Top 10 Things You Never Knew About Being an NHS Officer

10. Being an officer is A LOT of work. For this reason, officers are exempted from the mandatory 12 hours of service that Seniors are required to provide. The fact is, officers put in much more than 12 hours of service for our organization. They deserve our thanks and respect for taking on the responsibility of office.

9. Officers are responsible for the daily running of NHS. Contrary to popular opinion, the buck stops with the officers. The faculty advisor is NOT the “boss” of NHS...the officers are. The faculty advisor does as the title suggests, they “advise”.

8. Each officer is expected to fulfill all the obligations of the office and to assume no rights, or prerogatives, not granted by the NHS bylaws or NHS’s parliamentary authority. If an officer does not fulfill all of the obligations of the office, or if they assume rights they do not legally have, they can and will be removed and replaced by the person who was the “runner up” in the officer election.

7. Officers MUST communicate with the membership, and sometimes have the unpleasant task of holding members responsible for breaches in conduct. Officers need to have a LOT of patience, and respect, when communicating with the membership.

6. Officers must attend weekly Executive Committee (ExCom) meetings, where important NHS business is discussed. Officers must attend the monthly membership meetings, in addition to the ExCom meetings.

5. Our principal is very involved in our Chapter, and the Officers often consult with our principal, and invite him to meetings, for input and suggestions on how to organize NHS events.

4. Officers are responsible for managing, and securing, or organizing, volunteers for NHS Induction planning, Tutoring, Back to School Night, Parent-Teacher Conferences, handing out graduation regalia, and any other special event that NHS participates in. Officers often organize these events as well.

3. The Officers are responsible for training the next elected group that comes after them. To not pass on the torch effectively and completely would be detrimental to the Chapter as a whole.

2. Officers traditionally name themselves after the VP...hence the name “Baj Bunch”.

1. Officers must bring the Faculty Advisor chocolate at every ExCom meeting.

NHS Officer Duties

The President

The President, or Chair Person, presides at all meetings. This means they open the meeting, call for an approval of the minutes, ask for new business, ask for motions and votes on actionable items, and they close the meeting. The President also gives a short report at the general membership meetings on what he has been working on since the last meeting.

The President organizes the Senior service hours. He/she will keep track of the Senior hours and will understand at all times whether or not members are on track with fulfilling their minimum hours. It is the President’s responsibility, after consultation with the faculty advisor, to hold members responsible for lack of volunteer hour completion. The President is also responsible for setting up Senior tutoring opportunities.

The Vice President

The Vice President presides at meetings when the President is not in attendance. He/she will keep track of the Junior volunteer hours and will understand at all times whether or not members are on track with fulfilling their minimum hours. The VP is also responsible for setting up the Junior’s tutoring opportunities. It is the VP’s responsibility, after consultation with the faculty advisor, to hold members responsible for lack of volunteer hour completion. The VP also gives a short report at each membership meeting about what he/she has been doing since the last meeting.

The Secretary

The Secretary records the minutes of all meetings (both ExCom and Membership). Those minutes MUST be posted in a public place (such as Google Classroom) for the entire membership to read. The Secretary is responsible for posting meeting agendas at least 24 hours before all meetings. Additionally, the secretary is responsible for posting meeting minutes within 24 hours after all meetings. The membership rosters are also kept in order by the secretary. The Secretary also gives a short report at each membership meeting about what he/she has been doing since the last meeting. The Secretary will assist either the President, or VP, in setting up tutoring opportunities and helping out with managing member volunteer hours.

The Treasurer

The Treasurer maintains the financial records of our Chapter. They are responsible for working with the Faculty Advisor, and the high school Financial Officer, Ms. Hewitt, in keeping detailed and up-to-date books for the Chapter. The Treasurer is responsible for collecting dues, and other monies for special events and purchases voted on by the membership. Deposits and withdrawals must be approved by the Treasure and the Faculty Advisor. The Treasurer must give a short report on the income, expenditures and running balance at each membership meeting. Additionally the Treasurer must set up elections at our general meetings to allow the membership the opportunity to vote on expenditures, and abide by the financial decisions of the membership. The Treasurer will assist either the President, or VP, in setting up tutoring opportunities, and helping to manage volunteer hours.

The Communications Officer

The Communications Officer is responsible for making NHS visible to the high school and the greater district at large. The CO is responsible for placing NHS advertisements on the high school and district website, social media outlets, MDub TV, the school newspaper, etc... There is a bulletin board on B level that the CO is responsible for keeping up to date and eye catching. NHS has a website and it is the CO’s job to keep it up to date and interesting to read. While all of the officers can post on Google Classroom, the CO will probably post more than anyone else. No NHS information is passed on to the high school or district without Excom first approving distribution. There will be times when the CO needs to communicate with various persons in School Administration, in order to get approval of and access to various communication outlets. If NHS announcements are to be made over the school PA system, the CO will work with the Main Office Administrative Assistants to make sure those announcements are read. Additionally, the CO must follow up on communication events to make sure they were heard, and to gauge student and faculty reaction to the announcements, for the purpose of improving communication and accessibility in the future. The CO will give a short report on his/her activities at each membership meeting.