Computer Errors???

[SoCalGirl]

Originally Posted by carnation

#6 will rush next fall at 1 of 3 universities--no clue which she'll choose yet!

Any of which have Pi Phi???

[TSteven]

Originally Posted by SECMom

If a legacy is invited to pref she goes on the first list, no matter what. If you are not willing to offer her a bid, you don't invite her to pref.

Hypothetically speaking - and without getting into specifics of membership selection - what happens if quota (i.e. the first bid list) is going to be ten. Yet going into the preference round, a chapter has twelve legacies that the chapter would love to have (perfect fit as it were) as members - i.e. willing to offer a bid.

The chapter is at total and the campus panhellenic is only going to allow the chapter to extend ten bids (i.e. quota). If the legacy policy states all legacies invited to preference round must go on the first bid list, would the chapter be required to drop two of the legacies before preference? Or would the chapter be allowed to invite all twelve legacies to the preference round and put two of the legacies on the second bid list?

[UGAalum94]

TStephen, I don't really know the answer to your question, but I would guess that they invite them to pref and place them on the second list.

I suspect that it's is done this way because you don't really know in advance that all the legacies are going to rank the legacy GLO group first. So in your example, if two of the group's top ten choose a different number one choice, the eleventh and twelfth girls would match.

As I said, I have no expert knowledge about bid list formation, but I do know that there are some groups at big southern schools that have more than a pledge class of legacies go through rush each year. I doubt they drop girls that they would want before prefs in anticipation of 100% matching the first list.

(Something else to consider is that these girls are frequently legacies at more than one groups: a Chi Omega mom, a Phi Mu sister, maybe a grandmother or aunt at a group that includes these relationships as legacies, etc. They can only match one although they may pref. three.)

[SigKapCoug]

The year I rushed there was the "Susie Smith" situation... 2 girls, same name. Apparently it was really confusing for the chapters. They weren't in the same Rho Gam group becasue the computer bumped the first one when the second was added and she had to be re-added..

Anyway, they are both in my pledge class. We always joke that if a woman named "Susie Smith" shows up during rush we're going to have to let her go because 2 is confusing enough!

[TSteven]

Originally Posted by Alphagamuga

TStephen, I don't really know the answer to your question, but I would guess that they invite them to pref and place them on the second list.

I suspect that it's is done this way because you don't really know in advance that all the legacies are going to rank the legacy GLO group first. So in your example, if two of the group's top ten choose a different number one choice, the eleventh and twelfth girls would match.

My feeling was this might be the scenario. All twelve invited to the preference round with ten going on the first bid list and two on the second bid list.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Don't always be so sure that suzie PNM put her legacy chapter first on her bid card, either.

[carnation]

Originally Posted by SoCalGirl

Any of which have Pi Phi???

No-oooo!!! Arggghhh!!!

At one, she'd be a legacy only to Chi O; at another, Chi O and Zeta; at another,
AOII and Zeta.

So....I'm working on the 2 12-year-olds.

[epchick]

Originally Posted by carnation

No-oooo!!! Arggghhh!!!

At one, she'd be a legacy only to Chi O; at another, Chi O and Zeta; at another,
AOII and Zeta.

So....I'm working on the 2 12-year-olds.

I say you demand one of these girls to go to a school with Pi Phi! lol. Its your right! lol.

[AchtungBaby80]

I heard rumors of a computer mistake one year when a particular sorority on my campus had a bunch of girls show up to Pref that they hadn't exactly expected, because they had cut these girls before that round. I'm not quite sure on the specifics or what eventually happened, but I guess they worked it out because nothing was ever said about it after rush was over. I have often wondered about how much of this goes on...with all the activity during rush week, I can understand how it would be hard to know if that girl everybody thought would "shine brighter in another house" just sort of slipped through the cracks and got invited back or if there was some kind of computer glitch somewhere along the way.

[KSUViolet06]

With virtually ALL schools using a computer program for recruitment, mistakes can happen.

In 2004 recruitment, there was a girl who had a full schedule of parties for Day 3. But come Saturday, she got a call saying that she had been released from recruitment, the computer showed that she HAD NO invites to Pref.

She was really upset and she cried. The PX was upset a little too. This was a really nice PNM and there was nothing about that she thought would cause her to get COMPLETELY cut from everyone.

So Sunday morning, the morning of Prefs, the PX is browsing her PNMs on the computer and seeing who withdrew and who was going where. Well she gets to this girl's name, and a FULL schedule of Prefs pops up. She is puzzled, so she calls the chapter's listed and asks their advisors if Amy _____ had been dropped by them. They all said no and that she was indeed invited back.

It turns out that there was a problem with the computers and it had been randomly saying that girls had no invites when it froze. But the invites popped back up when the PXs would log in again!

So this is at 8:30 AM. Prefs start at 10. So after they found the invites, they realized that they had 2 options since Prefs were in an hour and a half. They could let it go since she already has been mistakenly told she's been released, or they could try to get in touch with her and get her to Pref before 10. The asked the PX and she decided to try and call her, since she couldn't bear the thought of knowing that she had invited but not telling her.

So they started calling her. But it was obviously early in the morning. This girl was in bed asleep, thinking she had nowhere to be. They called and called to tell her, but no one answered. So the PX looks up where she lives and goes to her dorm building. She had to BEG an RA to let her go up to her room (since people who don't live in that building can't go up the elevator without a key).

So around 9:30 the PX BANGS on her door. The PNM opens it (half asleep). The PX says "Amy I'm so sorry but there was a mistake and you're supposed to be at ABC, XYZ, and QQQ this morning! You don't have time to shower, just throw on something nice and meet me downstairs in 15 minutes!!" The girl was so happy to know that everything was a mistake that she had no problem getting ready in 15, and she had bought a dress for Pref before recruitment anyway.

The girls are supposed to take buses over to the houses, but by the time she got ready, it was like 9:45. So they RUN to the PNMs car that's parked in the downstairs lot. The PX did like 60 mph and got her to her first pref exactly on time!

She is now a happy member of an NPC sorority on campus!

This story is from my Pearl Pal who was the PX in this story! I am really glad that they didn't decide to just "let it go" and let her really think she was dropped since prefs were in like an hour.I also thought it was really funny because I couldn't imagine having to get ready for Pref in 15 minutes!

[alum]

Computers are only as good as the people who programmed them.

[honeychile]

Originally Posted by carnation

#6 will rush next fall at 1 of 3 universities--no clue which she'll choose yet!

*crossing fingers that ADPi is at all three of these universities!!*

[OleMissGlitter]

Originally Posted by DeltaBetaBaby

Don't always be so sure that suzie PNM put her legacy chapter first on her bid card, either.

AMEN! I have known many PNMs at Ole Miss that lie to their mothers, their sisters, their friends in houses, etc....afterall it is their choice and their business. Perhaps they don't want to upset mom or sister or friend...

My sister was a legacy to Theta, double legacy to AOII, and then had courtesies to Kappa. She ended up going AOII but still, she could have lied to me and put something else!

Side Note: This year Panhellenic did not release legaices to the sororities. Meaning the ICS Recruiter program used to list all of the legacies a members had. (i.e. Mary is has an AOII mom, Theta sister, Pi Phi sister, AOII aunt.) This year it only listed the legacies your own sorority had. Therefore, all PNMs were probably given a more fair chance and their legacies were not held against them. (Some houses will assume you are going to your legacy and drop you.) There were a few big legacies who joined other houses because they were given a more fair and equal recruitment. On the flip side, if the PNM had a rec her legacies were most likely written on the rec or her resume, so the chapter could find out that way and if they did some good research.

[AngieWashU]

Originally Posted by SigKapCoug

The year I rushed there was the "Susie Smith" situation... 2 girls, same name. Apparently it was really confusing for the chapters.

The year after I went through recruitment, there was a girl with the same first name (fairly unique) and last initial as my (non-Greek) roommate. When my roommate was seen with one of our Kappa friends on-campus, our Kappa friend got in trouble for violating silence rules. It took some time to convince her chapter that the girl she was hanging out with wasn't the PNM Susie S.

[gphiangel624]

This thread topic is a perfect example of why it is SO IMPORTANT to double and triple check invitation lists, bid lists and preference/priority ranking cards! We had a similar issue this year (which I won't elaborate on to keep confidentiality), which initially looked like a computer error but in the end was human error and could have been avoided if those involved had checked the lists. It turned out great in the end, but if no one had said something about it, the issue would have never been resolved.

I think that in using any type of computer program (ICS, CampusDirector, CAR, etc.) that it is both the chapter and Panhellenic's responsibility to check and double check that the data entered is correct. I love that ICS and CampusDirector put the accountability on the chapter for entering information correctly, but in the end, it should always be checked more than once for accuracy. Human error can lead to a compromise in the program.

(p.s.- sorry if this came of as a rant at all... I'm still a little bent about the aforementioned situation was handled on my campus. But it's all good in the end )