When an elected candidate refuses election an effort should be made to discover the reasons; Bylaw Vl, Sec. 6.04(c), requires reasons for refusal to be reported to the national headquarters on the Report of Final Action. There are but two reasons for refusal: (l) lack of interest, and (2) financial.
Lack-of-interest refusals do arise from misunderstandings as to the type of organization candidates are being asked to join, and are often corrected in a personal conference. At other times, electees refuse to accept membership because they feel that Tau Beta Pi is not "relevant" and that the chapter has not shown any constructive justification for its existence. A lack-of-interest refusal cancels the election of the candidate. The candidate would then have to remain eligible and be elected again before being initiated. Chapter presidents should make every effort to ensure that chapter projects are worthwhile, relevant, and constructive and that no electee is required to perform menial tasks which tend to degrade him or her.
No electee should be prevented from becoming a member of Tau Beta Pi because he or she is unable to pay the initiation fee. Please note that C-VIII, 10 (a), requires that the chapter's Advisory Board be notified of all cases of financial refusal and that the Board interview electees to determine if their refusals were solely for financial reasons. If the Board determines the reasons to be financial, C-VIII, 10(b), requires the chapter to review each electee's case within five years and to report its action to the Secretary-Treasurer. The Secretary-Treasurer will periodically remind the chapter of such pending cases.
Many chapters endeavor to assist financial refusees by loans from their chapter treasuries or through the national Tau Beta Pi Student Loan Fund. In all cases where financial assistance is rendered by the chapter it should be done in a business-like manner by the signing of proper notes payable at definite dates. An alumnus member of the Advisory Board should handle this type of transaction and should be custodian of any long-term notes.
Since electees are not members of Tau Beta Pi, they are not eligible to receive loans from the national Student Loan Fund. However, a procedure used by many chapters is permissible: the electee signs a short-term note to the chapter for the initiation fee, the chapter initiates the person routinely, and he or she immediately applies to the Student Loan Fund for money to repay the short-term debt to the chapter. The new member signs a promissory note payable to the national organization and has up to three years to repay the debt.
Information about the Student Loan Program is on page C-26.
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