Continuous Open Bidding (COB)

Continuous Open Bidding (COB) is an informal recruitment process that Panhellenic sororities use to recruitment new members outside of the designated primary recruitment period to reach quota and/or Panhellenic Total (i.e. Median Chapter size). For example, if Alpha Alpha Alpha sorority has 395 members for the semester and Chapter Total is 400, then Alpha Alpha Alpha can offer 5 COBs if they are interested.

No. Snap bidding ends when bids are distributed on Bid Day. Continuous Open Bidding (COB) begins as soon as Bid Day begins. Further, Snap Bidding is ONLY allowed for those chapters that did NOT match to quota in the bid-matching process of primary recruitment. The Snap Bidding process takes place before bids are distributed on Bid Day and eligibility is limited to women who participated in at least the first round of recruitment (i.e. Greek Day). Snap Bids are coordinated and extended through the College Panhellenic/Office of Fraternal Leadership & Learning, prior to the distribution of bids and the start of Bid Day activities.

All female University of Mississippi students are eligible to participate in COB provided that (1) they are enrolled as a full-time student, (2) they have at least a 2.7 GPA per the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life’s Academic Policy for Potential New Members, (3) they have never been initiated into one of the 26 National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) sororities at The University of Mississippi or on another campus, and (4) they have not received a bid during the most recent primary membership recruitment and declined the bid or have broken their pledge.

Although Panhellenic cannot require a specific grade point average (GPA) to participate in primary recruitment or COB, every sorority strives to maintain a high chapter grade point average (GPA), therefore each must consider a woman’s ability to adhere to the chapter’s scholastic standards. With the large amount of women that participate in the formal recruitment process, GPA tends to be an easy way for the chapters to begin to manage the numbers. As such, it is HIGHLY recommended that women participating in primary recruitment or COB have at or above a 3.0 cumulative high school or college GPA at the time they are seeking membership. While scholastic standards is a component of the membership selection process, please note that meeting this minimum does not guarantee membership in a sorority.

Unlike primary recruitment, COB is a very casual and unstructured. Each chapter does COB differently so the College Panhellenic Council does not set dates for informal recruitment events or offering of bids. Chapters individually contact a potential new member and invite her to an informal recruitment event or chapter activities in an effort to get to get to know her better.

If a woman receives a COB from a chapter that she is not interested in joining she may decline the bid.

If a woman receives a COB from a chapter she is interested in joining she can accept the bid. Those accepting bids through the COB process will be required to sign a COB MRABA acceptance binding agreement, which must be filed with the Office of Fraternity & Sorority Life, Ferguson Center Room 2512 within one business day of accepting the bid.

If a woman receives a COB from a chapter and is unsure about accepting at that time, she may ask to wait to accept or decline the bid. Each chapter is responsible to determining when an answer must be given by (normally 24-48 hours from time a bid is issued).

Any Panhellenic sorority that has an overall chapter membership below Chapter Total, is allowed to, but not required by Panhellenic to pledge additional new members up to Total. Participation in COB is ultimately up to the discretion of the chapter, so there is not set number of chapters and/or a guarantee that specific chapters will participate.

This number varies semester to semester. Given that COB is not mandatory and that chapters have the option to recruitment up to Chapter Total, we cannot speculate the overall number of bids that will be issued and/or number of women that will receive bids.

Women interested in being considered for COB should fill out the online COB Interest Form.

No. There is not a cost to participate in Continuous Opening Bidding.

Letters of recommendation may be required by some NPC organizations.

Chapters are allowed by the National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) to extend bids or offers of membership to unaffiliated women during the regular school year (as defined by the academic calendar). During the fall, COB begins after the formal structured recruitment process has concluded up to the week before final exams. During the spring, COB begins the first day of classes and concludes prior to the week before final exams.

Filling out a COB Interest Form does not guarantee that a sorority will contact a potential new member nor does it guarantee that she will receive a bid.