the whole bound for a year thing...
 

Ok so we all have at least read it somewhere on this form. That once you sign you pref card you are bound for a year, before you are eligible for rush again. Do I have this correct it is your pref card correct? If this is the case does that mean that if you go through formal recruitment, attend pref and sign a card ( not suiciding not sure if it matters), that you are not elligible to rerush for a year if you were not extended a bid? Just curious:cool:

No, you are bound for a year if you accept a bid. Signing a Pref card says you agree to accept any bids you might get.

If none of the groups you put on your pref card extend a bid to you, you can rush the next day if you want.

ok thats what I thought but then i just read a post and the way it was worded made me question if it was the signing of the pref card that was so important or if it was the actual accepting the bid that bound u for a year.

Well they are one and the same essentially.

I think she meant if you see who you got and don't show up at bid day.

hijack:
So maybe I'm strange, but this gave me the mental image of a new member running from her sisters in hopes that if they somehow couldn't give her the physical bid that she'd be free from the binding nature of the agreement. Better hope you're fast...

//end hijack.

yes they are the same IF you get extended a bid...however if you sign a pref card and don't recieve a bid, then there's a HUGE differece

LOL. You've been watching too many crime shows where people try to get out of being served a subpoena. :p

^^^ now that made me LOL so now the guy next to me is reading over my shoulder...and blushing now...don't you love college libraries

(Greek Geek Alert)

When you sign a "Pref Card", you are signing what is officially called the "Membership Recruitment Acceptance Binding Agreement". Try saying that several times in one conversation, and you wind up saying "Pref Card" because it's easier. Anyway, the language on that MRABA is the following:

By signing this Acceptance Agreement, I understand and agree to the
following terms:
1. I am willing to accept an invitation to membership from any women’s fraternity that I list on this agreement.
2. I may limit my choices to one or list any women’s fraternities whose preference (last) event I attended and from which I am willing to
accept membership.
3. I cannot change the order of my preferences or add or delete a preference once this Agreement has been submitted to the College
Panhellenic Association.
4. Once I sign this Agreement, I am bound by the National Panhellenic Conference calendar year rule. This rule states that if I receive an
invitation to membership from any group I have listed and I choose not to accept it, I am ineligible to be pledged to any other
inter/national fraternity on this campus for one calendar year.
5. If I do not receive an invitation to membership from a group that I have listed, I am eligible for continuous open bidding.
6. I may choose to not complete an agreement at this time.

You have a signature line under those terms, THEN you list your choices, THEN you sign again stating:
I agree to the terms stated above and I am willing to accept an invitation to membership from any of the following women’s fraternities (listed in order of preference):

That is the "Pref Card". For campuses who use ICS or another computer based recruitment process, that entire document is on the computer screen. I know for ICS you have to click "I accept" and check a box in at least two different places before it stores your selection, so you can't really do it by accident.

Signing the physical Bid Card you get from the sorority has nothing to do with it (and I believe most of them don't have a place to sign...it's just an invitation to membership). So, if a woman doesn't agree to those terms above, she shouldn't sign it. That also means that she withdraws from the Formal Recruitment process because she does not agree with the terms of the process.

For COR/COB, most campuses either have a card you sign that is turned in to the Greek Life office to give permission to be placed on the roster for GPA reports, etc. or the Inter/National Organization has a form you sign that states you are officially accepting membership into the org and therefore are being placed on their roster and giving them permission to bill you for dues. That is the binding agreement outside of Formal Recruitment. Verbally telling someone at midnight that you'll accept their bid and then changing your mind the next day isn't binding. Your signature is.

(End Greek Geek Alert)

PsychTau

^^^PsychTau, I thank you for that excellent detailed explanation. I am tempted to QFP so that the next time someone comes on here and posts/claims "I didn't know/no one told me" we can show them this.

I was thinking it should be added to the General Advice sticky thread. Every PNM needs to read it and know exactly what she is committing herself to before signing(either physically signing or clicking accept on the computer).

Not going to do any good though.

I agree - we should sticky the actual wording provided by PsychTau and maybe even a general explanation to put it into even simpler, let-me-get-this-through-your-head terms.

Although many pnms may not read it, when the explanations and questions come up regarding this issue (and they ALWAYS do!) then the person could be pointed to the sticky which has the exact wording.

I think it should be stickied too...we can point potential PNMs to it when they start talking about recruitment. And I copied and pasted the language straight from the MRABA so it should be exactly what they see/read if the campus has not created their own (which they shouldn't if they have NPC groups).

When I run recruitment (disclaimer: I am a campus Greek professional) I start explaining the MRABA on Day 1 during Orientation before the PNMs divide up into Pi Chi groups. I also make sure they hear me talk about the selection process on both sides (PNM and Chapter) each night. I know not everyone is like me though.

ETA: I'd be happy to help break it down into simpler terms.

PsychTau

WOW thanks and just to clarify I recieved my bid and am a extremely happily initiated member :). But anyway just to through in another loophole (again comppletely not true but could be a possibility). Ok so during my recruitment on Pref night there was an away football game, and i was in band therefore not thereto attend pref. One of the Panhel Officers called and told me what groups I had been invited back to and asked me the order I wanted to list them in. She never told any of this to me nor did I even have the oppurtunity to read it. Should she of technically told me this, because I assume by verbally ranking these chapters I would be subject to the year thing (once again I want to point out I can never join another NPC and I am completely exstatic to be an ADPI). To me looking back this just seems like it probably should of been done differently, or where there was some sort of proof.

Or was this just one of those random instances? (although at my school it happens about every year)

Each campus decides how to handle these types of situations. There have been instances where Pi Chis have put a PNMs preferences in the computer in a different order (maliciously) than what the PNM wanted. Personally, I think it should have not been done verbally because there are too many opportunities for mistakes. It's great that it worked out the way you wanted, but it so easily could have been a different result. But...each campus can decide on how they want to handle that. If you get involved in Panhellenic (or want to discuss with your Panhellenic delegate) this may be an opportunity for you to improve the recruitment process!

PsychTau

Yeah I mean then I didnt really think that much about it. It happened to me and a few other girls (about 7 of us I believe between band, colorgaurd, and cheerleading and I believe we all recieved a bid). I also know it has happened the last two years as well, it always just so happens to fall that rush is during an away game that the band and all girl cheer actually attends.:rolleyes: So I mean there was actually no "physical" way, I see, to get us there to sign anything unless we were to go sign these cards at 4 am when we got home on "BID" morning. I had heard the rumors ( i say that because i'm proof it isnt always the case) that if u didnt attend pref, you weren't recieving a bid. The Panhel council assured me they weren't true, and I just notified all the chapters I could possibly attend pref for of it the night before. And yeah although I'm pretty sure every girl this particular situation applied to recieved and happily accdepted their bids, I just see this not ending well in the future.

Hmm I actually have an idea how that can work. Maybe have a Panhel officer go with the PNMs with pref cards. She can have them sign them there and then call in the info herself.

Yeah that seems like it would work, but I'm not sure how practical It would be. On Panhel Exec we have around 7 girls, plus around 16 Gamma Chis...so going on a three hour trip with seven girls (who while all gone for the same reason, they are all in different places) just to get them to actually sign a pref card (and when I say sign, I actually think it may be online, but once again I didnt do it so I really cant say one way or another lol).

ICS does have an option for printing out passwords for Pi Chi groups so that the PNM can log in from any computer on her own (they are very random, weird passwords). If the campus is using ICS that could be an option. I know that wouldn't work DURING a football game but the ICS campus administrator (the person who has the password to run Bid Matching, etc) can set the times that PNMs and Chapters have access to submit their choices. So you can allow a PNM to enter their choices early (meaning those who are absent can see who invited them to Pref and do their MRABA before going to the game) or enter them late (after the game). In theory, the PNM could enter her choices right before they run Bid Matching, but that's not advisable because of the potential for "dirty rushing". Obviously paper MRABAs can be done at any time.

The other thing to keep in mind (and I don't have my "Green Book" in front of me) is that since undergraduates are not allowed to be involved in Bid Matching (yep...I've done it by hand...computers have changed this a bit), I have always had the rule that undergrads/Pi Chis cannot see the PNMs MRABA so they cannot see how the PNM ranked. For me, that means the Pi Chi can read/explain the Binding Agreement terms to the PNM and can counsel her on her choices, but when she's ready to enter those choices in the computer, the Pi Chis aren't even in the same room, much less near the computer. So having Pi Chi's take the MRABA to the PNM isn't a good idea (in my opinion).

PsychTau

To clarify... I am a campus-based Panhellenic advisor, and have also served within my organization, though I changed my username to remain anonymous.

PsychTau you are correct in the statement that undergraduates are not allowed to be involved in the Bid Matching process. This does include Panhellenic Executive Board members AND Recruitment Counselors. On preference night when the PNM's return from their events to sign their MRABA (Membership Agreement) they should be completing these forms by hand and signing them in front of a professional staff member. For example on my campuses I have various Student Affairs Professionals (Residence Hall Directors; Study Abroad; Multicultural Student Affairs; Student Activities; etc) meet with each PNM individually as they are completing the MRABA. (And yes I am at a large school averaging 800-1000 PNM's). These professional staff members carefully read the statement and then ask the women if they understand BEFORE they sign. This also includes women who Single Intentional Preference, making sure they understand the consequences of the decision. The professional staff member is then responsible for returning the MRABA back to Greek Life office staff who enters the information into the computer before Bid Matching is completed.

Recruitment Counselors and Panhellenic Executive Board are available to counsel PNM's who may need help before making selections and signing the MRABA, but at no point are these women allowed to see the final PNM selections, or enter them into the computer.

After Bid Matching is completed I do inform Recruitment Counselors of any PNM in their group who may have received their second or third choice so that they are available to counsel them if on Bid Day there is disappointment.

Back to the OP, that situation was handled very poorly from your campus Panhellenic and Greek Advisor. The campus advisor should have been the one to handle your selections before you left for the football game, and to inform the chapters of your excused absence from Preference.