.
Frequently Asked Questions
WHAT IS A COOPERATIVE HOUSE?
A cooperative house is home to a group of Purdue students who live, learn, socialize, and lead together. Members of a cooperative collaborate to take care of their houses, cook meals, plan philanthropies and social events, and encourage studying and scholarship for their members. While living in a cooperative, students will experience a new membership education period and then have the opportunity to become active members of their houses. Many members cite the brotherhood/sisterhood aspect and family-like atmosphere as their favorite part of cooperative living.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A FRATERNITY OR SORORITY AND A COOPERATIVE?
The main difference between fraternities and sororities compared to cooperatives is that cooperatives do not have a national affiliation so each cooperative house is unique to Purdue's campus. Additionally, members of cooperatives pitch in together to complete cooking and cleaning duties around the house. Consequently, cooperatives are an extremely affordable type of living, as houses do not hire out any of these tasks. Fraternities, sororities, and cooperatives are similar in that all were established as leadership, scholarship, philanthropic, and social organizations.
WHEN IS RECRUITMENT FOR COOPERATIVES?
Formal recruitment for the will take place in late January. During formal recruitment, potential new members will visit all of the houses in order to be eligible to continue on in the recruitment process. After formal recruitment, students will receive invitations from individual houses to their informal recruitment the following weekend. Students may choose to attend informal recruitment that will take place following the formal recruitment process, visiting the houses they are interested in.
Recruitment events will be in-person, with a virtual option for those who are not able to attend in-person or who feel more comfortable participating virtually.
Check out here to see when this year's recruitment takes place: Cooperatives Recruitment Dates.
WHAT IS THE SCHEDULE FOR FORMAL RECRUITMENT?
Students will begin and check-in on campus. After they have checked in the students and guests will hear from student leaders and staff about the cooperative experience about the schedule for the day. During the check-in process students and their guests will be assigned a group number. This will correspond to the bus that they will ride throughout the day. After the initial discussion and questions, students and families will board buses which will take them around to each of the houses. During the rounds the members of the cooperative houses will give information about the house and answer any questions that you may have. Family members and guests are welcome to attend all rounds during formal recruitment. For women, after you have visited all seven houses you are done for the day. For men, there will be an opportunity to sign up for interviews following their tours of the four men's houses. Students may choose which house they would like to interview with. Once all interviews are complete the day is done. Interviews for women's houses are conducted during the rounds.
For those participating virtually, formal recruitment sessions will take place via Zoom. Prior to the start of recruitment, students will receive an email with a visit schedule, along with all of the links and joining information for each session. Students will begin with a general introduction session where the students and families will hear from student leaders and staff about the cooperative experience about the schedule for the day. After the initial discussion and questions, students will join the zoom sessions to visit each house at their assigned times. During the rounds the members of the cooperative houses will give information about the house and answer any questions that you may have. Family members and guests are welcome to attend all rounds during formal recruitment. Guests will receive their own schedule to join the specific parent/family sessions for each house, while their student does a virtual visit. For women, after you have visited all seven houses you are done for the day. For men, there will be an opportunity to sign up for interviews following their tours of the four men's houses. Students may choose which house they would like to interview with. Once all interviews are complete the day is done. Interviews for women's houses are conducted during the rounds.
WILL LUNCH BE PROVIDED DURING RECRUITMENT?
Yes, some meals are provided during the recruitment process. Please see below for meal information.
Formal: Lunch and snacks will be provided to participants and their guests, as recruitment runs between 8 am and about 5 pm.
Informal: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner will be provided for women's recruitment; lunch provided for men's recruitment.
WHAT DO I WEAR TO FORMAL RECRUITMENT?
Business casual attire is appreciated. For men, this includes slacks/khakis, a shirt with a collar, and dress shoes. For women, we recommend slacks/business blouses, skirts, or dresses. Tennis shoes, jeans, sweatshirts, or athletic wear are strongly discouraged. Please remember to dress appropriately for the weather.
WHEN WILL I FIND OUT IF I AM INVITED BACK TO INFORMAL RECRUITMENT?
Potential new members participating in the recruitment process will be invited back by individual houses for informal recruitment no later than the Wednesday of the week following formal recruitment. Invitations will be delivered in one (or a combination) of three ways: verbally after your interview, an invitation sent through the mail, or an email invitation.
WHEN WILL I FIND OUT IF I RECEIVED AN INVITATION TO BE A MEMBER?
Students should receive a phone call from the house that they are invited to join (also known as a bid) within one week of the completion of informal recruitment.
WHAT HAPPENS IF I MISS FORMAL RECRUITMENT?
If you cannot make it to a formal recruitment date, you still have options! Contact the VP of Recruitment to arrange an alternate time to tour the houses. If you know you cannot attend one of the formal recruitment dates, it is highly encouraged that you plan a time to tour the houses on or before one of the informal dates. To be able to receive a bid through the recruitment process, you must visit all eligible houses. After the informal recruitment round, open spots in houses will be filled.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
If you receive a bid from a house and choose to accept it, you will then be sent a housing contract. This is a legal document which secures your place in the house and outlines both your specific responsibilities and those of the cooperative house which you will live.
ARE PARENTS ALLOWED TO ATTEND RECRUITMENT EVENTS?
Formal: Parents are more than welcome to attend all formal recruitment rounds to learn details about each house. Parents will be given the opportunity to talk to active members of the houses if they choose to attend formal recruitment rounds.
For virtual formal recruitment, parents will have the opportunity to attend their own information sessions with each house while their students are participating in the recruitment process. Parents will receive their own links to all of the virtual sessions once their student registers for recruitment.
Informal: Parental involvement during informal rounds will be restricted as this event provides more informal activities for potential members to get to know the members of the house and includes more activities.
