Initiates

Welcome, Tau Beta Pi Candidate! Thank you for your interest in our organization. Please browse through the website and feel free to contact any of our officers if you have any questions about TBP.

Check out the candidate info session presentation below if you missed it, or need to refer to it for any reason.

Candidate Info Session

Forms

The Process

We look for two main things when electing new members into TBP. The first is academic excellence, which all of you have obviously attained. The second, and perhaps the more important of the two, is outstanding character. In order to better judge this, we would like to get to know you better. Thus, we ask that you submit a candidate packet with some information about yourself, as well as participate in events with our members. After reviewing your packets, we will conduct individual interviews. At this point, we will invite those people who we feel exemplify the qualities we are looking for to initiate into TBP. Once you initiate, you are a lifetime member.

The Requirements

Please note that we are not given any information about eligible students. This means that aside from the original letter and email you receive from us, unless you sign up to be on our mailing list, you will not hear from us again. Further, we cannot exclude those students who do not meet our requirement that students must have completed or be currently enrolled in an upper-division course in their major to be eligible. Also, transfer students must complete one year of study at UCSD before being eligible.

Points Requirement

As mentioned, Tau Beta Pi members must display exemplary character in addition to scholastic excellence. For this reason, all candidates are expected to earn 15 points to prove dedication and interest in TBP. Each hour of participation in community service, social, or other TBP event earns one point unless otherwise stated. All required points must be earned prior to the Initiation ceremony, or else the candidate will not be able to participate in Initiation. To retain active membership after initiation, members must earn a total of 25 points in a year, with the 15 points required for initiation included in this total. Spring initiates only need to earn 20 points.

At least five points needs to be earned from each of the three event categories:

  • Social
  • Outreach/Community Service
  • Academic/Professional Development

Candidate Packets

The Candidate Packet (also available on the TBP website, http://tbp.ucsd.edu) should include the following information:

  • Personal Statement (approximately one page): Please describe yourself in order to give the selection panel an idea of your interests. Please include information on why you would like to join Tau Beta Pi, and what you can contribute to this organization.
  • Current Resume: Both hard copy and electronic format is required. Please include the
    hard copy with the rest of your candidate packet and email a Word document or PDF version to You must also submit your resume to the school of engineering database at https://soeadm.ucsd.edu/Resume/Student.
  • Two Faculty Ratings: Have two professors who know you or whose class you have taken complete the provided form. One of those professors must be from the Jacobs School of Engineering. Return the form in a sealed, signed, and dated envelope.
  • Academic Honesty Statement: A hand written statement verifying your compliance with UCSD’s Policy on Integrity of Scholarship. Below the statement, please print and sign your name.
  • Class Checklist: Complete and include a checklist of classes you have completed. Only check the classes you have completed for your major.

    • Completed materials should be collected in a 9”x12” envelope with your name, major, and year on the front. Submit to the Tau Beta Pi Mailbox on the third floor of Price Center East (ask the Onestop desk if you need help finding it) or mail to the address in the top left corner by the due date, January 4, 2010 (postmarked).

Candidate Interviews

Interviews will be scheduled for an evening during Week 2 of Winter Quarter. These are primarily an opportunity for the Tau Beta Pi members to get to know you, but will also be used to assess your character and what you may bring to the organization. It is important that the information packet be turned in on time so that the members can learn about you before the interview. We will schedule interviews by e-mail during the weeks prior to the interviews. Business attire is required.

Initiation Ceremony

The ceremony will be held on January 29, 2010. A one-time lifetime membership fee of $100 is due at the ceremony. This fee covers chapter operating costs, dues to TBP national headquarters, cost of Initiation materials, and the initiate banquet. There are no membership dues beyond this one-time fee. Initiation is mandatory. If you are not initiated, you will not become a member of TBP.

Important Dates

These are the dates that are especially important to know for the initiation process; please check the website or the weekly emails for the dates of particular events.

Thursday, November 12, 2009 - Fall Quarter GBM

  • Any candidate interested in becoming more involved in TBP should attend

January 4, 2010 - Candidate Packets due

  • Please submit your packets to CSI (formerly SOLO) Mailbox C-45 or mail to address on Info Sheet handout by the due date

Week 2 of Winter Quarter (tentatively January 11-13, 2010) - Interviews

  • We will be conducting individual interviews with each candidate - business attire is required!

Friday, January 29, 2010 - Initiation

  • Initiation is mandatory any electee unable to make it to initiation will not be able to initiate this term!
  • Please bring your completed point verification form and initiation fees
  • Business attire is required!