Our chapter maintains an active membership system to keep an accurate record of the activity of the chapter. An active member is loosely defined as a member who regularly attends both chapter meetings and events or attends a significant number of chapter events if they are unable to attend meetings.
This system is primarily intended for official chapter business such as determining quorum numbers for voting purposes; however, members who maintain their active status will be rewarded upon their graduation by receiving discounts on graduation paraphernalia: members who are active at the time of graduation are eligible for a discount on the TBP stole, and members who have been active since their initiation are eligible for the TBP cords. Inactive members may still obtain and wear these items but must purchase them directly through Tau Beta Pi instead of through the chapter with the discount.
When a member is initiated, they are immediately granted active status. Beginning in the semester following their induction, each member must meet one of two requirements to retain active status in future semesters: the student must attend three meetings and two events or four events. If a member does not meet at least one of these two requirements, they may appeal for active membership by submitting a formal letter to the chapter via either email (nmt.tbp@gmail.com) or print (addressed to the chapter President). The advisory board - comprised of the chapter’s president, vice president, and advisors - will review the appeal and either approve or reject the appeal based on majority vote. While appeals can be made at any time, they are ideally made as quickly as possible either prior to the end of the semester being appealed or shortly following it.
The following circumstances are most likely to result in approval for the semester(s) appealed:
The member was unable to participate due to family responsibilities or a family emergency.
The member had a medical emergency or condition that semester.
The member was busy due to their strong leadership responsibilities at Tech for that semester. These responsibilities should be unpaid and related to the objectives of TBP.
The member was not enrolled at Tech for the semester(s) in question.
The member was not physically present at Tech due to a co-op, internship, student exchange, or study abroad program.
If the student does not meet any of the above circumstances but only missed the active membership requirement by two or less events, the student may appeal to regain active status after participating in the missing number of events at the beginning of the next semester. The specific events used for this must be approved in advance by the chapter’s president and vice president. This appeal must occur before the beginning of the next semester, and the events completed for this appeal will not count towards the next semester’s requirements for that student. Members may not make up for missed meetings.
In all cases, the board will consider whether the student has had a history of appealing, with more leniency given to a student appealing for the first time.