NHS Bylaws

 

Chapter Bylaws

Approval 02/08/2019

 

Article I

Name and Purpose

 

Section 1. The name of this organization will be the Elwood Chapter of the National Honor Society of Secondary Schools.

 Section 2. The purpose of this organization will be to create enthusiasm for scholarship, to stimulate a desire to render service, to promote leadership, and to develop character in the students of Elwood Junior/Senior High School.

 Article II

The Principal

 

Section 1.  The principal will reserve the right to approve all activities and decisions of the chapter.

Section 2.  The principal will annually appoint one member of the faculty as chapter adviser, who may serve consecutive terms.

 Section 3.  The principal will annually appoint a Faculty Council composed of five members of the school's faculty who may serve consecutive terms.

 Section 4.  The principal will receive appeals in cases of non-selection, and disciplining, or dismissal of members.

Article III

Election of Officers

Senior officers will be elected in the first meeting of the school year by majority vote of the eligible senior members. Junior representative will be elected after induction, by majority vote of all eligible members.

Article IV

Officers' Responsibilities

A. President

  • 1Runs meetings.
  • 2Calls/cancels meetings with the adviser.
  • 3Is member ex-officio of all functioning committees.

 B. Vice President

  • 1Assumes all responsibilities in the absence of the president.
  • 2Oversees work of committees and records hours for individual member service projects.

 C. Secretary

  • 1Records minutes.
  • 2Keeps and records all correspondences.
  • 3Is in charge of publicity.
  • 4Keeps Attendance records.

 D. Treasurer

  • 1Maintains all financial records.
  • 2Pays bills.
  • 3Receives and deposits monies.
  • 4Reports to the members all transactions.

 E. Historian

  1. Takes pictures at NHS events
  2. Keeps an archived list of NHS events

 F. Junior Representative

  1. Junior (11th grade) member of the executive council.
  2. Acts as an active voice on the executive council for the eligible members in their otherwise unrepresented grade.

 

 Article V

Meetings

 

Section 1. The National Honor Society shall meet to determine the time and place of all regular monthly meetings.

 Section 2. Subsequent meetings will be held as determined by the members and at the discretion of the president, or the adviser.

 Section 3. Members must attend meetings regularly. Members can only miss two meetings for the entire year. Members who miss more than two meetings may be called in front of the Faculty Council for review and subject to removal from NHS.  Members are also required to attend the annual induction ceremony in the spring.

 Section 4. If a member is unable to attend a meeting, the member must notify the adviser prior to the meeting. Absent members are responsible for obtaining the information dispersed at the meeting they missed from the adviser.

  

Article VI

Activities

 

  Section 1. The chapter will determine one or more service projects for each semester.

   Section 2. All members must regularly participate in these projects.

 Section 3. These projects must have the following characteristics: Fulfill a need within the school or community; Have the support of the administration, and the faculty; be appropriate, and educationally defensible; be well planned, organized, and executed.

 Section 4. Each member will be required to document a minimum of ten (10) hours of service with each semester, for a total of twenty (20) service hours in an academic year. Required volunteer activities include the Christmas Auction, Day of Caring and a second service project to be put on by the Chapter in the spring semester. These hours cannot count double for another club, organization or class.

 Section 5. The chapter will host the annual Christmas Auction to be held during the last home Friday night basketball game before winter break.

 Section 6.  All members must regularly participate in all fundraising projects. The money earned from the fundraiser will be used for the chapter’s dues, supplies, and scholarships.

   Section 7. The chapter will publicize its projects in a positive manner.

  

Article VII

Faculty Council

 

Section 1. The Faculty Council will consist of five voting faculty members appointed annually by the principal. The chapter adviser will be ex-officio, non-voting, members of the Faculty Council.  No principal or assistant principal may be included on the Faculty Council.

 Section 2. The term of the Faculty Council will be one year. Members may be appointed to consecutive terms.

 Section 3. The Faculty Council will meet at least once a year to review the procedures of the chapter, select members, and to consider non-selection, dismissal, other disciplinary actions, and warning cases.

 Section 4. The Faculty Council will develop and revise, when necessary, all chapter procedures for selection, discipline, and dismissal of members, all of which must remain in compliance with the national guidelines.

 

Article VIII

Selection Process

 

Section 1. The Faculty Council of the chapter selects students who demonstrate outstanding performance in all four criteria of scholarship, leadership, service, and character.

 Scholarship:

The scholarship requirement is a 3.5 GPA based on a student’s cumulative grade point average after their 5th, or 7th Semester.

Leadership: The number of offices a student has held in school or community organization, also including effective participation in other extracurricular activities. The student who exercises leadership:

  • ●Exercises positive influence on peers in upholding school ideals
  • ● Successfully holds school offices or positions of responsibility; conducts business effectively and efficiently; demonstrates reliability and dependability
  • ●Is a leader in the classroom, at work, and in other school or community actions
  • ●Is thoroughly dependable in any responsibility accepted

 Service: Service is any actions undertaken which are done with or on behalf of others without any direct financial or material compensation to the individual performing the service. The student who serves:

  • ●Volunteers and provides dependable and well organized assistance, is gladly available, and is willing to sacrifice to offer assistance.
  • ●Works well with others and is willing to take on difficult or inconspicuous responsibilities.
  • ●Is willing to represent the class or school in inter-class and inter-scholastic competition.
  • ●Shows courtesy by assisting visitors, teachers and students.

 Character: A candidate will be able to demonstrate an outstanding record of conduct and behavior with regard to school and community rules, guidelines, and policies or be able to demonstrate sufficient growth and improvement to compensate for previous inadequacies. A person of character demonstrates the following six qualities: respect, responsibility, trustworthiness, fairness, caring, and citizenship. In addition, it can also be said that the student of character:

  • ●Consistently exemplifies desirable qualities of behavior (cheerfulness, friendliness, poise, stability).
  • ●Cooperates by complying with school regulations concerning property, programs, office, halls, etc.
  • ●Demonstrates the highest standards of honesty and reliability.
  • ●Manifests truthfulness in acknowledging obedience to rules, avoiding cheating in written work, and showing unwillingness to profit by the mistakes of others.

 Section 2. To be eligible for membership the candidate must be a member of the Junior or Senior class. Candidates must have been in attendance at Elwood for the equivalent of one semester. 

 Section 3. Candidates must have a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.5; we do not round.  Candidates will then be evaluated on the basis of service, leadership, and character.

 Section 4. Students will fill out a student activity information form and write an essay which will be reviewed by the Faculty Council. The Faculty will evaluate the students on leadership, service, and character. The Faculty evaluations will be reviewed by the Faculty Council along with the student activity form and the essay.

 Section 5. The selection of each member to the chapter must be by a majority vote of the Faculty council.

   Section 6. No quotas or percentages of members per class can be established.

 Section 7. Members who resign or are dismissed are never again eligible for membership or its benefits.

 Section 8. The National Council and the NASSP will not review the judgment of the Faculty Council regarding selection of individual members to local chapters.

 Section 9.  Those students selected are to be notified promptly and personally by the chapter adviser or printed letters.

 Section 10. A description of the selection procedure will be published in an official school publication that is widely available in a timely fashion to all students and parents of the school. The selection procedure will be determined by the Faculty Council and must be consistent with the rules and regulations of NHS.

 

Article IX

Membership

 

Section 1. Membership in the National Honor Society is an honor bestowed upon a student. Selection for membership is by the Faculty Council and is based on outstanding scholarship, character, leadership, and service.  Once selected, members have the responsibility to continue to demonstrate these qualities.

   Section 2. Candidates become members when inducted at a special ceremony.

 Section 3. A NHS member who transfers from another school and brings a letter from the principal or chapter adviser from their former school will be accepted automatically as a member in the Elwood chapter. Transfer members must meet this chapter's standards within one semester in order to retain membership.

Article X

Admission Procedures

 

Section 1. At the beginning of the Spring semester in the year of consideration for membership, the adviser requests a list of candidates from the guidance department. The candidates must have achieved the academic standard of a 3.5 GPA or better.

 Section 2. Candidates are notified and meet with the adviser (this is required). At that time, The National Honor Society criteria is presented and explained to the candidates. The candidates are made aware that their academic eligibility in no way guarantees the admittance into the National Honor Society.  The students are given a copy of the chapter By-Laws, and the necessary forms regarding leadership activities, and volunteer activities dated back to no further than 9th grade.  Candidates sign that they have received and understand this information regarding admittance procedures. The candidate has 5 school days to return the application.

 Section 3. The activity sheets are collected by the adviser, by the said due date. The adviser will prepare them for the admission process.

 Section 4. The Faculty is asked to make comments (based on their professional interaction with the candidates) on leadership, service, and character. The Faculty then makes recommendations as to membership in the NHS.

 Section 5.  The Faculty Council meets to discuss the admission of each candidate. Selection of each student in the Society will be by majority vote of the Faculty Council.

 Section 6. Students selected for membership into the National Honor Society must attend the induction ceremony that is held in the spring. A student who fails to attend the induction will not be admitted unless they have a valid excuse and have informed the adviser at least one week in advance.

 

Article XI

Non-Selection of Members

 

Section 1. In cases of non-selection, special efforts should be made to explain the selection process to those students who are unhappy about the results of the selection process. 

 Section 2. Chapters are not legally or constitutionally obligated to share with parents and students, information concerning specific students not selected for membership in the Society.

   Section 3. Students or parents still not satisfied should take their discussion to the principal.

 Section 4. The principal may hear appeals and overturn decisions only in cases of technical or procedural mistake. The professional and objective manner of the Faculty Council decisions is otherwise final.

 Section 5. The NASSP has no authority to review or overturn the judgment of the Faculty Council regarding selection of individual members to local chapters.

 

Article XII

Dismissal Procedure

 

Section 1. The adviser will periodically review the standing of the members for compliance to the National Honor Society standards and report to the Faculty Council any non-compliance. A meeting between the Faculty Council and the adviser can happen at any time to discuss dismissal procedure or a student's membership status.

 Section 2. Members who fall below the standards which were the basis for their selection shall be promptly warned in writing by the chapter adviser and given a reasonable amount of time to correct the deficiency, except that in the case of flagrant violation of school rules or civil, and criminal laws a member does not necessarily have to be warned.

 Section 3. If the student does not meet the standards within the probationary period, the student may be subject to dismissal by the Faculty Council.  The member will also be expected to submit in writing to the Faculty Council detailed explanations as to why the deadline has not been met.

 Section 4. A senior member who fails a course in any marking period beyond the point which final senior averages are completed according to the District Policy may be subject to dismissal by action of the Faculty Council. It should be understood by all senior members that just prior to graduation there may be insufficient time to remedy the violation.

 Section 5. The Faculty Council has the right and responsibility to discuss a member’s membership status at any time in concern with meeting the standards of scholarship, leadership, character, and service. This discussion may be requested by the adviser. If the Faculty Council determines that a member has exceeded a reasonable number of warnings, the Council should recommend dismissal of the member.

 Section 6. In all cases of impending dismissal, a member shall have a right to a hearing before the Faculty Council.

 Section 7. A member who has been dismissed may appeal the decision of the Faculty Council to the Principal and an appeal hearing shall occur. The student has the right to have his/her parent/guardian present at this appeal hearing. The National Council and the NASSP shall hear no appeals in dismissal cases.

 Section 8. If final dismissal is warranted, written notice to both the member and his/her parents/guardians is sent.  The member must then surrender all N.H.S. Paraphernalia (i.e. key, certificate, membership cards, shirt, etc.) to the adviser. If the students refuse to return NHS Paraphernalia, it is then treated as a school disciplinary matter with referral to the High School Principal.

 

Article XIII

Provisions for Amending the Bylaws

 

The Adviser, Faculty Council, and the Administration will approve any changes before they become the law of the organization.
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