Since pledges are freshmen, they’re spending much more time getting accustomed to college and you shouldn’t make TXi a huge time commitment to them. However, you should still try to get them to show up; if there isn’t a good foundation for cohesion during the fall, the pledge class will probably never talk to each other during the spring. Events like walkout, serenades, chalking, etc. happen for a reason, so communicate clearly the expectations around these things.
Put in a lot of effort to get the brothers and pledges to know each other. When I was MemEd, I would put out a spreadsheet around every two weeks that paired two pledges with two brothers and forced them to do something, like get dinner or play board games/basketball/Valorant or just whatever they chose to do. This happened in total like 3-4 times during the semester; I think it wasn’t bad, but ideally it happens a bit more often and more brothers get to know more pledges.
Make it clear what the expectations for AMs are when they become brothers; they will have to go to house meetings, do works, and later move in. These will also be reiterated during rush, but not driving these points home will lead to housing occupancy problems down the line.
I took a very relaxed approach to membership education because I think the last thing Theta Xi should be for a new member is stressful. So don't be hard on people if they miss things and don't expect huge time commitment. Besides that, communicate clearly, not only your expectations from them about meetings and events, but also what the house means to you and what you hope they'll get out of being in Theta Xi.
Make it as low-stress as possible for the AMs. The amount of time you want to invest into the membed process will change depending on what the house is like during your semester, what you want the AMs to get out of the process, and what the AMs want to get out of being an AM. Similarly, the amount of time you demand from the AMs will change from semester to semester. Just make sure you aren't wasting anyone's time, and that everything you do as a membed, whether it's a lot or a little, is valuable.
Goals of memed are:
Ethan Koether was the membership educator this semester. Read his notes under "Fall 2011."