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Reviewing PNM applicants

Once your organization opens an application period and PNMs start applying — or you add them by hand — the applications land on your chapter's PNM page. Chapter officers are the front line for reviewing them: you read the application, check attachments and reference letters, and walk each applicant through the intake lifecycle from "not started" to "crossed."

Authoring is done by your national admin. Officers do not configure application questions, open or close periods, or approve fraternal names — those live in PNM program (org admin). What officers do is the day-to-day review work for their own chapter.

What you see​

In your sidebar: Members → PNMs (or the equivalent under the Membership group, depending on your sidebar layout). The page opens with a grid of cards, one per potential new member assigned to your chapter.

Each card shows:

  • The applicant's name and photo (if uploaded).
  • Their current intake status — Not Started, Approved, In Progress, Crossed, or Rejected.
  • A completion percentage based on which required fields the applicant has answered.
  • Their chapter (in case you have multi-chapter visibility for any reason — most officers see only their own chapter).
  • An auto-flag badge if the applicant tripped a soft-validation rule, such as a GPA below the configured minimum.

Chapter PNM list with applicant cards and the status filter selector. Chapter PNM list with applicant cards and the status filter selector.

Above the grid you get three filter controls:

  • Search — match against the applicant's name or proposed fraternal name.
  • Status — All Statuses / Not Started / In Progress / Crossed.
  • Period — All time, or scope to a specific application period (e.g. Fall 2026 — Active, Spring 2026 — Closed). This is how you separate this semester's pledge class from prior pledge classes.

There is also a checkbox to show PNMs who have not yet verified their email. By default these are hidden so your list stays focused on confirmed applicants.

Step-by-step: reviewing an applicant​

  1. Click into a card from the PNM list.
  2. The detail page opens with the applicant's name, photo, and current intake status at the top.
  3. Scroll the page to read the application — there are tabs for Personal Info, Application (custom question answers), Intake Timeline, and Admin Notes.
  4. Check the Attachments section. The applicant's resume, headshot, transcript, or cover letter (whichever your org configured) appear here. Click any attachment to download and review.
  5. Check the References section if your org requires reference letters. Each referrer the applicant supplied shows up with a status: Pending (link emailed, letter not yet submitted), Submitted (letter received — click to read), or Expired (the seven-day window passed without a response). If a referrer is stuck on Pending, you can resend the request from this card.
  6. Move the applicant through intake by clicking the status badge at the top of the page. The dropdown lists the next valid statuses; pick one and confirm.

The full intake lifecycle, with the transitions you can make from each state:

  • Not Started → Approved, In Progress, or Rejected
  • Approved → In Progress or Rejected
  • In Progress → Crossed or Rejected
  • Rejected → Not Started (un-reject only)
  • Crossed is terminal — no further transitions.

What "Crossing" requires​

Marking a PNM as Crossed is the moment they become full members. The system enforces three preconditions:

  1. A proposed fraternal name has been entered on the applicant's profile.
  2. The name has been approved by an org admin via the name assignment workflow. Officers can propose the name but cannot approve it. If approval has not happened, the system blocks the Crossed transition with a clear error.
  3. You must enter a Big Brother and a New Member Educator in the confirmation dialog. Both are required and are validated to belong to your organization.

Once Crossed, the applicant's membership status flips from PNM to whatever your org configured as the default crossing status (typically Active Undergraduate), and their proposed fraternal name and lineage fields are written to their member profile.

Mobile differences​

The PNM list and detail page work on phone and tablet. The card grid collapses to one card per row on phones. Status filter, period filter, and the search bar all stack vertically. The status-change dropdown opens as a native menu sheet. Attachments preview inline on tablets but trigger a download on phones, which is the standard mobile-Safari behavior for arbitrary file types. The confirmation dialog for Crossed (with Big Brother and NME pickers) renders full-screen on phones — the member search is a typeahead just like on desktop.

What admins see that you don't​

National admins see the same PNM list but at the org level, not chapter-scoped. They can filter across every chapter, use completion-percentage min/max filters that aren't on the chapter page, and access the PNM Periods management screen where periods are opened, closed, and configured. They are also the only role that can approve a proposed fraternal name — officers see the proposed name and an "awaiting approval" state, admins act on it.

Regional admins can read but not edit. Other chapter members can read the applicant list but not the application-detail page or attachments.

Org admins also have an org-wide PNM dashboard for cross-chapter reporting. Officers do not see this view; you only see your own chapter.

What officers cannot do​

A few PNM actions are gated to higher tiers, even though officers may see them mentioned in the UI:

  • Open or close an application period. Periods are an org-wide construct. Officers see which one is active but cannot change it. See PNM period visibility for what you can do.
  • Edit application questions, required fields, or attachment types. These live on the org-level PNM configuration page.
  • Approve a proposed fraternal name. Officers propose; org admins approve. The Crossed transition is blocked until approval lands.
  • Override the GPA minimum or other soft-validation rules. The flag is informational for officers — review the application and decide whether to proceed manually.
  • Delete a PNM whose intake is In Progress. The system blocks deletion in that state to protect audit history. Move them to Rejected first, or wait until they cross.

Errors and edge cases​

  • "Cross requires an approved name assignment." The proposed fraternal name has not been approved yet. Propose the name, or ask your org admin to approve the pending one. The Crossed transition is blocked until that happens.
  • "Cannot cross PNM without a proposed_org_member_name." The fraternal-name field is empty. Open the name assignment card, propose a name, and try again.
  • "Big Brother is required when crossing a PNM." / "New Member Educator is required..." Both fields are required in the Cross confirmation dialog. The search input expects a user from the same organization.
  • "Cannot transition from 'completed' to ..." Crossed is terminal. If you crossed someone in error, contact your org admin — they can edit membership status directly outside the PNM workflow.
  • GPA auto-flag badge. This is a soft warning, not a block. The applicant submitted with a GPA below your org's configured minimum. Review the application and decide; the system does not enforce a hard cutoff for you.
  • PNM is pending email verification. When email verification is turned on (by your org admin), self-applied PNMs are hidden from the default chapter list until they confirm. Toggle the "Show pending email verification" checkbox to see them.

Troubleshooting​

  • An applicant isn't on my list. Check the period filter (it defaults to All time, but if you set it to a specific period, applicants without a period assigned won't show). Also check whether the applicant is still pending email verification — they're hidden by default.
  • The attachments section is empty for a PNM I know uploaded files. Confirm your org's PNM configuration allows the attachment types they tried to upload. Some attachment types are turned off per-org and will reject the upload silently. See PNM attachments (org admin).
  • A reference letter shows as Expired even though the referrer says they replied. The token has a seven-day life. If they responded after expiry, resend the request from the reference card and ask them to retry — the new token will be live.
  • I can't see the Crossed option in the status dropdown. The applicant is not yet in the In Progress state. Move them through Approved → In Progress first, then Crossed will appear.

Last verified against v0.62.1 (2026-05-11).