual events during recruitment Worth Hills The area of TCU�s campus where our Panhellenic chapters are housed.

4. Week in Review 8/14 7:00pm Orientation 8/15 9:30am � 7:00pm Round 1 8/16 9:00am � 7:00pm Round 2 (Philanthropy) 8/17 9:00am � 7:30pm Round 3 (Skit) 8/18 12:00noon � 8:00pm Round 4 (Preference) Party Structure Day 1 All 11 chapters visited Day 2 Up to 9 chapters visited Day 3 Up to 6 chapters visited Preference Up to 3 chapters visited

5. Special Schedules Special schedules are arranged for academic and university conflicts such as cheerleading, orientation, band, etc. If your daughter needs a special schedule, it has already been arranged. Orientation session 9 attendees will have a special Panhellenic orientation meeting at 9 pm on Sunday, August 14th.

6. Food, Water, and Shelter Lunch is provided to PNMs on days 1 and 2 in Worth Hills. Day 3 includes a lunch break to Market Square. Day 4, PNMs will eat prior to rounds. Snacks are readily available at all break rounds and Rho Gammas will have an emergency stash of snacks at all times. Water is available at all times outside chapter houses. Panhellenic provides a re-usable water bottle to every PNM. Days 1 and 2, every PNM will have a break round. Most PNMs will have a break on days 3 and 4. PNMs have ten minutes of travel time between rounds where they may wait in a tent with a cooling fan.

7. About the Parties Parties begin and end with singing and clapping. It�s weird. During the parties, PNMs should expect to talk to several members of the chapter. The number of chapters a PNM may visit each day gets smaller while the length of each party gets longer. This enables both the PNMs and the chapters to make informed decisions when it comes to selection. The theme of the parties becomes more serious as the week goes on. By preference, the chapters will be demonstrating traits important to their sisterhood.

8. About the Parties If a PNM does not have a full schedule, she will have a �break round� where she will relax while waiting for her next event. All PNMs have two break rounds on day 1 and at least one break round on day 2. Not every PNM will have a full schedule. In fact, the majority will not have a full party schedule. PNMs will not be allowed to bring their cell phones or purses during the day. Recruitment on-call number is 817-257-7824 Parents: please use this phone number for emergencies only

9. Priority Preference (Selection) Following each round of events PNMs will participate in a priority preference process. PNMs will �cluster� chapters depending on the number of parties available to attend the next day. For example, if there are a possible six parties the next day, PNMs will place up to six chapters in their top cluster. Any remaining chapters will be listed in order of preference. As a reminder, PNMs will often have less than the maximum number of options. Listing a chapter in your top cluster does not guarantee visiting that chapter the next day. This is a mutual selection process. Mutual selection means that chapters have the opportunity to indicate their preferences as well. National rules dictate that chapters are limited in the number of PNMs they may invite each day.

10. Priority Preference (Selection) On days 1-3, PNMs will cluster all options available to them. The purpose of this process is to give PNMs as many parties to attend as possible, should they not be returning to one of their �top cluster� chapters. PNM must attend the maximum number of events she is invited to attend. Any PNM who misses an event without an excuse is removed from the recruitment process and may not continue. All priority preference and selection processes are determined by the National Panhellenic Conference. These processes are the same for all Panhellenic sororities at all schools. After Preference Round, PNMs complete the Membership Recruitment Acceptance Binding Agreement (MRABA). When PNMs sign the MRABA, the Fraternity and Sorority Life staff will review the instructions.

11. Filling out the MRABA Main points that must be understood: Changes cannot be made once the card is submitted PNMs should be willing to accept a bid from any of the chapters they list on their MRABA card. If a PNM is matched to a chapter during this process, she is bound for a calendar year. Meaning, if she de-pledges or does not accept her bid, she cannot pledge another TCU Panhellenic sorority until August 2012. If and ONLY if a PNM is unmatched during bid matching or withdraws PRIOR to signing her MRABA is she eligible to pledge a TCU Panhellenic sorority during the 2011-2012 school year. We encourage PNMs to list each chapter they attended on Preference because we want as many women to be placed in chapters as possible. Once PNMs attend preference TCU guarantees a bid to a PNM if A PNM lists ALL of the chapters she attended on Preference Attended every event where she was invited throughout recruitment week PNMs do not have to list each chapter they attended during Preference Round; however, TCU does not guarantee a bid to a PNM unless she lists ALL of the chapters she visited.

12. Bid Day Rho Gammas will reveal their affiliation PNMs will open their bid cards and join representatives from their sorority Alcohol free Parents can meet at the Grassy Knoll (look for the tent!)

13. Continuous Open Recruitment (COR) Some chapters MIGHT informally recruit members throughout the fall and spring � this is not a guarantee and we will not know which chapters will host fall/spring recruitment until September or January The number of chapters who participate in COR varies from year to year; nothing is guaranteed. Invitations to informal events are at the individual organization�s discretion. Should a woman be interested in open recruitment, the best thing to do is email panhellenic@tcu.edu for more information.

14. Statistics Each chapter can offer bids to (pledge) the same number of women during formal recruitment. That number is called Quota. Quota is determined by the # of PNMs attending preferences/ # chapters at TCU (ex. 550 PNMs/11 chapters = 50 per chapter) There will be women who are released from every organization; on average, about 5 women are released each year. Approximately 100-115 women will withdraw from the recruitment process; In 2011, 720 started and 590 pledged an organization.

15. Statistics  Last year of the 590 who pledged: 480 received their 1st preference 83 received their 2nd preference 27 received their 3rd preference Every year, several PNMs will not receive a bid because they choose to not maximize their options.

16. Legacies and recommendations Each chapter has its own policies for legacies and recommendations. Each chapter also may place different importance on legacies and/or recommendations. The average number of legacy relationships per chapter this year is 39.6 In general, being a legacy or having a recommendation does not trump the connection between the PNM and sorority member.

17. Who Can Help� For issues involving scheduling conflicts, administrative issues, logistics of the recruitment process, feel free to contact us. For issues of safety, health, and well-being in recruitment, please feel free to contact us. Should your daughter be disappointed in her options, we can refer her to campus resources or other TCU activities. For issues involving sorority invitations, TCU is unable to assist. Sororities offer invitations to women they are interested in recruiting further and/or offering membership. TCU does not govern their right to select their members.

18. Tips for Parents Encourage your daughter to keep an open mind. Do not pressure her to join your organization or the organization you think is the �best.� Encourage her to be herself! If her favorite chapter is not on her schedule, encourage her to attend the events anyway. She can withdraw at any time; nothing is binding until she signs the MRABA. There are MANY other ways to be involved on campus. Help encourage her to find her niche at TCU.

19. Panhellenic Recruitment Fraternity and Sorority Life 817.257.7281 panhellenic@tcu.edu