Joining a Panhellenic Sorority

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[00:00:00.000]Hello everyone, thank you for joining our Joining a Panhellenic Sorority Session for New Student Enrollment at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
[00:00:13.000]My name is Devin Johansen. I serve as coordinator with Fraternity and Sorority Life here. On the left, you'll see Leigh Thiedeman. She's our Director of Fraternity and Sorority Life.
[00:00:22.000]If your student decides to go through sorority recruitment, you'll likely be interacting with one of us at the staff level.
[00:00:29.000]Here we have our Panhellenic Recruitment team for our students. So on the left, you'll see Gracie Jones.
[00:00:35.000]She's our Vice President of Recruitment Logistics. And on the right, we have Jenna Stein.
[00:00:40.000]She is our Vice President of Recruitment Personnel. So they're really helping us along with this process and the planning stages to help coordinate Panhellenic sorority recruitment in the fall.
[00:00:51.000]So before we get into specific Panhellenic Association information, I did want to touch on our four councils of fraternities and sororities
[00:00:58.000]here at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. So first we have the Interfraternity Council, also known as our IFC.
[00:01:04.000]That is strictly fraternities. They have 25 chapters in that council. Of those 25, 17 have chapter facilities.
[00:01:12.000]Three of those are on our east campus, while the other 14 are on our city campus.
[00:01:17.000]Our second council is our Multicultural Greek Council, or known as MGC.
[00:01:21.000]That is our Asian interest, Latin interest, and multicultural interest fraternities and sororities.
[00:01:27.000]We have nine of those chapters here on our campus.
[00:01:30.000]Our third council is our National Panhellenic Council.
[00:01:33.000]That is our historically African-American fraternities and sororities.
[00:01:36.000]We currently have four of those chapters on our campus.
[00:01:39.000]Something I want to point out quickly is MGC and NPHC do not have any chapter facilities on our campus,
[00:01:45.000]but they do use the Jackie Gallen Multicultural Center for a lot of their meeting spaces and hangout spaces.
[00:01:51.000]And then lastly, we have the Panhellenic Association. That's what we're here to talk about today.
[00:01:55.000]We have 16 of those chapters.
[00:01:56.000]Thirteen of those have chapter facilities and those are all on our city campus.
[00:02:03.000]So in our Panhellenic Association, like I said, we have 16 chapters. Of the 16, three of them are associate chapters.
[00:02:12.000]So I just wanted to point them out really quickly here. First is Alpha Omega Epsilon.
[00:02:17.000]They are a professional and social sorority for female engineering and technical science students.
[00:02:22.000]So they are for our STEM based majors.
[00:02:25.000]While they are for STEM based majors, that is not exclusive to those.
[00:02:28.000]So anyone is open is open to joining them. Second is Pi Alpha Chi.
[00:02:32.000]They are a local Catholic sorority based on four pillars of leadership, scholarship, fellowship and citizenship.
[00:02:39.000]When I say local sorority, that just means that they are local to Nebraska and to our campus.
[00:02:44.000]They were founded here and they are not at other campuses across the nation.
[00:02:49.000]They are also not exclusive to Catholic students.
[00:02:54.000]Third is Sigma Alpha, their professional agricultural sorority, promoting scholarship, leadership, service and fellowship.
[00:03:01.000]Again, while they are an agricultural sorority, they are not exclusive to those with agricultural majors.
[00:03:09.000]So now moving into our FSL values. All of our chapters on our campus have their own set of values and pillars that they follow.
[00:03:18.000]But our office and our community has some of these overarching values as well. So our first one is academic achievement.
[00:03:23.000]We really understand that your student is here to get to get their degree and to focus on their education first.
[00:03:29.000]But we do have a very strong academic culture here at the university and in our community.
[00:03:35.000]The average Greek GPA is almost point two points higher than the non-Greek student.
[00:03:41.000]So there is a very strong culture. And that's for multiple reasons.
[00:03:44.000]A lot of our chapters require study hours. They like to pair up older members and younger members with the same major to kind of help them along in their process.
[00:03:52.000]And they do a lot of different academic events within their chapters.
[00:03:56.000]So that is a very strong culture and very strong value here that we have.
[00:04:00.000]Second is leadership development. There are truly so many ways that your student can get involved in their chapter and in the community.
[00:04:08.000]If you're a new member or a first year member, you can be on different committees to kind of split up that responsibility.
[00:04:15.000]And as you move through your collegiate experience as a sophomore, junior or senior,
[00:04:21.000]you can definitely be and apply for different executive positions in the chapter.
[00:04:25.000]So some of those look like a treasurer or they handle the money.
[00:04:29.000]You can be president. You can help with programing. You can help with philanthropy.
[00:04:34.000]There's just so many different ways to be involved at any level of leadership.
[00:04:38.000]Our third value is civic engagement. I like to talk about this on three different tenets.
[00:04:42.000]So first is philanthropy. A lot of our organizations each have a either a local or a national organization that they're partnered with.
[00:04:50.000]That's they raise money for throughout the school year, either once or twice a semester.
[00:04:55.000]They also like to partner with other fraternities and sororities to to do those to to do those philanthropies.
[00:05:00.000]So they are often connecting with other groups across campus.
[00:05:03.000]Second is community service. A lot of organizations like to get involved and get their hands dirty doing community service as well.
[00:05:10.000]So a lot of organizations work will require some of that, too.
[00:05:14.000]So 5 to 10 hours a semester. But they often do a lot of work on campus or in nearby communities.
[00:05:19.000]And then thirdly is advocacy.
[00:05:24.000]So when I talked about that organization that they're partnered with for philanthropy, let's say it is women's heart health or arthritis or juvenile diabetes research.
[00:05:35.000]They all advocate for that organization through social media, through different tabling and different word of mouth events.
[00:05:41.000]And so they really try to advocate for that organization and for the causes that are important to them as students.
[00:05:48.000]And then lastly, we have community and belonging. That's really our trademark of our organizations.
[00:05:52.000]We have very strong retention in our community, which means that when students join our fraternities and sororities,
[00:05:59.000]they do really like what they're seeing and it really wants them to come back for continuing years until they graduate.
[00:06:06.000]We also very much believe that anyone can find a home in our community.
[00:06:10.000]We have 16 chapters in Panhellenic, but we have 55 chapters across all of our councils.
[00:06:16.000]And so we really believe
[00:06:17.000]that no matter your identity,
[00:06:19.000]what you want out of your collegiate experience,
[00:06:21.000]that you can find a home in our community.
[00:06:25.000]So now transitioning to recruitment processes in Panhellenic.
[00:06:30.000]Our first one is primary recruitment process.
[00:06:32.000]And the second is the open recruitment process.
[00:06:34.000]And I will kind of talk through what those are here in a minute.
[00:06:38.000]So first is the primary recruitment process.
[00:06:41.000]We have roughly 800 women that participate in this every fall.
[00:06:44.000]And this is the only time that all chapters
[00:06:46.000]in the Panhellenic Association are taking new members at the same time.
[00:06:49.000]So if you want that experience to be able to meet all 16 chapters,
[00:06:53.000]I really do encourage you to go through the primary recruitment process.
[00:06:56.000]This fall it's going to be taking place on Sunday, August 17th
[00:07:00.000]through Saturday, August 23rd.
[00:07:02.000]Any students that want to participate are going to need to register
[00:07:05.000]on or before July 6th to guarantee a spot.
[00:07:08.000]So it is earlier up in the summer, so make sure you don't miss out on that date.
[00:07:12.000]Everyone that participates, a great part of this, will have an opportunity
[00:07:15.000]to join a chapter.
[00:07:17.000]If you maximize your options throughout the week and you're invited
[00:07:21.000]to a chapter on Preference Round, we can guarantee you that you will have
[00:07:24.000]a bid at the end of that week if you get to Preference Round
[00:07:27.000]and maximize your options.
[00:07:28.000]So it's a really cool part of the experience is that one,
[00:07:30.000]you get to meet everyone, all the chapters, and when you get
[00:07:33.000]to Preference Round, if you have an invitation on that round,
[00:07:37.000]we can guarantee a bid.
[00:07:41.000]So about recruitment here, we are a values-based recruitment.
[00:07:44.000]So this really means that we are trying to align the values
[00:07:47.000]of the student with the values of the organization.
[00:07:50.000]So it's really the purpose of primary recruitment is to align
[00:07:53.000]those values and match up the student and the sorority
[00:07:56.000]with the best experience for each other.
[00:07:58.000]So each participant in primary recruitment will get the opportunity
[00:08:01.000]to identify what those core values are to you
[00:08:05.000]through a variety of activities.
[00:08:07.000]Like I already mentioned, our fraternity and sorority community
[00:08:10.000]has four core values. Each chapter has their own set
[00:08:13.000]of unique values that will be showcased throughout recruitment.
[00:08:16.000]The chapter invitations are based on these connections made to the value.
[00:08:19.000]So some of those activities that you'll do over the summer,
[00:08:22.000]you will identify a top value that is the most important to you,
[00:08:25.000]and that will go on your name tag as you go out throughout the week.
[00:08:29.000]And as you meet chapters, they'll be able to see what that value is,
[00:08:32.000]and that will help them start those conversations
[00:08:34.000]on what's important to you.
[00:08:36.000]We find that this helps create a stronger bond between members
[00:08:39.000]and fosters a positive environment to really promote personal growth,
[00:08:42.000]but also to encourage retention and to build those strong connections
[00:08:46.000]in those chapters.
[00:08:49.000]So throughout the primary recruitment experience,
[00:08:51.000]we have what we call them Rho Gammas.
[00:08:54.000]They're basically like recruitment counselors,
[00:08:56.000]and so they will guide you and your student
[00:08:59.000]or guide your student through the sorority recruitment process
[00:09:02.000]throughout the week.
[00:09:03.000]So you'll likely be in a group of 10 to 14 students,
[00:09:07.000]and you'll have one rho gamma guiding you.
[00:09:10.000]They will be with you in the morning of each day
[00:09:11.000]and at night of each day,
[00:09:14.000]they'll make sure you know where you need to go on campus.
[00:09:17.000]They'll make sure you know what's going on.
[00:09:19.000]So you're not lost.
[00:09:20.000]They are a great resource for your student.
[00:09:23.950]They are current students that are disaffiliated from their sorority. So their goal is to really just
[00:09:28.610]be a support system for you as you go through their process. They are your best resource for
[00:09:33.010]questions during recruitment. If you have anything, you know, that you're not sure about, you're
[00:09:37.390]worried about, you can always reach out to them and they will answer your questions and support
[00:09:41.610]you as best as they can. So the dates of primary recruitment, like I said, will be August 17th
[00:09:48.910]through the 23rd. So just a quick breakdown of the week. On Sunday, August 17th, you will move
[00:09:54.110]into your chapter, or sorry, to your residence hall and you will have PNM orientation in the
[00:09:59.990]evening that night. Monday and Tuesday is when actually recruitment starts. So that is our
[00:10:05.050]welcome round. That is when you get to meet all 16 of our chapters. Usually you meet eight on one
[00:10:09.830]day and eight on the other day. And so you'll get chances to meet all of our chapters through
[00:10:14.250]welcome round. On Wednesday is our philanthropy round. So chapters will talk
[00:10:18.850]about whatever that organization is that they're partnered with, what that really means to them,
[00:10:22.550]and how they raise money and support that organization. On Thursday is our sisterhood
[00:10:28.390]round. On that day, the chapters will talk about their financial obligations, as well as give a
[00:10:34.650]house tour if they have a chapter facility. And that's a really, really important day too,
[00:10:39.510]just to ask some of those really important questions to the chapter, especially regarding
[00:10:43.770]financial information. Then on Friday, we have our preference round. That is,
[00:10:48.790]the biggest insight to what it looks like to be a chapter member of that sorority.
[00:10:53.570]They will do a special ritual or a special ceremony for you then, and you'll get to meet
[00:10:58.550]up to two chapters that round. And then finally on bid day, or on Saturdays, our bid day. That's
[00:11:03.910]the most fun day of the week. That is when you get to find out what chapter you're joining.
[00:11:08.030]I do want to mention really quick too, throughout the week as it progresses, you will meet less and
[00:11:14.590]less chapters throughout the week. So on welcome round, like I said, you'll get to meet all 16
[00:11:18.730]chapters. On philanthropy round, you'll get to meet up to 10 chapters. On sisterhood round,
[00:11:23.670]you'll get to meet up to six chapters. And then preference round, you can meet up to two chapters.
[00:11:28.290]So it is kind of narrowed down as the week progresses. Our best advice is to keep an open
[00:11:33.730]mind throughout this process. You never know how conversations are going to go each day. We really
[00:11:39.710]recommend that you keep an open mind by going to all of your recruitment invitations, just having
[00:11:44.610]those intentional conversations with chapters and with members,
[00:11:48.670]to really see if they're going to be a match for you. Like I said, we have so many different
[00:11:52.770]options that have so many different members in them. They all have different values, different
[00:11:56.870]interests, and so we really believe that if you keep an open mind, you can find a chapter for you
[00:12:01.470]no matter what as you go through this process. So preparing for recruitment, like I said,
[00:12:08.030]applications are out right now. They're on our website. They need to be completed on or before
[00:12:12.130]July 6th. There is a registration cost, and we'll also need your student's high school transcript.
[00:12:18.610]Just wait until you get those final transcripts and then submit that on your registration. If you are living on campus,
[00:12:23.870]you will be registered for early move-in automatically. So if you just register for
[00:12:27.870]recruitment, housing will take care of everything else in the back end. We do really recommend that
[00:12:32.330]you follow us on social media for any information about the process. We'll be posting a lot over the
[00:12:37.370]summer, so make sure you follow that @UNLPanhellenic. Also, if you're just looking for a little more support
[00:12:45.010]we do have a couple informational Zoom meetings over the summer that the students
[00:12:48.550]can attend. So first is Monday, June 16th at 6 p.m., and our other one is July 16th at 6 p.m.
[00:12:54.310]You can find the links to these in the registration confirmation email once you register for
[00:12:59.470]recruitment. And then we also have some education that we would like you to do before you arrive
[00:13:06.430]for recruitment in August. So the first is our Hazing Prevention 101 course. That's via PreventZone.
[00:13:12.550]That is going to teach the student about hazing awareness and how to recognize what hazing looks like
[00:13:18.490]that's due July 31st. A supportive module to that too is our Fraternity and Sorority Life module
[00:13:24.430]also through the same platform due on July 31st. And then aside from hazing we also have a
[00:13:31.370]module called Decisions, Alcohol, and Other Drug Awareness on the same platform again due on
[00:13:37.390]July 31st. And then lastly like I talked about those values you're going to try to identify your
[00:13:42.390]top value that is going to be the iValue training that's also going to be due on July 31st.
[00:13:48.430]Now switching gears to open recruitment we have this is our other process we have more than 125
[00:13:54.970]women that join through this process we call it informal recruitment or continuous open bidding
[00:13:59.510]or COB but this takes place immediately following primary recruitment usually lasts until the fourth
[00:14:04.590]week of the semester and it starts again at the beginning of the spring semester. You can sign
[00:14:09.210]up on our website but it does not guarantee a bid or it does not guarantee contact but that just
[00:14:13.730]really shows chapters that you're interested in kind of gets you on a names list
[00:14:18.370]that we will pass along to the chapters. One important thing here is that not all chapters
[00:14:23.230]participate in COB so just keep that in mind if you want the ability to meet all of our chapters
[00:14:27.970]primary recruitment is the best process to do that. So some joining commitments when you join
[00:14:34.570]a sorority it is not just going to one chapter meeting a week there's going to be more to that
[00:14:39.910]so it does take some time you're going to have to go to that one chapter meeting a week but
[00:14:43.690]you're also going to have to go to other required events or meetings that the sorority has.
[00:14:48.310]Some of these are optional but there are some other required ones too so just keep that in
[00:14:53.470]mind there's going to be multiple hours a week that you're going to have to spend towards your
[00:14:57.370]sorority. The second commitment is financial and I'm going to talk a little bit more about
[00:15:01.210]that in the next slide but each chapter has different fees that they require their members
[00:15:06.870]to pay. Third is chapter requirements so like I talked a little bit about this so some chapters
[00:15:12.710]have study hour requirements some of them have community service requirements some of them will
[00:15:18.250]want you to work those philanthropy events that they have some of them have different sisterhood
[00:15:22.850]events that they want you to go to so there's just a lot of different little requirements that
[00:15:26.590]you'll need to pay attention to. But then lastly is our it's a lifelong commitment so you're not
[00:15:31.110]just joining for the collegiate experience and then it's over you're joining for your lifetime
[00:15:36.370]and you have access to a lot of alumni to a big network of students that have came before you to
[00:15:42.090]join that sorority and so really when you when you join a sorority you're joining for life not just
[00:15:46.310]for the for the four years that you might be in.
[00:15:48.190]College so here's that financial information I wanted to show you it's a very important slide I
[00:15:55.150]would encourage you to scan the cost breakdown here on the slide to kind of get a full rundown
[00:15:59.830]of each chapter and how much they are projected to cost and what those fees go to but here on
[00:16:05.590]the left is our average cost per year for chapters without housing facilities so per year fees the
[00:16:12.670]new member fees are paying they're paying about $535 a year and once you're after that
[00:16:18.130]first year the cost is about $518 a year on the right side chapters with housing facilities so
[00:16:24.610]this is 13 of our 16 chapters the average cost for the first year member for an entire year is
[00:16:30.550]$2,812 after that first year when you live in the facility that's about $8,700 and then
[00:16:38.530]when you live out as a junior or senior that's about $2,258. Some common questions we get about
[00:16:48.070]sorority life in general is living requirements so of our 13 chapters that have a facility they
[00:16:54.610]do want you to live in your sophomore year and even your junior year sometimes as well so just
[00:16:59.470]keep that in mind that your first year as a member you're going to be living in your residence hall
[00:17:04.630]that you've been assigned to and your second year is when you would live in the chapter facility
[00:17:08.910]letters of recommendation and resumes are not are not required to join a sorority they're
[00:17:15.370]not required to participate in the recruitment process
[00:17:18.010]but if that is something that you want to do and that you want to provide to chapters
[00:17:23.290]definitely look at which chapters accept those those will be on the chapter websites
[00:17:28.590]is where you usually submit those but Panhellenic in the office does not collect them at all
[00:17:33.810]should your student decide on favorite chapters before recruitment starts?
[00:17:37.870]you definitely do not need to the process is designed that you can come without any prior
[00:17:43.350]knowledge and you get to meet all the chapters you get to know about what they stand for
[00:17:47.950]so you don't need to you definitely can you can look up look at their instagrams look at their
[00:17:52.350]websites but it's definitely not something you need to do prior to. How can you then support your
[00:17:57.390]student as a parent through the process or as a family member? we do recommend that you kind of
[00:18:02.970]check in with them as the week progresses it is busy it is a lot of hours just meeting and a lot
[00:18:08.690]of social interactions meeting all the students so we do recommend checking with them just just
[00:18:13.410]seeing how they're doing seeing how it's going for them just to support them as best as you can
[00:18:17.890]through the process. That's really all I have for this presentation if you have any questions
[00:18:24.850]please email us or call our office phone right there and this QR code also has the recruitment
[00:18:30.850]registration also has some chapter website information there too and some financial
[00:18:35.170]information and some academic reports so it's a very good resource to scan that as well but
[00:18:39.790]that is all I have thank you so much for attending and watching this presentation today

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Joining a Panhellenic Sorority

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