Starting a Chapter

Thank you for your interest in applying for a Tau Upsilon Alpha Chapter Charter. If your institution of higher education meets the following criteria please proceed with the full application process.

Minimum Criteria:

  • Your institution offers an Associate, Baccalaureate or Graduate degree in the field of Human Services or closely related field within the social sciences (e.g.Behavioral Science, Counseling, Social Work).
  • Your institution is accredited by the appropriate regional accrediting agency.
  • Your institution has a Faculty Chapter Advisor willing to apply for membership, to be responsible for evaluating student applications, and to be responsible for all correspondence between the National Office and the chapter. It is the Faculty Chapter Advisor's responsibility to supervise the selection of new members to be invited into membership. Of primary importance in this process is the selection of only those students who fully meet all membership requirements.

Those interested in starting a new chapter at their institution should:

  1. Identify a Faculty Chapter Advisor for the chapter. Please see the "For Chapter Advisors" tab for more information on the duties and responsibilities of a chapter advisor.
    1. Check out eligibility requirements for Faculty members here.
    2. Review the responsibilities of the Faculty Chapter Advisor here.
    3. Have the designated Faculty Chapter Advisor for the chapter complete and submit this form, alongside the $40.00 lifetime membership fee and all supporting documents, to the TUA National Office. Once the Faculty Chapter Advisor is approved, move on to steps 2 through 6.
  2. Identify Potential Members.  
    1. To start a new chapter, applicants will need 10 student, faculty, and/or alumni applications. Newly approved Faculty Chapter Advisors will have up to 1 semester to identify these 10 new members and complete all required application material.
      • Have each identified student and alumni complete this form
      • Have each potential faculty member complete this form.
    2. The Faculty Chapter Advisor may be able to obtain all or part of the above information from the school registrar to help create the list. Due to privacy concerns only the Faculty Advisor should have access to student grades. However, once the list of names has been compiled the chapter secretary or designated chapter officer may send out invitations on behalf of the chapter.
  3. Collect Individual Applications and Payments
    1. The Faculty Advisor will need to collect all student, alumni and/or faculty applications, signing each to certify that the qualifications for membership have been met.
    2. The Faculty Chapter Advisor will need to collect the lifetime membership fee of $40 for each applicant. Note: when submitting your request to start a new chapter, please submit all applicant membership fees as one payment. We accept check, cashier's check or money order. We do not accept cash.
  4. Complete the Faculty Advisor's Certification of New Membership Form and submit online here.
  5. Complete the Application and Petition for Chapter Charter
    1. For guidelines on how to complete this form, click here
    2. Check out the Chapter Officer roles below.
  6. Submit Applications to TUA National Office 
    1. Submit all applications to the TUA National Office including all supporting documents and payments.
    2. Once approved, all applications will be sent back to the Faculty Chapter Advisor to keep for their records.

NOHS
Tau Upsilon Alpha Honor Society
147 SE 102nd Avenue
Portland, OR 97216

Click on links above to find specific information on each step.

Once the applications are approved, the National Office will send membership certificates and lapel pins to the Faculty Chapter Advisor. The chapter may not induct members until their applications are formally approved and the certificates and pins have been received.

The Tau Upsilon Alpha National Board of Directors look forward to receiving your application. If you have any questions regarding the application process, please feel free to contact [email protected].

Chapter Officers 

This section is intended as a guide for chapter advisors and officers. Chapters may choose to combine duties or elect additional officers to perform the duties.

President

1. Meets with the leadership team to create a plan for chapter activities and functions for the coming year.
2. Plans, publicizes, and conducts chapter meetings using parliamentary procedures.
3. Regularly communicates with and assists the chapter Faculty Chapter Advisor.
4. Appoints committees, assigns tasks, and receives reports of committee progress.
5. Votes in a tie.
6. Plans and participates in induction ceremonies.
7. Represents the chapter at college meetings (e.g. Student Government).

Vice-President

1.  shall assist the president in chapter management,
2.  preside over chapter meetings in the absence of the president,
3.  be in charge of membership and applications,
4.  collects annual chapter membership dues, and
5.  shall perform other duties as assigned by the president.

Secretary

1. Records and reads minutes at meetings.
2. Completes chapter correspondence.
3. Takes roll or provides sign-in sheet at all meetings.
4. Maintains roster of email addresses of all members.
5. Sends announcements to members as needed via email.
6. Provides information and media for chapter website.
7. Maintains a notebook with all chapter activities, to include meeting agendas and minutes, committees, reports, sign-in sheets, etc.
8. Completes the semi-annual Activity Report once the leadership team have planned the year and submits the report to the Faculty Chapter Advisor to be reviewed, signed, emailed and mailed to TUA National.
9. Completes the Annual Membership Report submits the report to the Faculty Chapter Advisor to be reviewed, signed, emailed and mailed to TUA National.

Treasurer

1. Monitors the financial activities of the chapter.
2. Develops an annual budget with the help of the President and Faculty Chapter Advisor.
3. Presents a financial report to the membership at each membership meeting.
4. Completes the semi-annual financial reports for TUA National and submits these to the Faculty Chapter Advisor to check, sign, email and mail.

Faculty Chapter Advisor

1. Provides guidance to the chapter leadership.
2. Identifies potential new members and evaluates/verifies all student applications for eligibility.
3. Acts as the one point of contact between TUA National and the chapter.
4. Submits all required applications and reports to the National Office once checked for completeness and accuracy.

Council Representative

1. Gathers information/concerns from the chapter membership and represents the interest of the chapter at the National Annual Council meeting. This meeting is held during the annual NOHS Conference.
2. Is responsible for sharing the chapter’s views and voting on behalf of the chapter at the Annual Council Meeting and reporting back to the chapter membership.

Other Officer Positions and Duties

The following officer duty descriptions are only ideas for duties these positions may have. These may be changed to reflect the needs of the chapter:

Historian

1.  shall be responsible for maintaining all relevant information on the history, activities, and accomplishments of the chapter.
2.  Arranges to have photographs or video taken of chapter activities or functions
3.  Organizes the creation of a chapter scrapbook and/or multimedia presentation of the chapter activities.

Webmaster

1.  shall be responsible for the creation and maintenance of the chapter’s website
2.  for soliciting appropriate information for the website from the chapter leadership team, and from chapter members.