4. Membership Application Review Committee (Elected)
a. This Committee shall consist of three (3) members who shall be elected at the annual Council session to serve for the next term.
b. Each region shall select one (1) candidate from among the region’s members.
c. Names of nominees shall be presented to the Council for election to the committee. The three (3) nominees receiving the greatest number of votes shall serve for one (1) year. The nominee receiving the greatest number of votes shall be named chair of the committee. Tie votes shall be broken by any suitable method approved by Council.
d. Those nominees receiving the fourth through seventh highest number of votes shall be designated as alternate committee members in order of the number of votes received. They shall be required to fill any vacancy. The number of members actively serving on the Membership Application Review Committee shall be three (3) at all times.
e. No member of the Ethics or Members’ Rights Committees may serve concurrently on the Membership Application Review Committee.
f. The Committee shall review objections to membership applications and results of background investigations of applicants with past criminal records and determine whether membership applications shall be approved or rejected. The Committee shall, within 14 days of receiving an objection, determine whether the criteria set forth in Regulations, Article III, Section A, are met and transmit the determination to the Home Office.
1) .... With regard to Chapter objections there are three possible determinations:
a)..... The objection may be upheld, and the membership application denied. The Home Office shall notify the chapter and applicant of the decision and the applicant’s right to appeal per subparagraph “g.” below.
b)..... The objection may be denied, and the membership application accepted. The Home Office shall notify the chapter of the denial and shall complete the new member’s application process. The chapter shall have no right to appeal the determination of the Membership Application Review Committee.
c)..... The objection does not meet the criteria for denying an application, but the application constitutes an ethical violation by the applicant. The Home Office shall notify the chapter and the applicant of the decision and process the application as in sub-sub paragraph “2)” above, including collection of dues. After the new member’s application process is completed, the Committee shall transmit notice of ethical violations with all materials and reports to the Members’ Rights Committee for action in accordance with the provisions of PTG’s Disciplinary Procedure.
2) With regard to criminal background investigation results, the Committee may only determine whether or not the criteria for denial of membership are met. The Home Office shall notify the applicant of the decision and proceed in accordance to sub-sub-sub-sub paragraphs “a)” and “b)” above.
g. If an applicant believes that his or her application should not have been denied, he or she may appeal the unfavorable decisions of the Membership Application Review Committee to the PTG Board of Directors. This appeal must be filed within 14 days from the date of the decision notice to the applicant.
h. When the PTG Board of Directors receives an appeal it shall, within 14 days, make its own determination of whether a chapter objection meets the criteria as set forth in Regulations, Article III, Section A, and transmit its determination to the Home Office, who shall in turn notify the applicant and the objecting chapter. The determination of the PTG Board of Directors shall be final.
i. If a member of the Membership Application Review Committee and the applicant are from the same chapter, that member of the Membership Application Review Committee shall recuse himself or herself from service and the appropriate alternate committee member with no conflict of interest shall actively serve on the committee for the duration of this applicant’s review process.