Bylaws

BYLAWS
DR. PHILLIPS HIGH SCHOOL CHAPTER, NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY

 

ARTICLE I: Purpose

Section 1. The Purpose of the Dr. Phillips High School chapter of the National Honor Society (NHS) shall be to foster the desire to serve the school and community, to encourage leadership, to recognize and promote scholarship, and to enhance the character of the students of Dr. Phillips High School.

Section 2. This organization serves as a regional branch of NHS. Faculty advisers and student officers have a responsibility to assure that all operations of this organization comply with the national standards outlined in the Constitution of the National Honor Society.

 

ARTICLE II: The Principal

Section 1. As an organization sponsored and supervised by the National Association of Secondary School Principals Dr. Phillips’ NHS cedes to the right to approve all activities and decisions of the chapter to the principal of Dr. Phillips High School.

Section 2. The principal shall appoint a chapter adviser each year, who may serve consecutive terms.

 

ARTICLE III: The Chapter Adviser

Section 1. The chapter adviser shall act as a liaison between faculty, administration, students, and the community in the day-to-day operations of the chapter.

Section 2. The chapter adviser is responsibility for keeping such records ad membership files, chapter activities, and financial accounts. He/she shall send an annual report to the national office.

Section 3. The chapter adviser shall regularly review the members of the club to assume that they continue to meet NHS standards.

Section 4. The chapter adviser shall aid the student officers in comprehending and fulfilling their duties.  

 

ARTICLE IV: The Faculty Council

Section 1. The faculty council, who many serve consecutive terms, shall be composed of five faculty members appointed annually by the principal.

Section 2. No principal or assistant principal may be included on the faculty council.

Section 3. The faculty adviser shall be an ex-officio, non-voting sixth member of the faculty council.

Section 4. The faculty council shall meet at least one annually for the purpose of selecting new members and to consider selection appeals, dismissals, and/or probation cases.

 

ARTICLE V: Membership

Section 1. All members of NHS Must exemplify the characteristics of scholarship, character, leadership, and service.

Section 2. Students of Dr. Phillips selected for membership by the faculty council on the basis of these characteristics shall be inducted into the club at a special ceremony.

Section 3. NHS members who transfer to Dr. Phillips from another high school shall be automatically accepted as members provided that they present a letter to the faculty adviser from their former principal or chapter adviser. In order to retain membership, transfer students must meet all of the requirements of this chapter’s constitution within one semester.

Section 4. Chapter dues, which are paid only once, are payable upon selection for membership. Dues for all new members are $20. Students with demonstrated financial hardship may have this fee waived upon certification by the adviser.

Section 5. Members who are expelled from the club or who resign may never again be considered for membership in NHS.

 

ARTICLE VI: Selection of Members

Section 1. Students may apply for membership to NHS no sooner than the first semester of junior year. Candidates must have attended Dr. Phillips for at least one semester. However, in the case of a student whose family moves frequently, this semester requirement may be waived upon recommendation from the principal of the candidate’s last school.  

Section 2. Candidates must have a cumulative, weighted grade point average of at least 3.5.

Section 3. The basis for selection and application must be made available in a timely fashion to all eligible students of the school.

Section 4. Members shall be selected by a majority vote of the faculty council.

 

ARTICLE VII: Activities  

Section 1. This organization shall provide one or more service projects each nine weeks in which the membership may participate.

Section 2. All members shall participate in at least one of these service activities each nine weeks.

Section 3. All members shall earn service hours each nine weeks for community service projects and other NHS activities determined by the officers in order to maintain membership in NHS. All members must earn at least 25 service hours per academic year.

Section 4. Members must produce documentation of their service on forms provided by the club and verified by the secretary. It is the responsibility of the member to keep this documentation. All documentation must be submitted in a timely fashion through methods approved by the adviser.

Section 5. Opportunities to earn hours and participate in activities shall be made known through regularly posted events on the chapter website and communications channels.

Section 6. The officers of the NHS and the chapter adviser are responsible for ensuring that all activities follow school policy and regulations.

 

ARTICLE VIII: Meetings

Section 1. This organization shall meet monthly and in an orderly fashion.  

Section 2. The president, with the approval of the adviser and other officers, has the right to call any other emergency meeting that she/he deems necessary.

 

ARTICLE IX: Selection of Officers

Section 1. Candidates for the office must be members of NHS in good standing. This requires that they meet all standards for normal membership in the club.   

Section 2. Applications of candidates for office shall be reviewed by the outgoing NHS officers. The slate of new officers will be chosen by the faculty council.

Section 3. Any officer whose action warrants probation may be removed from office. A new officer shall be appointed by the faculty adviser and remaining officers.

 

ARTICLE X: Probation

Section 1. Members of NHS who are put on probation shall be notified in writing by the chapter adviser and have one nine weeks to correct their inadequacies.

Section 2. The following are grounds for probation:

  1. Failure to maintain a cumulative, weighted grade point average of at least 3.5.  
  2. Failure to earn the required service hours per nine weeks.
  3. Failure to attend a given class (i.e. skipping class).
  4. Documented evidence of cheating/plagiarism.

Section 3. Members who fail to correct their inadequacies within one nine week period shall be considered for dismissal.  

 

ARTICLE XI: Dismissal

Section 1. Members of NHS who are dismissed from the organization are never again eligible for membership in the organization.

Section 2. Grounds for immediate consideration of dismissal include the following flagrant violations of school rules and/or civil law:

  1. cheating
  2. fighting
  3. substance abuse
  4. stealing
  5. any other offense that prompts suspension from school
  6. harassment
  7. conduct investigated and deemed by the NHS Faculty Council to be in violation of the pillars of character, scholarship, service or leadership

Section 3. Members who warrant a second probation for the same offense may be subject to immediate consideration for dismissal, as determined by the faculty council.