|
Within "More About SWE":
More About SWE - Newsletter
- Executive Council - Nearby
Sections - History - Bylaws - Photo
Album
Bylaws of the Wisconsin Section
of
The Society of Women Engineers
(as
adopted in FY97)
Article I—Name and Authority
The
name of this organization shall be the Wisconsin Section of the Society of
Women Engineers. This Section
shall be governed by these bylaws and the bylaws of the Society of Women
Engineers hereinafter called “the Society”.
Article II—Objectives
The purpose of
this Section shall be to further the objectives of the Society as stated
in Article II of the Society bylaws and the third Article of Incorporation
of the Society.
Article III—Membership
The membership
requirements and classifications of all Section members shall be as stated
in Article III of the Society bylaws, except that Associates and
Affiliates are voting members for all Section matters.
All Section members shall be members in good standing of the
Society. Subject to the
Society’s policies and purposes, the Section shall not discriminate in
connection with its membership and its services to the public at large.
Article IV—Officers
Section
1—List and Term of Office
The
officers of the Section shall be:
a.
President
b.
Vice President
c.
Treasurer
d.
Secretary
e.
Section Representative(s)—one Representative or alternate for
each 100 Society voting members of this Section or fraction thereof, not
to exceed four.
All
shall be elected annually, no later than June 1, for a term of office of
one year, coinciding with the fiscal year (July 1 - June 30).
Section
2—Eligibility
To become a candidate for President, Vice President,
or Section Representative, a member must be a voting member of the
Society, as defined in Article III of the Society bylaws.
To become a candidate for Secretary or Treasurer, a member must be
a voting member of the Section as defined in Article III above.
Section
3—Vacancies
a. A vacancy in the
office of President shall be filled by the Vice President.
b.
A vacancy in the office of Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, or
Section Representative shall be filled by nomination by the Executive
Council and special election by the membership.
Section
4—Duties and Powers
a.
The President shall:
(1) Be the authorized
leader of the Section
(2) Represent the
Section before the public.
(3) Preside at all
meetings of the Section and the Executive Council.
(4) Appoint the chairs
of all committees, with the approval of the Executive Council, except the
chair of the Nominating Committee, who shall be appointed by the Executive
Council.
(5) Authorize the
signing of checks by the Treasurer.
(6) Assume all other
executive duties not otherwise delegated.
(7) Coordinate all
activities and execute the business and policies of the Section between
meetings.
(8) Prepare an agenda
for all meetings of the Executive Council.
(9) Attend all
meetings whenever possible.
b.
The Vice President shall:
(1) Perform all duties
of the President in her/his absence or at her/his request.
(2) Perform any other
duties assigned by the Executive Council.
(3) Attend all
meetings whenever possible.
c.
The Secretary shall:
(1) Record, prepare,
maintain, and distribute as directed the minutes of each meeting of the
Section and/or the Executive Council.
(2) Carry on the
Section correspondence as requested by the President or the Executive
Council.
(3) Notify Executive
Council members of Executive Council meetings, notify members of
membership meetings, and send out ballots for elections and for amendments
to these bylaws.
(4) Maintain a file
with a copy of all mail sent out in the name of the Section.
(5) Attend all
meetings whenever possible.
d.
The Treasurer shall:
(1) Be responsible for
the collection, safekeeping, and distribution of all section funds.
(2) Sign checks for
the Section as authorized by the President.
(3) Prepare, maintain,
and report as directed on the financial position of the Section in
relation to the approved budget.
(4) Maintain the
current official membership records of the Section.
(5) Keep an exact
account of all receipts and expenditures for submission to the Society
Treasurer at the end of each fiscal year.
(6) Attend all
meetings whenever possible.
e.
The Section Representative(s)
shall:
(1) Act as the
official contact(s) between the Board of Directors and the Section.
(2) Vote for the
Section on all matters before the Council of Section Representatives.
(3) When possible,
assure that she/he (they) or authorized alternate(s) represent(s) the
Section at the meeting(s) of the Council of Section Representatives.
(4) When possible,
assure that she/he (they) or authorized alternate(s) represent(s) the
Section at all Region meetings.
(5) Prepare and submit
reports of the Section activities as requested by the Board of Directors.
(6) Prepare and submit
reports of the Section activities as requested by the Director of the
Region.
(7) Report to the
Section on matters reported in the minutes of the Board of Directors,
Council of Section Representatives, and Membership meetings.
(8) Report to the
Section on matters reported in the minutes of any Region meetings.
(9) Attend all
meetings whenever possible.
Article
V—Executive Council
Section
1—Members
The
affairs of this Section shall be managed by an Executive Council
consisting of the Section officers, who shall occupy the same offices as
in the Section, and the Chairs of the Standing Committees.
Section
2—Duties and Powers
The
Executive Council shall:
a. Transact the
business of the Section when the membership is not meeting.
b. Implement Section
policy.
c.
Advise the President on the appointment of the committee chairs,
other than the Nominating Committee Chair, and to approve the
appointments.
d.
Appoint the Chair of the Section Nominating Committee.
e.
Approve the budget and authorize the expenditure of funds.
f.
Nominate a candidate for special election by the membership to fill
a vacancy in the office of Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, or
Section Representative.
g.
Manage properties of the Section.
h.
Authorize Section publications.
i.
Propose amendments to the Section bylaws.
Section
3—Quorum
Half of the Executive Council shall constitute a quorum.
One of those members of the quorum must be the President, Vice
President, or Section Representative.
Section
4—Meetings
The
Executive Council shall meet at least four times during the year, one of
which is held as close as possible to the beginning of the fiscal year,
and another held as close as possible to the end of the year.
Other meetings will be held at times convenient to the majority of
the Executive Council.
Article VI—Committees
Section
1—Standing Committees
Chairs
for the following Standing Committees shall be appointed by the Section
President with the approval of the Executive Council:
a. The Membership
Committee shall:
(1) Maintain personal
data files on Section members and on prospective members.
(2) Contact and assist
prospective members in applying for membership in the Society.
The Chair of this Committee is automatically a member of the
Society Membership Committee.
b. The Public
Relations Committee shall:
(1) Provide publicity
to advance the Society’s objectives and Section goals.
(2) Send news accounts
of Section activities to SWE: The
Magazine of the Society of Women Engineers.
The Chair of this
Committee is automatically a member of the Society Publicity Committee.
c.
The Career Guidance Committee shall:
(1) Provide
information and counseling on engineering careers for grade, junior, and
high school girls, their counselors, and parents.
(2) Maintain and
disseminate information on available engineering scholarships.
(3) Coordinate the
Certificate of Merit and/or Achievement program.
(4) Provide counseling
and, when possible, financial assistance to women engineering students.
(5) Conduct any other
activities approved by the Section membership in furtherance of the
Society’s career guidance goals.
The Chair of this Committee is automatically a member of the
Society Career Guidance Committee.
d.
The Continuing Development Committee shall:
(1) Encourage and
assist Section members to establish goals to attain high levels of
educational and professional achievement.
(2) Encourage and
assist women engineers in readying themselves for a return to active work
after a period of absence.
(3) Conduct any other
activities approved by the Section membership in furtherance of the
continuing development of its members.
The Chair of this Committee is automatically a member of the
Society Continuing Development Committee.
Section
2—Reports
a.
Each Committee shall present a status report to the membership when
requested by the Section President, the Executive Council, or a majority
of the membership.
b.
At the close of each fiscal year, each Committee Chair shall
prepare an annual report with recommendations for further action by the
incoming Committee Chair.
Section
3—Special Committees
Special
Committees may be established by the Executive Council or the Section
membership when the need arises.
Article VII—Nominations
Section
1—Nominating Committee
The
Nominating Committee shall consist of three members elected by the
membership at a meeting held prior to April 1, and a non-voting Chair
appointed by the Executive Council. Members of the Nominating Committee are excluded from holding
elected office the following year.
Section
2—Nominations
a.
The Nominating Committee shall present a slate of candidates to the
membership at the regular business meeting held no later than April 30.
If it is the current policy of the Section to hold several
membership meetings within a given time period (e.g. a month) at locations
throughout the Section territory, for the purpose of enabling the
attendance of members of different geographic areas, the Nominating
Committee shall present the slate at each of these meetings, to give the
entire membership adequate opportunity to nominate candidates from the
floor.
b.
At the meeting, nominations may be made from the floor with prior
approval from the nominee.
c.
Additional candidates may be nominated by petition for any of the
five offices, provided that the following requirements have been met:
(1) The member is
qualified for the position in question.
(2) The member has
given written consent to being placed on the ballot.
(3) A minimum of ten
percent of the voting members of the Section have sent a written request
to place the candidate’s name on the ballot.
(4) The written
request with the written consent are submitted to the Secretary by March
30.
Section
3—Elections
a.
Subsequent to the completion of nominations, the Secretary shall
send to each Section member in good standing a written ballot by May 1
to be returned no later than June 1.
b.
Members must sign the outside envelope containing the ballot and
the ballot must be post-marked by the date specified in order for the
ballot to be valid.
Article
VIII—Meetings
Section
1—Membership Meeting
This
Section shall hold not less than two membership meetings per year for the
purpose of transacting business. One
of the required meetings shall be held in April for the presentation of
the Nominating Committee slate. Additional
business meetings may be called and held in conjunction with other
activities at the discretion of the Executive Council.
If it is the current policy of the Section to hold several
membership meetings within a given time period (e.g. a month) at locations
throughout the Section territory, for the purpose of enabling the
attendance of members of different geographic areas, such sets of meetings
shall be counted collectively as one meeting, not individually.
Section
2—Quorum
A
quorum of the membership which must be present for the purpose of
transacting business shall be one-third
or fifteen of the Section voting members, whichever is less.
Section
3—Parliamentary Authority
The
rules contained in Robert’s Rules of Order, Revised shall govern
this Section in all cases unless inconsistent with these bylaws.
Article IX—Amendments
Section
1—Proposal
Amendments
to these bylaws may be proposed by:
a. Majority vote of
the Executive Council.
b. Written petition
signed by 10% or five members (whichever is greater) of the Section.
Section
2—Voting
a.
The Section membership shall be notified of the proposed amendment
in a timely fashion, not to exceed six months after vote by the Executive
Council or receipt of petition.
b.
The Section membership shall be balloted by mail on the proposed
amendment between 30 and 60 days after the membership notification of the
amendment proposal.
c.
Adoption of the amendment shall be determined by a two-thirds vote
of the ballots postmarked by the date specified.
Section
3— Adoption
a.
After acceptance by the membership, an amendment must be submitted
to the Society Bylaws Committee Chair for review and submittal to the
Board of Directors.
b.
An amendment will become effective upon approval of the Board of
Directors.
|
Internet service provided to the Wisconsin Section by
Internet Dynamics Corporation.