Chapter
Bylaws
- Article I: Name
The name of this organization shall be the Springfield Chapter of
the National Honor Society.
- Article II: Purpose
The purpose of the Springfield Chapter of the National Honor Society
is to create enthusiasm for scholarship, stimulate a desire to render
service, promote leadership, and develop the character of its members.
- Article III: Role of the Principal
- Section 1: The Springfield Chapter of the National Honor Society
shall operate under the authority of the National Association
of Secondary School Principals (NASSP).
- Section 2: The principal shall reserve the right to approve all
activities and decisions of the chapter. The principal shall also
appoint a member of the faculty as chapter advisor and a Faculty
Selection Committee composed of five members of the school faculty.
Whenever possible, the members of the Faculty Selection Committee
will be chairs of academic departments of the high school. Both
the chapter advisor and members of the Faculty Selection Committee
may serve consecutive terms. The principal shall also hear appeals
in cases of non-selection of candidates, and appeals concerning
the disciplining or dismissal of members.
- Article IV: Definition of Membership
The membership of the Springfield chapter of the National Honor Society
shall be composed of seniors who have fulfilled the academic requirements
of the Springfield chapter of the National Honor Society and who have
successfully demonstrated that their leadership, service, and character
meet the criteria of the National Honor Society. That evaluation shall
be determined by the Faculty Selection Committee.
- Article V: Selection of Members
- Section 1: All juniors who have attended at least one full
year at Springfield High School by the end of the first semester
of their junior year, have taken two honors level (or higher)
courses at Springfield, and who have a cumulative GPA of 3.65
or higher in the spring of their junior year will be invited to
apply for membership.
- Section 2: Interested candidates will complete forms and an
essay concerning their character and leadership and service activities
to demonstrate that they exemplify the characteristics of a member
of the National Honor Society.
- Section 3: The Faculty Committee will review the applications
and assign a numerical value to the examples provided by the applicants.
Applicants will also receive a score for their scholarship based
upon their GPA's.
- Section 4: All acceptances will be tentative pending the issuance
of the report card at the end of the student's junior year: a
student must have a cumulative GPA of a 3.7 by the end of his
or her junior year in order to be inducted into the chapter.
- Section 5: Notification of acceptances will be sent to students
before the start of the following school year, usually by the
middle of August.
- Section 6: Candidates become members when inducted at a special
ceremony in the fall of their senior year.
- Article VI: Meetings
There will be at least one general membership meeting every year.
Subsequent general membership meetings will be scheduled on an "as
needed" basis. Meeting dates and times will be announced and
posted. It is the responsibility of the students to learn of meeting
times and dates and to attend them on time.
- Article VII: Duties and Responsibilities
- Section 1: The Officers.
- a) There will be a President of the chapter and a Vice-President,
both of whom will be elected from the student membership at
the earliest possible time following the selection process.
- b) The President will conduct any chapter meetings and be
responsible for any special activities and fund raising by the
chapter. The President is also responsible for communicating
information concerning meetings and other issues to the membership.
- c) The President and the Vice-president will be jointly responsible
for:
- 1) organizing the chapter's group service activity (currently
it is tutoring fellow students) and making sure that students
are signed up to perform the group service project one full
month in advance
- 2) submitting the completed monthly sign-up sheet to
the chapter advisor one full month in advance of the service
to be rendered
- 3) keeping records of that service, so it clear which
members participated on which days. Those records must always
be up to date and ready for review by the chapter advisor.
- d) The Vice-president is responsible for recording minutes
of any meetings and for publishing those minutes to the membership
on the chapter website.
- Section 2: The Advisor. The chapter advisor will be responsible
for the direct, day- to-day supervision of the chapter and will
act as liaison for the chapter with the faculty, administration,
students, and community. The advisor shall maintain files on membership,
chapter history, activities, and financial transactions. The advisor
shall send the annual report to the national office. The advisor
shall periodically review each member for compliance with honor
society standards and obligations and help the chapter officers
understand and carry out their duties. Finally, the advisor shall
be an ex-officio, non-voting member of the selection committee.
- Section 3: Members. To remain in good standing, members must maintain
a cumulative GPA of 3.7 or higher, be a strong participant in the
chapter's tutoring program, and to complete in a timely fashion
thirty hours of approved and verified individual service (See Service
Hours). Students are also required to honor the terms of their
ethical pledge. Students who cheat, lie, act dishonestly, plagiarize,
fail to comply with the chapter's membership requirements and/or
deadlines, violate Springfield Township High School's student code
of behavior, or break the law outside of school are subject to disciplinary
proceedings by the Faculty Selection Committee pursuant to chapter
by-laws.
- Article VIII: Election and Removal of Officers
- Section 1: Officers shall be elected by a simple majority vote
by the membership as soon as possible after membership has been
determined by the selection committee.
- Section 2: Should the chapter advisor determine that an officer
is neglecting his or her duties to the detriment of the chapter,
the advisor will warn the officer of the problem and give the
officer an opportunity to improve. If there is no improvement
or the improvement is negligible, the chapter advisor will instruct
the officer to leave that office. A chapter meeting will be called
to elect another student to replace the dismissed officer.
- Article IX: Conducting Meetings
Meetings will be conducted according to Robert's Rules of Order.
- Article X: Ratifying the Bylaws
Bylaws will be ratified by the Faculty Selection Committee and approved
by the school administration. Such ratification will be deemed binding
on subsequent members, subject to future amendments.
- Article XI: Amending the Bylaws
- Section 1: Any amendment should be presented to the chapter
and to the Faculty Selection Committee one month before a vote
on that amendment takes place.
- Section 2: An amendment must have the support of at least five
members before it can be brought to the attention of the membership
and the Faculty Selection Committee.
- Section 3: Revisions to the procedures for selection, disciplining,
and dismissal of members can only be changed by the Faculty Selection
Committee.
- Section 4: A two-thirds majority vote from the membership shall
be required for an amendment to pass. This section does not apply
to revisions to the procedures for selection, disciplining, and
dismissal of members, which can only be changed by the Faculty
Selection Committee.
- Article XII: Disciplining and Dismissing Members
- Section 1: Membership in Springfield's chapter of the National
Honor Society is a privilege, not a right, and students who join
the chapter are by that action accepting the responsibilities
of maintaining their membership in good standing.
- Section 2: Obligations of members in good standing of Springfield's
chapter of the National Honor Society include but are not limited
to:
- a) acting in good character, as defined by the ethical pledge
taken by all members prior to joining Springfield's chapter
of the National Honor Society. Students who cheat, lie, act
dishonestly, plagiarize, fail to comply with the chapter's
membership requirements and/or deadlines, violate Springfield
Township High School's student code of behavior, or break
the law outside of school are subject to disciplinary proceedings
by the Faculty Selection Committee pursuant to chapter by-laws.
Any action deemed to be unethical and/or illegal may also
be considered in this context, whether committed in or out
of school;
- b) maintaining a strong academic standing, defined here
as having at least a 3.7 cumulative average throughout the
school year;
- c) fulfilling all service obligations in a timely and complete
manner, which includes (but is not limited to) donating an
equitable number of service hours to the chapter's tutoring
project and donating an approved additional thirty hours of
time to an individual service project according to the schedule
set by the chapter advisor and done in compliance with the
chapter's requirements (see Service Hours).
- d) attending all meetings and arriving at those meetings
on time;
- e) participating in any fund raising project voted on by
the chapter.
- Section 3: Students are liable for discipline measures and/or
dismissal if they fail to meet their obligations as members of
Springfield's chapter of the National Honor Society. If a student
is dismissed, that student will not, among other things, be recognized
as an honor student at graduation.
- Section 4: A student who appears to no longer meet the standards
of Springfield's chapter of the National Honor Society will receive
at least one week's written notice of a hearing before the Faculty
Selection Committee to determine the appropriate action to be
taken, including but not limited to dismissal from the honor society.
The Faculty Selection Committee may obtain information concerning
a student's failure to comply with chapter standards through a
variety of sources, including but not limited to disciplinary
reports filed by members of Springfield's faculty and/or administration.
Notice of the hearing will be sent to the student via certified
mail.
- Section 5: If a student appears to no longer meet the standards
of Springfield's chapter of the National Honor Society at a point
in the school year when providing that student with a week's notice
of a hearing before the Faculty Selection Committee would render
the issue of dismissal or discipline moot (for example, if an
issue arises shortly before graduation), the student has two choices.
The student may either consent to a hearing with potentially much
less notice or the student can agree to march in graduation without
being designated as a member of the honor society.
- Section 6: The student may be present for the Faculty Selection
Committee hearing, at which time the student may present his or
her explanation of mitigating circumstances and/or other information
which the student deems relevant to the committee's consideration
of his or her situation. The student's behavior at the hearing
is subject to reasonable rules of conduct which may be established
by the Faculty Selection Committee.
- Section 7: Neither the student, either one of his or her parents,
legal guardians, nor any legal representative of the student is
entitled to be present during the Faculty Selection Committee's
deliberations after the hearing is concluded.
- Section 8: After the hearing is concluded, the Faculty Selection
Committee will carefully and deliberately review all of the information
available to it to determine whether or not the student has violated
the ethical pledge and/or failed to comply with the membership
requirements of Springfield's chapter of the National Honor Society.
A student's failure to comply with membership requirements can
include but is not limited to:
- a) failing to follow the requirements for getting service
hours approved (see Forms and Important
Dates)
- b) failing to perform required and approved service hours
in a timely fashion,
- c) failing to submit verification of approved service hours
in a timely and approved fashion (see Forms
and Important Dates),
- d) failing to attend any chapter meeting or being late
for same
- Section 9: The Faculty Selection Committee will determine what
sanction(s), if any, are appropriate in light of all of the information
before it. The Faculty Selection Committee may, if that committee
deems it appropriate, allow the student to perform restitution
on a probationary basis such that the student may cure the offense
and return to having membership in good standing. The Faculty
Selection Committee may also deprive the student of some of the
benefits of membership in good standing. In all such cases, if
the student does not comply with the Faculty Selection Committee's
decisions in all respects, the student automatically forfeits
his or her membership in Springfield's chapter of the National
Honor Society without the necessity of a second hearing. The Faculty
Selection Committee may also determine that the student's actions
are such that the student can not remain in the honor society.
Such a final determination will only be reached through a unanimous
vote of the Faculty Selection Committee. In all cases, discussions
and balloting by the Faculty Selection Committee will remain confidential.
- Section 10: Written notice of dismissal will first be sent
to the school principal. Written notice will then be sent to the
student and to his or her parent(s) or legal guardian(s).
- Section 11: If the student is dismissed, he or she may appeal
the decision to the school principal and thereafter follow the
same rules and procedures as for other district disciplinary actions.
- Section 12: Once a dismissal has been finalized, a student
will not be reconsidered for readmission to the honor society.
- ARTICLE XIII. Membership Privileges
- Section 1: Honor society members in good standing will be recognized
publicly at the official graduation ceremony of Springfield Township
High School.
- Section 2: Honor society members in good standing will be invited
to attend a school-sponsored spring luncheon.
- Section 3: Honor society members will be honored by having
their names posted in the school library.
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