Article IV: The Adviser

Section 1. The adviser shall be responsible for the direct, day-to-day supervision of the society and act as liaison between faculty, administration, students, and community.

Section 2. The adviser shall maintain files on membership, history, activities, and financial transactions. The adviser shall be responsible for the annual report.

Section 3. The adviser shall regularly review each member for compliance with Honor Society standards and obligations.

Section 4. The adviser shall help the officers understand and carry out their duties.

Section 5. The adviser may be a member of the Faculty Council.

Section 6. The adviser shall be a member of the faculty, appointed annually by the principal, and may serve consecutive terms.

Article V: Membership

Section 1. Membership in the Honor Society is an honor bestowed upon a student. Selection for membership is by a Faculty Council and is based on outstanding scholarship, Christian character, leadership, and service. Once selected, members have the responsibility to continue to demonstrate these qualities.

Section 2. Membership shall be known as active, honorary, and graduate. Active members shall become graduate members at graduation. Graduate members shall have no voice or vote in Honor Society affairs.

Section 3. The Faculty Council shall reserve the right to award honorary membership to school officials, principals, teachers, Honor Society advisers, adults, or students with disabilities in recognition of achievement and/or outstanding service rendered to the school in keeping with the purposes of the Honor Society. Honorary members shall have no voice or vote in Honor Society affairs.

Section 4. Candidates become members when inducted at a special ceremony.

Section 5. Members who resign or are dismissed are never again eligible for membership or its benefits.

Article VI: Selection of Members

Section 1. To be eligible for membership the candidate must be a member of those classes (junior, senior) designated as eligible in the Honor Society bylaws. (Freshmen [ninth graders] and Sophomores [tenth graders] are not eligible.) Candidates must have attended NVBS the equivalent of one semester.

Section 2. The national minimum standard for scholarship shall be a cumulative scholastic average of at least 92% (A-). Candidates shall then be evaluated on the basis of service, leadership, and Christian character.

Section 3. The selection of each member to the Honor Society shall be by a majority vote of the Faculty Council.

Section 4. A description of the selection procedure shall be published in an official school publication that is widely available in a timely fashion to all students and parents of the school. The selection procedure shall be determined by the Faculty Council and shall be consistent with the rules and regulations of the Honor Society.

Article VII: Discipline and Dismissal

Section 1. The Faculty Council, in compliance with the rules and regulations of the Honor Society, shall determine the procedure for dismissal. A written description of the dismissal procedure shall be available to interested parties. (Note: Faculty Councils can consider disciplinary actions that are less severe than dismissal if circumstances warrant.)

Section 2. Members who fall below the standards that were the basis for their selection shall be promptly warned in writing by the chapter adviser and given a reasonable amount of time to correct the deficiency, except that in the case of flagrant violation of school rules or the law, a member does not necessarily have to be warned.

Section 3. The Faculty Council shall determine when an individual has exceeded a reasonable number of warnings.

Section 4. In all cases of pending dismissal, a member may be asked to appear before the Faculty Council.

Section 5. For purposes of dismissal, a majority vote of the Faculty Council is required.

Article VIII: Chapter Officers

Section 1. The officers of the chapter, their duties, and the method of their election shall be determined by the principal.

Section 2. New officers shall be installed at a special ceremony.

Article IX: Executive Committee

Section 1. The executive committee shall consist of the officers of the chapter and the chapter adviser.

Section 2. The executive committee shall have general supervision of the affairs of the Honor Society between its business meetings, make recommendations to the chapter, and determine and perform such other duties as are specified in the chapter bylaws. All actions and recommendations of the executive committee shall be subject to the review of the NVBHS administration.

Section 3. The executive committee shall have the responsibility for ensuring that chapter activities and procedures follow school policy and regulations. (Note: This section is generally viewed to include chapter activities except those with regards to the selection, discipline, and dismissal of members which are the sole domain of the Honor Society?s Faculty Council per the provisions of Article VII, Section 4.)

Article X: Meetings

Section 1. The Honor Society shall have regular meetings during the school year on days designated by the executive committee and in accordance with school policy and regulations.

Section 2. The regularity of the meetings (i.e., weekly, monthly, bimonthly) shall be designated in the chapter bylaws.

Section 3. The Honor Society president or other designated student leader may call special meetings approved by the executive committee.

Article XI: Activities

Section 1. The Honor Society shall determine one or more service projects for each year.

Section 2. All members shall regularly participate in these projects.

Section 3. These projects shall have the following characteristics: (1) Fulfill a need within the school or community, (2) Have the support of the administration and the faculty, (3) Be appropriate and educationally defensible, (4) Be well planned, organized, and executed.

Section 4. Each member shall have the responsibility for choosing and participating in an individual service project that reflects his particular talents and interests. This is in addition to the Honor Society projects to which all members contribute.

Section 5. The Honor Society shall publicize its projects in a positive manner.

Article XII: Official Insignia

Section 1. This organization shall have an official emblem selected by the Faculty Council. The emblem shall be uniform.

Section 2. The distribution of the emblem and the rules for its use shall be under the exclusive control of the Faculty Council.

Section 3. Each active, graduate, or honorary member in good standing with the chapter shall be entitled to wear this emblem.

Section 4. Any member who resigns or is dismissed shall return the emblem to the chapter adviser.

Section 6. The motto of the Honor Society shall be Noblesse Oblige. The meaning of this French phrase is, literally, &ldquo noble obligation.&rdquo This phrase has traditionally been used to represent the idea that those who have elevated status have a duty to serve society, not to merely selfishly enjoy their blessings.

Section 7. The official colors of the Honor Society shall be blue and gold.

Section 8. A graduate member may purchase a replacement for a lost emblem.

Article XIII: Bylaws

Section 1. The Honor Society shall write bylaws to amplify sections of this Constitution and to clarify operating procedures of the Honor Society. Bylaws need the approval of the Faculty Council and must be consistent with this Constitution.

Section 2. The chapter bylaws shall contain information concerning the election and duties of officers, the schedule of meetings, member obligations, dues, etc. (Note: See the national handbook and the &ldquo Adviser Zone&rdquo at www.nhs.us for additional information regarding the appropriate content of chapter bylaws.)

Article XIV: Amendments

If a change to this Constitution is first approved by the principal, this Constitution may be amended at any meeting of the Faculty Council by an affirmative vote of a majority of the members of the Faculty Council.