There seem to be two fundamental questions here:
- What happens when a student member transfers from my school/troupe to another school that doesn't have a troupe of its own?
- What are my troupe's obligations to that transfer student?
The answer to the first question can be found in Appendix 3 of the troupe handbooks at https://www.schooltheatre.org/internationalthespiansociety/troupedirectors/troupehandbook#9:
- The student is still affiliated with and a member of the troupe at his or her original school. Whether or not he or she is a member in good standing is decided by the troupe director.
- The student may transfer ITS affiliation or membership to a nearby troupe with that troupe director's permission provided that the student participates in the regular activities of that school's theatre program and troupe (beyond any preparation for or participation in ITS district, chapter, region, or national events).
The term "inactive" can mean many different things, so to avoid confusion we suggest the concept of "good standing" to explain a student's membership status in their troupe. In this case, the student remains a member of ITS and remains officially affiliated with the original troupe, but their good standing determines which member benefits and opportunities will be available through the local troupe. The local troupe determines which benefits come with good standing and what is required to maintain good standing. In the case that Melissa mentioned, the transfer Thespian and the Thespian who is still at the school but hasn't participated in two years may both lack good standing status because neither met a minimum participation requirement. The kinds of things that may be affected by good standing are explained in the troupe handbooks at https://www.schooltheatre.org/internationalthespiansociety/troupedirectors/troupehandbook#5o.
The answer to the second question about your obligations to the student is determined by the policy you've set and/or your discretion. If you've established what the requirements are for good standing and you've established that being a member in good standing at the time of graduation is a requirement for receiving honor cords, that will help determine what should happen. If those haven't been established in advance, it just comes down to your discretion and any other school policies that may apply.
I also want to highlight Melissa's point that the best case would be that the transferred Thespian would be the impetus for starting a troupe at the new school. Many troupes owe their existence to a transferring Thespian who spread the word and drove the initial demand.
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Brian Benz
Membership Manager
Educational Theatre Association
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Original Message:
Sent: 03-15-2018 12:20
From: Bret Cherland
Subject: Honor cords for inactive Thespians?
Good morning, I have a former student who left our school over a year ago asking for Honor cords for their upcoming graduation from their new school (that does not have a Thespian troupe). Per our Troupe constitution, the student would not receive cords if they are an inactive member--much less if they didn't attend our school!
Is our constitution not up to date? It seems odd to give out Honor cords, the last award I can bestow on a graduate from my program, to someone who is not actually in my program any longer.
Thoughts?
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Bret Cherland
Hemet CA
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