Membership
There is now only one 'class' of members in Tau Beta Pi, the former
classifications of Member with Distinction, Honorary Member, and
Associate Member having been discontinued. Election to membership in the
Association is accomplished only by vote of a collegiate chapter, and
members' chapter designations are always those of the chapters which
elected them. Members' class numerals are those of the years in which
they received the engineering degrees on which their eligibility was
based, although members with no engineering degree are designated by the
year in which they were initiated.
Candidates eligible for consideration for election to membership by a
collegiate chapter fall into five general categories:
Undergraduate students.
Graduate students.
Alumni of the chapter's institution who were eligible as students.
Alumni of other institutions who were eligible as students.
Eminent Engineers
of high attainment in the profession, regardless of college
attended, scholastic record, or educational background.
Undergraduate students whose scholarship places them in the top
eighth of their class in their next-to-last year or in the top fifth of
their class in their last college year are eligible for membership
consideration. These scholastically eligible students are further
considered on the basis of personal integrity, breadth of interest both
inside and outside engineering, adaptability, and unselfish activity.
Prior to the fall of 1941, Tau Beta Pi's scholastic requirements were
that eligible candidates stand in the top eighth of the junior class,
but in the top quarter of the senior class. The classes graduating in
1942 were thus the first to be considered under the higher requirements.
Some chapters set a scholastic-grade deadline below which candidates are
not considered, such deadline being higher than that required as a
minimum by the Constitution.
Elections and initiations are normally held twice a year, in the fall
and winter or spring terms of the chapter's institution.
Student electees who are financially unable to meet the initiation-fee
obligation may make delayed payment arrangements with their chapters,
may borrow from the Association's loan fund, or may accept election but
postpone initiation for up to five years.
Until 1969 membership in Tau Beta Pi was limited to men, although
qualified women were offered an award called the Women's Badge. From its
authorization in 1936 until its elimination by the admission of women to
membership, 619 Women's Badges were awarded by 98 chapters. Those women
have now been offered membership by their chapters.
Engineering graduate students whose scholarship places them in the
top fifth of their graduate class or whose high-quality work is attested
to by a faculty member may be elected to membership.
Engineering alumni of a chapter's institution or of another recognized
institution whose scholastic record placed them in the top fifth of
their class may be elected to membership. Such candidates are usually
recommended to the chapter by a member who knows them.
In all cases the requisite scholastic attainment makes candidates
eligible for membership consideration. They are further considered on
the basis of the Association's exemplary character requirement.
Persons who have achieved eminence in engineering may be elected to
membership without regard to collegiate records. If they graduated from
a recognized engineering college, they must have been engaged in
engineering for at least 10 years; if not, they must have practiced
engineering for at least 15 years. Such candidates are usually
recommended by members who know them. The required degree of eminent
achievement is left to the chapters' discretion; and candidates are
further considered on the basis of exemplary character.
Membership Data
Tau Beta Pi membership catalogs were published in 1898, 1911, 1916,
1926, 1932, and 1939. The 1946 Convention authorized discontinuance of
publication of them because of the excessive cost in future years and
limited use to which they would probably be put. In their place the
Secretary stands ready to furnish membership information for authorized
use. A file of members arranged chronologically by chapters is kept and
is made up of the original catalog cards of all initiates. Electronic
data processing is used for the storage and retrieval of membership
data.
Back
|