NHS Bylaws

Discipline and Dismissal Procedures

Being selected for NHS is a privilege. Active members must uphold and demonstrate the selection criteria daily. Failure to maintain the same standards as those required for selection can result in discipline and/or dismissal. Active members are expected to participate in a variety of service projects, including projects organized by National Honor Society.
Active members that do not fulfill NHS requirements, participate in club service projects, who do not maintain the required cumulative, numeric grade average, who have discipline issues, who have honor code violations, who do not have legitimate service/tutoring hours and do not turn in hours on time and students who do not pay dues on time are in jeopardy of losing their membership. The procedure for dealing with these problems is as follows:

The member will be notified of the problem in writing by the chapter sponsor. The letter will describe the problem and inform the member that they can write a letter to the Faculty Council explaining the problem and describing their point of view. The letter will give a time for the verbal student explanation to be presented to a Faculty Advisor.
The Faculty Advisor will notify the Faculty Council and the Principal of the problem and will include a copy of the member’s explanation letter.
The Faculty Council will decide whether the member should be disciplined or placed on probation.
The Faculty Advisor will send the member a letter informing the member of the Faculty Council decision. A copy of the letter will be sent to the Principal.

Failure to participate in National Honor Society Service Projects

If members fail to participate, they will be notified, in writing, that participation in National Honor Society service projects are a requirement for active membership. (The member must complete 10 hours per semester of Service-). A member who does not complete or submit their service hours by the deadline will have to make up double the hours that they missed, next semester.

The activities in which the member did not participate will be listed. The member will be warned that failure to participate in future service projects will be viewed as the member’s decision not to be an active member. The consequence of becoming inactive is that that member’s name will be removed from the club roster and they will no longer be considered a member of NHS local Alpharetta Chapter; if this occurs, the member will receive a letter which officially terminates their club membership permanently.

FOR SENIORS IN SECOND SEMESTER: if hours are not completed and turned in, they will not be able to receive an NHS stole for graduation.

Failure to maintain the cumulative numeric GPA

At the end of each semester, the NHS Club sponsors will review the student’s numeric GPA. If it falls below 92.0, the member will be sent a letter stating that they are on academic probation. The member will have the current semester to raise their cumulative numeric GPA to the local chapter standards. The member will remain active in the organization during the academic probation and can participate in all Club activities. Failure to restore the cumulative, numeric GPA to 92.0 after one semester of probation will result in dismissal. The member will be notified, by letter of the dismissal. The Principal will be notified of the dismissal. The member can appeal, in writing, to the Faculty Council. The Faculty Council will review the member’s written appeal and may extend the member’s academic probation for one additional semester. Members who fail to maintain the 92.0 academic standard for two semesters will be dismissed from the Alpharetta Chapter of National Honor Society.

Honor Code Violations

The Faculty Council feels that honor code violations by NHS members demonstrate a lack of integrity and complete disregard of the NHS standards. Active members who commit honor code violations that are on file in the administrative offices will be dismissed from the Alpharetta High School local NHS Chapter. The Faculty Council will periodically review the honor code violations. Any member with a documented honor code violation after having been inducted in NHS, will receive a letter of dismissal from the club sponsors. A letter will be sent to the Principal. The dismissed member can appeal, in writing, to the Faculty Council. The Faculty Council will review the honor code violation report and the member’s written appeal. Their final decision will be communicated to the member by written letter from the Faculty Council.

Discipline Issues

Faculty sponsors will periodically review the discipline records of the members. Students who have discipline referrals that conflict with the standards for selection to NHS or the National guidelines will be referred to the Faculty Council. The Faculty Council will review the discipline referrals. The Faculty Sponsor will produce a letter for the member detailing the Faculty Council’s report. Depending upon the discipline referral, a member may be warned, disciplined, or dismissed. The member and Principal will be notified in writing of the Faculty Council decision. A member who is dismissed may choose to appeal, in writing, to the Faculty Council. The Faculty Council will reconsider the discipline referral, the appeal, and make a final decision. The faculty sponsor will contact the member, in writing, with the results of the Faculty Council.

Failure to attend meetings and required events

Members who miss 1-2 meetings, will watch a video recording of the meeting, and take notes about what was discussed. Notes will be due 2 days after the meeting, and if for some reason this deadline cannot be met, the sponsors and officers must be notified ahead of time.

Members who miss 2+ meetings, will take notes and will have to do an extra hour of service for each meeting they miss moving forward.

If 3 meetings are missed and are unexcused with no follow up from the member it will be viewed as failure to participate. The member will be asked to resign from the club. If members do not pay dues or take notes or turn in service/tutoring hours, it will be viewed as failure to maintain standards/failure to participate and will be given a warning. If the problem is not rectified the member will be dismissed.

A member who is dismissed may choose to appeal, in writing, to the Faculty Council. The Faculty Council will reconsider the discipline referral, the appeal, and make a final decision. The faculty sponsor will contact the member, in writing, with the results of the Faculty Council.

Any member may appeal to the Principal.