CONTINUOUS OPEN BIDDING
What is Continuous Opening Bidding (COB)?
Continuous Open Bidding (COB) is an informal recruitment process that Panhellenic sororities use to recruit new members outside of the designated formal recruitment period to reach Panhellenic Total.
How does COB work?
Unlike formal recruitment, COB is a very casual and unstructured and it is important to point out that each chapter does COB differently. The Houston Panhellenic Council does not set dates for 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.
When is COB?
Chapters are allowed by the National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) to extend bids or offers of membership to unaffiliated women throughout the academic school year beginning immediately after the fall formal recruitment process ends.
Which sororities are able to participate in COB?
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.
Is there a cost associated with COB?
No. There is no cost to participate in Continuous Opening Bidding.
Who is eligible for COB?
All female UH students are eligible to participate in COB provided that (1) they are enrolled as a full-time student, (2) they have never been initiated into one of the 26 National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) sororities at UH or on another campus, and (3) they not have received a bid during the most recent formal membership recruitment and declined the bid or have broken their pledge.
How many women will receive bids through COB?
This number varies semester to semester. Given that COB is not mandatory and chapters have the option to recruit 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.
Is a Snap Bid the same as a COB?
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 formal 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. Open House). Snap Bids are coordinated and extended through the College Panhellenic, prior to the distribution of bids and the start of Bid Day activities.
Have more questions about Continuous Open Bidding? Contact Livia Rosario, Vice President of Recruitment, at hpc.recruitment.uh@gmail.com.