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By Laws
1. Process for Accepting New Applicants
NHS applications are evaluated by the Faculty Council. Students will NOT be
allowed to be on this committee. NHS applications will have the due date clearly
marked.
When looking for the best applicants, readers must look for the basic
requirements first. This includes GPA, evidence of volunteer/leadership
experience, a recommendation letter, a commitment to ethics, an essay from
the applicant and evidence of a 3.6 gradepoint. If any part of the application is
turned in late the reader is not obliged to evaluate that application until the
next acceptance date. The NHS moderator is responsible for determining who
has turned in their application late.
If basic credentials are all there, then the list of candidates will presented to the
staff for input on character.
All students will receive notification whether or not they have been accepted.
2. Attendance
Members will be required to attend all 4 lunch meeting sessions and a Chapter
Volunteer Activity.
Missing any meeting without an excused absence will result in probation and
consultation with the moderator.
Officers are required to attend every meeting.
Meetings will be held twice every semester. The officers and moderator may
choose to hold more meetings if need be.
A written explanation or email for an absence at a meeting must be written
prior to the meeting.
3. Induction Ceremony
Procedures may vary per year.
Induction will happen once every year, and will happen after the beginning of
second semester. All officers will be required to attend.
4. Dues
Dues will be collected at the beginning of every year and at the start of second
semester. There will be a time slot of two weeks to collect all the dues. Dues
cannot be collected during class time. They must be submitted during passing,
lunch and before and after school.
The dues will be $5 due at the beginning of the semester, and members are
encouraged to pay the dues for the whole year first semester to cut down on
paperwork.
The money spent will be limited to the following; any volunteering project that
requires funding, mostly large group projects. Funding for the induction
ceremony, and graduation supplies are also included in expenditures. Anything
else must be reported to the moderator for approval.

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If a student is in need of a scholarship the student shall meet the moderator in

person to discuss the reason for the students request. If the request for a
scholarship is approved the student will not need to pay dues that year.
Each scholarship must be renewed every year by meeting with the moderator to
approve the students status.
5. Officer Elections
There will be 4 officer positions, President, Vice-President, Treasurer, and
Secretary. Students will run for an officer position and be ranked into a position
by number of votes.
Candidates must notify the moderator a week prior to elections.
Officers will be chosen by the highest amount of votes per person. If there is a
tie, the people who have tied will still be each considered a separate officer. The
limit to officers should be from 4 to 5.
Each candidate may make a speech in front of the NHS body on the day of
voting. Each speech should be a maximum 3 minutes in length.
Elections should be held every April/May to ensure succession for the upcoming
school year. Seniors are not allowed to vote.
6. Officer Responsibilities
President: In charge of community outreach, including acting as ambassador
and organizer of programs that are held outside of the school. In charge of
keeping record of total hours each student has amassed. Will be responsible for
leading meetings. In charge of conducting the yearly Induction Ceremony.
Vice-President: In charge of dealing with issues inside the school. This may
include in school tutoring, and other such activities affiliated with volunteering.
In charge of organizing incoming students emails.
Treasurer: Will handle all dues and will be in charge for organizing how much to
spend for events such as the induction ceremony, and/or a major project that is
in need of funding. Also responsible for finding how many cords/pins are
required for each graduating class. (For limits on spending money check section
3.)
Secretary: In charge of checking emails and informing president or vice-
president of any volunteering requests that have come in. Will review volunteer
hour paperwork. Will act as the scribe for each meeting that is held between
officers.
Junior Ambassador: Two Juniors will be chosen, by election of the Junior class,
to act as Junior Ambassador. The Junior Ambassador must attend all Officer
Meetings and is responsible for understanding the duties of each officer
position and distributing said knowledge to the Junior class.
All officers will serve for only one year. Outgoing officers will meet with
incoming officers at the end of the year to counsel them.
7. Volunteer Hours

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NHS members are required to tutor a high school student, who is not in NHS, for
at least 2 hours and participate in 1 hour of a mandatory Charter Volunteer
Activity sponsored by NHS.
Members are allowed to use some hours from other community service clubs.
Students must have at least 2 different sources for their volunteer activities in
addition to tutoring.
Group Activities may consist of in school tutoring in a pre-established school
tutoring program, any activity that is voted by the officers as suitable for Group
Activity.
8. Group Activities
To submit an idea for a Chapter Volunteer Activity, the person submitting the
request must be an NHS member of good standing.
The member will then provide the details of the activity and contact information
of any organization that is affiliated with the activity to the Officers.
The officers will then vote on the relevance and usefulness of the activity, and
will decide whether or not to present the activity to the society.
9. Member Probation
The student will be notified of their status through email, and will have one
semester to bring their GPA back up to the required GPA of 3.6.
For seniors: at the end of the year, senior GPAs will be checked and if they do
not meet the requirements, they will be denied their cord at the graduation
ceremony. This also applies to a lack of volunteer hours.
Neglecting to turn in volunteer hours for one semester may result in dismissal
from NHS. Turning in partial volunteer hours may result in probation. This will
be followed by dismissal if the member doesnt correct the number of hours
within 2 weeks.
Missing the mandatory Chapter Volunteer Activity with an unexcused absence
will result in probation.
10. Process for Changing By Laws
Officers may propose to amend the By Laws of the Pioneer High School NHS
chapter.
The Faculty Council may amend the By Laws by a majority vote.
Each component of the by law will only be allowed to be voted on twice a year.
The principal, moderator and officers will follow the procedures listed in
requesting a change to the By Laws.