By Bryce Crawford, Oklahoma State '13

Although the recruitment process at Oklahoma State takes place during the summer months, for Oklahoma Alpha it begins in November, after the new chapter officers are installed. Our new vice president of recruitment must immediately begin laying the groundwork for summer recruitment.

In November, we ask all chapter brothers to complete a simple form with the names of three potential new members. The young guys, fresh out of high school will typically submit the majority of the names that we collect. This preliminary list of potential new members provides an early lead on the majority of our competition.

In December, we send out Christmas cards from the chapter to as many potential new members (and their families) as possible from the list. The very first Greek organization to contact them will usually be us.

We also utilize the Balanced Man Scholarship to the fullest extent, as another way to make first contact with PNMs. Our BMS Chairman reviews all of the completed applications. He then relays applicant information directly to the vice president of recruitment to contact and further build our PNM database.

In the peak of our recruitment season, our BMS Chairman requests household interviews with five to six finalists. BMS interviews allow our recruitment team to gain a better perspective on how a PNM may have been raised—gaining insight to his character and family values, by being in his home and meeting his family. Meeting the family is a critical recruitment tool. The notion itself is commendable, but it also helps provide parents with reassurance and earns their trust and respect.

We elect four recruitment chairmen for various regions in January to recruit throughout the
summer. Prior to this election, a committee of trained undergraduates and our recruitment advisor conduct slating interviews with all candidates who have the greatest amount of knowledge and experience with recruitment, plus our alumni recruitment advisor. Once the recruitment team is finalized, they, along with our alumni recruitment advisor, hold a recruitment retreat in Branson, Mo. Inexperienced chairmen learn the ropes, while the team discusses various ideas and strategies. Here, the team finalizes the entire calendar of recruitment events for the next five months.

Our recruitment chairmen understand the importance of utilizing other brothers in the chapter during recruitment. Doing so not only allows our chapter to appeal to a more diverse group of PNMs, and provides them the opportunity to meet more members of the chapter. During the school year, we frequently utilize our Monday evening dinners at the chapter house as opportunities to invite a couple PNMs over to the house to meet a large number of brothers, and, of course, to eat a free dinner. These dinners, like our chapter’s entire recruitment process, are 100 percent substance-free.

Throughout the entire year, our vice president of recruitment maintains our chapter’s PNM Master List, on a GoogleDoc, which contains every recruit’s name and information that we have learned throughout that year. While we break recruits up into regions, we do not largely categorize them any other way. We found that overcomplicating the PNM Master List may deter recruitment chairmen from keeping it up-to-date, which is a key point of having it in the first place. Keep it simple.

Oklahoma Alpha’s recruitment success over the years is a result of two things: Having a good plan in place, and then executing on that plan every year. These tips can help any chapter achieve similar results.

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