Constitution of the Chi Upsilon Chapter of Beta Beta Beta Biological Honor Society

The College of New Jersey

revised 3/2006

Article I. Name of Organization

The organization shall be known as Beta Beta Beta Biological Honor Society (Tri-Beta).

Article II. Purpose

The purpose of Beta Beta Beta Biological Honor Society shall be to function as an honor society and service organization for students of the biological sciences. Its goals are to stimulate interest, scholarly attainment and research in the biological sciences and to promote the dissemination of information and new interpretations among students in the life sciences.

Article III. Membership

Section 1. Membership shall be divided into three categories: General, Associate and Regular membership. Eligibility in the Chi Upsilon chapter requires completion of the minimum requirements for membership as stipulated by the national office. Associate and Regular members are members of both the National Beta Beta Beta Biology Honor Society and the TCNJ student organization. General members are members of only the TCNJ student organization.

Section 2. To be a General member or an Associate member, one must have an interest in the life sciences.

Section 3. To be a candidate for Regular membership, one must be either a biology major or a biology minor and have completed at least three biology courses; all other course work must be satisfactory (i.e. student must be in good academic standing). In addition, the candidate must have a GPA of at least 3.0 in all biology courses attempted at The College of New Jersey. When a biology course has been repeated, both grades must be used to calculate GPA. One biology course taken at another institution, with a grade of B or greater, may count for one and only one of the required three biology courses. Advance Placement (AP) credit for biology may not be used to count as one of these courses, even if TCNJ credit is given. Grades from another institution may not be used to calculate biology GPA. Furthermore, to be a candidate for Regular membership, one must have met the attendance and service requirements (outlined in Section 6) for at least one full year.

Section 4. It is the duty of the faculty advisor to investigate the qualifications of all candidates for Regular membership.

Section 5. Applications for membership in the National Society shall be accepted at the beginning of the spring semester of each year. Invitations to apply for membership shall be distributed at least two weeks prior to the application deadline. Applicants will not be accepted as Associate or Regular members in the National Society until they have attended a formal induction ceremony.

Section 6. To remain in good standing, all members of the must attend all general business meetings each semester and participate in at least three hours of Tri-Beta sponsored service per academic year. In order for an absence from a meeting to be excused, the member must notify the vice president in writing/by e-mail prior to the meeting. Members unable to attend meetings for an entire semester (e.g., student teaching, study abroad) must apply to the vice president in writing each semester in order to be excused from this requirement. Service hours can be distributed as desired by the member between semesters in a given academic year, however, service for each year must be completed within that academic year, except for students who are absent because of study abroad. These students may makeup up to two hours of service during the semester after they return.

Section 7. Any member who meets who meets all attendance and service requirements during an academic year will remain in good standing. Members will be notified of their status in the spring semester of each year. Those members who have not remained in good standing will receive an e-mail from the executive board to inform them of deficiencies in their attendance or service. Any member who is not in good standing at the end of the academic year will be removed from membership roster.

Section 8. To earn the privilege of wearing a Beta Beta Beta honor cord at commencement, one must be a Regular member and have met the attendance and service and requirements for at least 4 semesters prior to commencement, irrespective of the date that the member was inducted as a Regular member into the National Society.

Article IV. Officers

Section 1. Officers of the organization shall be president, vice president, secretary, treasurer and historian. All officers must be Regular members in good standing at the time of their election.

Section 2. The duties of the president shall include being in charge of scheduling and conducting meetings in collaboration with the faculty advisor, Regularly checking the organization’s e-mail account for messages received, sending official e-mails to the membership, and representing the organization to the community.

Section 3. The duties of the vice president shall include assisting the president in carrying out his or her duties and to assume all responsibilities in the absence of the president. The vice president shall maintain the list of members in good standing.

Section 4. The duties of the secretary shall include keeping minutes of the business meetings and forwarding the minutes to the organization’s webmaster in a timely manner.

Section 5. The duties of the treasurer shall include managing all SAF/SFB funds, coordinating with the SFB liaison, and checking the organization’s mailbox in the Office of Campus Life on a Regular basis.

Section 6. The duties of the historian shall include keeping of the chapter scrapbook as required by the national constitution, filing the annual Bertholf Award application, and overseeing the refreshment committee.

Section 7. The term of office shall be one academic year.

Article V. Meetings

Section 1. Meetings shall be held as deemed necessary by the officers and/or the faculty advisor.

Section 2. At the beginning of the term, a tentative schedule of events will be set for that term. Notification of any event, scheduled or not, shall be given at least one week prior to the event.

Section 3. Attendance at meetings is unrestricted.

Amendments

Section 1. Amendments to either the Constitution or the bylaws shall be presented first to the officers for approval by a simple majority vote.

Section 2. If the officers approve the amendment, the amendment is then presented to the general membership to be voted on.

Section 3. The amendment shall pass if the general membership present passes it with a two-thirds majority vote.

By-Laws of the Chi Upsilon Beta Beta Beta Biological Honor Society

Article I. Voting Requirements

Issues pertaining to Regular membership only shall be voted on by Regular members. All other issues are open to voting by Regular, Associate, and General members.

Article II. Election Procedures

Section 1. Candidates for officers must be Regular members in good standing that are nominated from the floor by any member in good standing. The candidate will be questioned by the members as to his/her abilities. The vote will be taken by a show of hands without the candidate present. A simple majority is needed.

Section 2. Elections for the following academic year shall be held each spring but may be called by the president at any time to fill a vacant position.

Article III. Removal from Office

Section 1. An officer who decides to resign must notify the president, vice president and/or the faculty advisor in writing.

Section 2. Impeachment shall occur when an officer does not fulfill his/her duties. A grievance letter must be brought to the president, vice president and/or advisor. The general membership shall question the officer at a posted meeting and if it is decided that there are grounds for impeachment, a vote will be taken with the officer in question not present. Two-thirds majority is needed for impeachment.

Article IV. Dissolution

In the event of dissolution of Beta Beta Beta Biological Honor Society, the assets, if any, will be distributed to an organization that is exempt from Federal income tax as an organization described in 501 (c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, contributions to which are deductible, or to the Federal Government or to a state or local government, for a public purpose. All student activities fund (SAF) moneys and assets (if any) shall be returned to the Student Finance Board (SFB).

Article V. Distribution of Constitution and By-Laws

All members shall receive copies of the chapter constitution and by-laws within two weeks of their adoption. New members shall receive copies at the time of their induction.

Article VI. Financial Provisions

Initiation fees to the national organization shall be assessed in accordance with the National By-laws. All fees shall be forwarded to the national office.

Article VII. Committees

Section 1. The elected officers shall make up the executive committee. All actions by the executive committee shall require a simple majority vote by the committee.

Section 2. All other committees shall be ad hoc; official actions are initiated by the executive committee.