• 2023 Induction Timeline

    • Information Form Help Session Tuesday, September 19, 2023 in room A-110
    • Information Form due Friday, September 22, 2023
    • Candidates informed of selection Tuesday, September 26, 2023
    • New Inductees & Current NHS Members Meeting Thursday, September 28, 2023
    • NHS Induction Ceremony Wednesday, October 4, 2023 at 6 pm in the auditorium

  • Selection Process

    This section outlines the essential procedures for all chapters to follow when selecting new members. 

    1. Academic eligibility. As the first step in the process, students’ academic records are reviewed to determine those individuals who are scholastically eligible for membership. Students who meet the required 3.25 cumulative GPA standard. The GPA will be applied fairly and consistently to all candidates including any candidates with disabilities.
    2. Candidate notification and forms. Students who are eligible scholastically will be notified and informed that for further consideration for selection to the chapter, they are to complete the candidate information form. This form outlines the candidate’s accomplishments in the areas of service and leadership. Pay attention to your student email for information on help sessions for candidates to receive assistance in properly filling out the candidate forms. Established guidelines and a time schedule for completing and submitting the forms will be emailed to candidates' С³óߣ email accounts.
    3. Additional faculty input. All faculty members will be invited to make comments on candidates, done on a faculty input form. The actual selection of members will be made by the five appointed members of the faculty council. Consequently, point totals or averages of the faculty ratings will not be considered as “votes” or the sole determinants of membership, but will be reported to the faculty council to add to their information when considering selections.
    4. Review, deliberate, and vote. The candidate form will be reviewed by the faculty council, along with any other verifiable information about the candidates relevant to their candidacy, including whether or not candidates are officially noted as having a disability that could affect their consideration. Faculty councils may wish to interview candidates personally. The leadership, service, and character of all candidates will be reviewed carefully. Faculty council members will deliberate in order to guarantee that their decisions are based on accurate and complete understandings of all information presented for review. With the vote on each candidate, those candidates receiving a majority vote of the faculty council should be invited to be inducted into the chapter. All candidates identified and listed as “not selected” (i.e., those who do not receive the majority vote of the faculty council) should also be notified.
    5. Report results to the principal. Prior to notification of any candidates, the adviser will report to the principal the results of the faculty council’s deliberations for approval. Lists of selected and nonselected students as well as reasons for nonselection are to be incorporated into this report. This reporting will ensure the support of the administration prior to any student notification.
    6. Notification. Chapters will initiate formal notification of all selected candidates and their parents to inform them in writing about selection and the timing of the induction ceremony. Students who are not selected are properly informed about their nonselection in a way both timely and considerate of the student’s well-being.
    7. Verification and induction. To finalize the plans for the induction ceremony, we will confirm membership and acceptance of the invitation for membership as well as attendance at the induction ceremony.

    Prerequisite Conditions for Selection

    Enrollment. According to the constitution, only those students who have attended Terry Parker for the equivalent of one semester (January 2023) may be considered for membership. This period is necessary for students to establish themselves academically and involve themselves in various service and leadership activities, and for the faculty to get to know them and the quality of their character. Even after a semester, however, it may be necessary to contact a transfer student’s former school for additional information.

    Some candidates may be ineligible for induction becauseof the semester ruling. Many students, including students of military parents, are required to move with their family when parents or guardians have been transferred to new locations. The present school principal or adviser should seek a recom- mendation from the previous school’s staff (principal, adviser, counselor, etc.) pursuant to the candidate’s selection. Based on the recommendation of the previous school’s staff, the faculty council may waive the semester regulation.

    A candidate’s future enrollment plans are not a factor in their eligibility for consideration in selection. A member who enrolls at another school the next academic year may transfer membership to another chapter.

     

    Grade level. Membership is open to qualified juniors and seniors. 

    Common GPA standard. Academic requirements are the same for all candidates in all classes. 

    No quotas or percentages. There are no specific quota or percentage of members per class or student body. All students who meet the criteria for selection will be inducted regardless of the number. If it is necessary to limit chapter size, the academic requirement for all candidates can be raised. 

    Prescreening. The chapter adviser will not prescreen academically eligible candidates to eliminate some from the pool of candidates. Only the five-member faculty council may eliminate any student who is an eligible candidate. The adviser may check student submissions received before the deadline to ensure they are complete. The purpose is not to select members or remove candidates from consideration, but rather to check the forms for completeness and to see that the candidates have followed instructions.

    Forms can be reviewed for the following:

    • Filling in responses for all required components of the form
    • Required signatures
    • Completion of the assigned essay
    • Essay is within the limits for length (250 words)
    • Form is completed neatly and legibly

    If time allows, forms that need to be revised can be returned to candidates along with a letter that identifies which of the items needs attention. Revised forms should be submitted by the published deadline. After resubmission, all forms are then reviewed by the faculty council to determine which candidates are to be selected for membership.

    Creating this type of prescreening step in the selection process requires additional time and effort. However, it conveys to all candidates of the quality to be expected of members once selected.

    Eliminating names. Advisers will not eliminate any candidate from consideration or make any selection decisions. The NHS National Constitution reserves the authority for selection only to the faculty council and ultimately to the principal following the reporting of the results of the selection process.

    • The existence of a disciplinary record will not automatically disqualify any student from consideration. Care should
      be taken to confirm the nature of the offense, to determine whether the case is still under appeal, or whether there were any legitimate extenuating circumstances that should be brought into the discussion, usually with input from the administration. Established guilt for violation of school rules or the law can serve as reason for nonselection following careful review of the details by the faculty council prior to a vote.
    • Without a form to consider, the faculty council cannot substantiate the student’s having met the leadership or service criteria and as such may vote against the student for failing to demonstrate meeting these two criteria.

    The Criteria

    Scholarship. The scholarship requirement identified in the constitution is based on a student’s cumulative weighted grade point average (GPA). Our criteria is a 3.25 cumulative weighted GPA.

    Leadership. The leadership criterion is considered highly important for membership selection. Leadership in terms of number of offices a student has held in school or community organizations; however, it is important to recognize that leadership also exists outside elected positions. This includes positions of responsibility within the classroom as well as in other activities offered on campus, such as athletic team captains, section leaders in band and chorus, and committee chairs in student groups. Leadership roles in both the school and community may be considered, provided they can be verified. 

    To meet the leadership criterion for NHS, a student must name three (3) leadership roles at school or in the community achieved since the ninth grade.

    Service. Service is generally considered to be those actions undertaken by the student that are done with or on behalf of others with- out any direct financial or material compensation. In considering service, the contributions each candidate has made to school and the community can be reviewed. 

    To be selected as a member of our chapter, a candidate must provide a record of completion of 20 hours of service undertaken at school and in the community since the start of ninth grade.

    Character. A candidate will be able to demonstrate an outstanding record of conduct and behavior with regard to school and community rules, guidelines, and policies, or be able to demonstrate sufficient growth and improvement to compensate for previous inadequacies. Our faculty council will document, for purposes of its own decision-making or if questioned by the principal, any substandard performance in the area of the character criterion. Such documentation might include such sources as:

    • Administrative records of the school
    • Conduct/behavior grades or ratings (including comments) on report cards or progress reports
    • Professional records of individual faculty members (grade books, etc.)
    • Comments, based on professional evaluation (i.e., judgment) and action, of individual faculty members as they appear on faculty input forms

    It is left to the discretion of the local principal, faculty adviser, and/or faculty council as to how much of this information is to be shared with the candidate not selected for membership (or their parents).

    To be selected as a member of our chapter, a candidate must demonstrate the following six qualities: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship.