SHAWNEE MISSION WEST

NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY

I.  MISSION/DEFINITION OF THE ORGANIZATION

The Shawnee Mission West National Honor Society is based on four pillars:

¨     Scholarship   The Shawnee Mission West NHS will uphold its members to high academic standards and promote learning amongst the entire student body.

¨     Service  As an organization, the Shawnee Mission West NHS will assist the community in a variety of endeavors.  Additionally, members will serve the community individually.

¨     Leadership  The Shawnee Mission West NHS will promote leadership amongst its members, continually encouraging them—as school leaders—to set a good example.

¨     Character  The Shawnee Mission West NHS will maintain a reputation of integrity by demanding academic honesty and honorable behavior from its members.

Membership in the National Honor Society is a privilege, not a right.

II.  SELECTION OF MEMBERS

1)     At a time deemed appropriate by the chapter advisor(s) and student officers, a list of all juniors and non-member seniors with a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or above is compiled.

2)     The students on this list are deemed “new member candidates” and sent a letter citing their eligibility for membership and inviting them to an informational meeting held by the chapter advisor and student officers.

3)     An informational meeting is conducted for new member candidates.  The criteria for membership is explained at this meeting and materials to be submitted to the faculty council are distributed.

4)     The new member candidates are given one week to complete and submit to the chapter advisor the forms distributed at the informational meeting.

5)     After the deadline for submitting materials has passed, a faculty council consisting of five (5) voting members and the non-voting advisor(s) reviews the new member candidates.  The new member candidates are evaluated on the basis of the four pillars of NHS (as described in the mission).

6)     New members selected by the faculty committee are recognized through the traditional process of tapping.

7)     At a time deemed appropriate by the chapter advisor(s) and student officers, an induction ceremony is held for new members.

III.  MEMBERSHIP REQUIREMENTS

Membership in the National Honor Society is a privilege, not a right.  Therefore, students who wish to maintain member status must continue to meet the criteria originally established for membership.  This means continual upholding of the four pillars of NHS: scholarship, service, leadership, and character.  When a student fails to meet these pillars, his or her membership is in jeopardy and subject to review and termination.

Specific requirements for membership are outlined, by pillar, below:

¨     Scholarship  The member must maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.5.

¨     Service  The member must complete a designated number of community service hours, as fixed by the faculty advisor(s) and student officers.  The member must also participate in the major NHS philanthropies or be excused from doing so by the faculty advisor(s) and student officers.

¨     Leadership  The student must attend all meetings of the National Honor Society.  Any absences must be excused according to chapter procedures set by faculty advisor(s) and student officers.

¨     Character  The student must continually demonstrate the six qualities of character, as defined by the national organization overseeing NHS: respect, responsibility, trustworthiness, fairness, caring, and citizenship.  Academic honesty is a necessity.

IV.  DISCIPLINE OF MEMBERS AND TERMINATION OF MEMBERSHIP

When a member is in violation of the pillars of the National Honor Society and falls below the standards by which he or she was selected, that student’s membership is subject to review and revocation, a power given to local chapters by the national organization overseeing NHS.  The following procedure, as outlined by the national organization, is to be used:

1)     A member who receives two unexcused absences from General Meetings will have their rights suspended, as outlined in step four (4).  Five additional community service hours will be added as well.  More than two absences, and termination will be sought.

2)     A member who falls below the standards of NHS is promptly notified by the faculty sponsor(s) of their review status.

3)     The member is given a “reasonable” amount of time to correct their deficiency.  This amount of time is determined by the faculty sponsor(s) with assistance from the student officers. 

4)     If a member fails to correct the deficiency in the given amount of time, membership rights (voting and honor cords) are suspended and additional community service is ordered.  If the member again fails to correct the deficiency, termination of membership is sought, as outlined in step six (6).

5)     As stated in Article X, Section 2 of the national Constitution of the National Honor Society, in the case of a flagrant violation of school rules or civil laws a member does not have to be warned.  When members of the Shawnee Mission West NHS are caught in an instance of academic dishonesty, fighting, drinking or using drugs, or given out of school suspension, membership rights are suspended immediately and termination of membership is sought, no questions asked. The case automatically progresses to step six (6) without the correction period granted in step three (3) or intermediate steps granted in step four (4).  A student may also resign in writing at this time.  When the student turns in a written resignation, the student is no longer considered a member of the National Honor Society.

6)     When termination of membership is sought, the student against whom the action is taken is entitled to a hearing before the faculty council.  At this hearing the faculty advisor(s) presents the case for termination and the student is permitted to present his or her case.

7)     A majority vote (3 of 5) of the faculty council is required for member dismissal.  If the majority of the faculty council votes for dismissal, the student’s membership is officially terminated.

V.  OFFICERS

¨     The Shawnee Mission West National Honor Society elects four officers: a President, a Vice President, a Secretary, and a Community Service officer.  The officers are seniors, but are elected during their junior year.

¨     Election of Officers  New student officers are elected during the March meeting and the officers-elect train with the senior NHS officers until the officer induction ceremony in May.  The officers are elected on a simple majority vote.  The election is conducted by paper ballot; each member of the society in good standing is entitled to one vote for each position.  In the event of a tie, a new vote shall be conducted between the two candidates with the most votes.

¨     Requirements of Members Running for Office  Those members seeking office must be in good standing at the time of election.  Each member who declares himself or herself a candidate is also obligated to give a speech, no more than 3 minutes in length, at the March meeting.  Students who are not in good standing or do not speak are not placed on the ballot.

¨     Duties  The officers of the Shawnee Mission West National Honor Society must (1) hold at least one meeting for the society members each month.  They must also (2) keep records of attendance and (3) number of community service hours completed.  Finally, (4) they must speak on one of the four pillars of NHS at the induction ceremony.  The specific duties of each officer are determined by the faculty advisor(s) and officers themselves.

¨     Removal of Officer  In order to impeach an officer the members wishing to do so must first obtain consent from the faculty advisor(s) to conduct an all-society vote conducted by paper ballot.  The officer must then be promptly notified of the request.  If the vote is conducted, a two-thirds majority in favor of removing the member from office must exist within the society.  If this two-thirds majority is obtained, the proceedings are sent to the faculty committee, which conducts a closed hearing.  A unanimous (5 of 5) vote is required by the faculty committee for a member to be removed from office.  Removal from office does not constitute termination of society membership; the process outlined in section four (IV) must be followed.

VI.  MEETINGS

There are two types of meetings: general and committee.

¨     General  The officers are obligated to host one general meeting a month at which attendance is required.  At this general meeting, each officer is to report as are the faculty advisor(s).  Members are also given time to ask any questions they may have.

¨     Committee  Committee meetings are held during the planning phases of major philanthropies.  Students are required to attend these committee meetings just as with a general meetings.  Committee meetings are conducted by the officer in charge of the specific committee.

VII.  AMENDING THE CHARTER

Section four of the Charter (discipline of members and termination of membership) may not be amended by anyone except the faculty council.  The national organization overseeing NHS gives permission for discipline procedures not to be the subject of amendment.

Any other section of the charter is amendable.  Any member may submit an amendment on the appropriate form, which can be obtained from the chapter advisor(s).  This amendment is then brought to the entire society, with a 2/3 majority vote needed to pass the amendment.