Continuous Open Bidding (COB)
Continuous Open Bidding (COB) is an informal recruitment process that Panhellenic sororities use to recruit new members outside of the designated primary recruitment period to reach quota and/or Panhellenic Total.
Some chapters may participate in the COB process after primary recruitment in the fall and the beginning of the spring semesters.
Who is eligible for COB?
Regularly enrolled students or plan to be a full-time student in good standing with The University of North Carolina at Wilmington at the time of Recruitment
Students who have never been initiated into one of the 26 National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) sororities at UNCW or on another campus
Students who have not received a bid during the most recent primary membership recruitment and declined the bid or have dropped from a chapters new member process.
Which chapters participate in COB?
Any Panhellenic sorority that has an overall chapter membership below Chapter Total, is allowed to, but not required by Panhellenic to recruit 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.
How does COB work?
Unlike primary recruitment, COB is very casual and unstructured. Each chapter does COB differently so the UNCW 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 know her better.