The Mortar Board Senior Honor Society is accepting applications for the 2014-2015 school year.

Mortar Board is an organization that recognizes seniors for their achievements in leadership, service and scholarship. Applications are due by Dec. 20 and students can apply online at niu.edu/mortarboard/join. Students must have 90 credit hours by the start of the year in service and a 3.2 minimum GPA.

“The selection process brings in the most motivated seniors into the group. And because it’s a one-year organization, each chapter brings its own identity to their chapter,” said Mortar Board President Tyler Hendry. “I’ve always seen it as you’ve worked so hard up to this point and it’s a way of recognizing everything you’ve done and a great honor to be apart of.”

Mortar Board puts on fundraising, social and alumni events as well as the Last Lecture series. Last Lecture is a series of guest speakers who give a speech as if it were their last; they explain their successes and give advice to others.

The society is looking for highly motivated and committed students, said Natalie Ckuj, vice president of service and fundraising for Mortar Board.

“We’re looking for students that are really engaged and want to focus on helping others, and people that are willing to go above and beyond and think creatively and work in groups,” Ckuj said. “We look at the whole person, the well-roundedness of the person. It’s not just they got good grades or they just did a lot of leadership.”

There are 25 people in the chapter this year, but the goal is to get between 30 and 40 students for next year. One of this year’s members is Megan Sevatson, senior elementary education major.

“I like the satisfaction of helping others and getting to know people and knowing that I contributed something and that I left behind my legacy at NIU,” Sevatson said.

Mortar Board has been a national organization since 1918. NIU has had a chapter since 1975.

“It is so highly known that when you do put it on your resume, it is looked at as something prestigious,” said Megan Tieman, Mortar Board member and senior family and child studies major. “But you also get the opportunity to do service events and scholarship events and leadership events and develop yourself as a whole person.”

Current members said they have enjoyed their time in the organization.

“It’s one of the most gratifying and satisfying things they could do for themselves,” Sevatson said.