In order to be transparent in the selection process, this section will explain how the faculty council determines which candidates are offered membership into our chapter of NHS.
The advisor obtains a list of current GPAs for juniors (and seniors only for 2020 - starting in 2021, only juniors will be invited to participate in selection). Those students with a weighted GPA of 3.75 or higher are sent an email inviting him/her to participate in the selection process.
During the time between notification of candidates and submission of activity information forms, the advisor receives a record of all administrative disciplinary action against candidates. This information is put in the candidate's file.
Additionally, recommendation forms from outside persons are processed and placed in the candidate's file.
If a request for honorary membership is made, the advisor will contact the appropriate guidance counselor and child study team member to confirm the claim(s) made on the honorary membership request form. Students with an academic disabling condition (verified by guidance and the child study team) that would not be able to participate in the NHS tutoring program will be considered for honorary membership. Candidates requesting honorary membership are still required to submit an activity information form and are held to the same standards for demonstrating character, leadership, and service.
After candidates submit an activity information form, the advisor will assign a code to each form. Notes are made on the completion (or lack thereof) of the honor code. Once each form is processed with a code, the cover pages (cover, honor code, and recommender list) are separated from the remainder of the activity information form. Any attachments are checked for identifying marks. Attachments with identifying marks not redacted are attached to the cover pages. Attachments with identifying marks redacted are attached to the remainder of the activity information form.
Once there are no identifying marks on the remainder of the activity information form, the advisor will scrutinize each activity information form. The advisor will produce a summary of each candidate based on the submitted activity information form to be given to the faculty council. The faculty council has determined what information should be placed on this form. The advisor completes this stage based on the code assigned and does not know which submission belongs to which candidate.
The advisor will give the summary sheets (identified by code only) to the faculty council so they may determine which candidates will become members. During this window, the faculty council can ask questions to the advisor, and inspect aspects of the candidate's submission. The advisor ensures that all documents inspected by the faculty council have no identifying marks so that no faculty council member will be influenced by knowing the identity or gender of the candidate.
After sufficient time, the faculty council will submit their vote on each candidate. The advisor will tally the results and offer membership to any candidate that received a majority of the faculty council's support by identifying the code to the specific candidate. The NHS advisor does not vote on selection of new members. There is no minimum number of candidates that must be selected each year nor a cap or limit on how many candidates will be offered membership. After the vote, the advisor will draft a letter for each candidate indicating membership status. For non-selected candidates, the letter will specifically state concerns regarding her/his candidacy.
If a non-selected candidate believes that the faculty council or advisor has acted inappropriately during selection, the non-selected candidate can initiate a dispute request with the principal. Non-selected candidates need to understand that challenging the decision of the faculty council should not be taken lightly. A dispute request should not occur if you are unhappy with not being selected; it should only occur if you believe a technical or procedural mistake has been made (i.e. if the faculty council and/or advisor failed to follow prescribed procedures).
If a dispute request occurs, the principal will inform the advisor of the dispute and request the advisor deliver all documents relating to the candidacy. After sufficient time, the principal will discuss the outcome of his investigation with the NHS advisor. If the principal has determined a technical or procedural mistake has occurred, the principal with either direct the faculty council to re-evaluate the candidate based on new information from the investigation or may make a final decision on the candidacy based on the nature of the procedural or technical mistake. The principal will not convene an alternate faculty council in the hopes that a different group of faculty arrives at a different conclusion nor will the principal serve as a faculty council of one to re-evaluate a candidate’s qualifications if no procedural or technical mistake has occurred.