Accepting a bid, but postponing pledging?

[QueenD]

I am a chapter advisor as well, and I got asked this question by 2 of the ladies who got bids from my chapter on bid day. Here is what I learned.

a) Formal recruitment bids are good for a year, so even if you don't want to advertise that this can be done, you definitely should expect that when this scenario comes up you would allow that woman to complete the new member program the following semester or whatever.

b) If a girl matches bids in Formal recruitment and chooses not to take her bid at that time, but wants to join up later in that year, she is allowed to do so *even if the chapter has subsequently pledged Quota AND is at Total!". This is in the NPC Manual of Information and is part of the Panhellenic compact. From what I understand, the reasoning for this provision in the the Panhellenic compact is to accommodate the PNMs. If they sign the MRABA and get a bid from a chapter on the MRABA form, they are locked in to where they can only be in that chapter for a year - which means if they initially decline to join but the chapter reaches quota and total, they would be totally locked out of Greek life for the year. The NPC doesn't want to do that to women who want to be Greek. Makes sense to have this provision in there for those rare circumstances where it would apply.

In my case, the woman who was hesitant to join the chapter right after Formal is concerned primarily because she is also in Army ROTC and she wants to have a semester of getting used to that program before she commits to the sorority. She really loves the chapter I advise but wants to feel good about having her other ducks in a row - particularly the duck that is paying for her education.

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by QueenD

I am a chapter advisor as well, and I got asked this question by 2 of the ladies who got bids from my chapter on bid day. Here is what I learned.

a) Formal recruitment bids are good for a year, so even if you don't want to advertise that this can be done, you definitely should expect that when this scenario comes up you would allow that woman to complete the new member program the following semester or whatever.

b) If a girl matches bids in Formal recruitment and chooses not to take her bid at that time, but wants to join up later in that year, she is allowed to do so *even if the chapter has subsequently pledged Quota AND is at Total!". This is in the NPC Manual of Information and is part of the Panhellenic compact. From what I understand, the reasoning for this provision in the the Panhellenic compact is to accommodate the PNMs. If they sign the MRABA and get a bid from a chapter on the MRABA form, they are locked in to where they can only be in that chapter for a year - which means if they initially decline to join but the chapter reaches quota and total, they would be totally locked out of Greek life for the year. The NPC doesn't want to do that to women who want to be Greek. Makes sense to have this provision in there for those rare circumstances where it would apply.

In my case, the woman who was hesitant to join the chapter right after Formal is concerned primarily because she is also in Army ROTC and she wants to have a semester of getting used to that program before she commits to the sorority. She really loves the chapter I advise but wants to feel good about having her other ducks in a row - particularly the duck that is paying for her education.

The problem with this is that the NM is locked in for the year, but the chapter is NOT. If the NM wants to wait a semester, she needs to make sure the chapter is on board. Just because her bid is good for one year does NOT mean that the chapter is required to uphold the bid offer at a later date. Considering that the NM may put off pledging for time management or financial regions, chapters may have valid reasons for rescinding their bids.