SENEME
Southeastern New England Marine Educators

A regional chapter of the National Marine Educators Association

SENEME Bylaws

SOUTHEASTERN NEW ENGLAND MARINE  EDUCATORS ASSOCIATION

BYLAWS

Approved March 8, 2004

ARTICLE I:                MEMBERSHIP

Section 1:  Membership in the Southeastern New England Marine Educators Association, herein called the ASSOCIATION, shall be open to all persons supportive of the ASSOCIATION, without regard to race, color, creed, sex or age.

Section 2:  There shall be four (4) categories of membership:

A.      Active Member.  Any person who was paid his/her annual dues.

B.       Life Member.  Life membership shall be the highest recognition that the ASSOCIATION can confer.  To be eligible for such recognition, a person shall have demonstrated a distinguished career in teaching, research, or service in marine or aquatic related education.  Nominations for Life membership shall be proposed in writing to the Executive Committee by at least two (2) Active members of the ASSOCIATION.  The duly proposed nominees for Life membership, upon receiving endorsement of a majority of the Board of Directors voting, shall be declared elected.  Life members shall not be subject to any dues or assessment and retain all privileges of Active membership.

C.       Organizational Member.  Any non-profit organization who has paid their annual dues.  Organizational membership allows an organization to receive 5 copies of each newsletter and to send up to 10 people to a SENEME event at the member rate.  The organization will receive recognition in such correspondence as SENEME flyers and newsletters and on the SENEME website.

D.      Corporate Member.  Any business who has paid their annual dues.  Corporate members will receive recognition in such correspondence as SENEME flyers and newsletters and on the SENEME website.

Section 3:  Each member shall have one vote on any issue and shall be issued an appropriate membership card.  All members shall be entitled to the privileges of the ASSOCIATION.  Any Active member may become an Officer of the ASSOCIATION.  Active members that fail to remit dues annually shall be dropped from the membership ninety (90) days after the lapse of dues.

Section 4:  The membership year of the ASSOCIATION shall begin on the day of receipt of dues and continue for one (1) calendar year from that date.  One, two and three (1, 2 & 3) year memberships to the ASSOCIATION shall be made available.

Section 5:  Membership in the National Marine Educators Association (NMEA) shall be encouraged of all members of the ASSOCIATION.

ARTICLE II.  CHAPTER STATUS IN THE NATIONAL MARINE EDUCATORS ASSOCIATION (NMEA)

Section 1:  Subject to decision by the Board of Directors of the NMEA, the ASSOCIATION will be a chapter of the NMEA.

Section 2:  The Constitution, Bylaws, current membership list, and other records of the ASSOCIATION shall be available for periodic review at the request of the Board of Directors of the NMEA.

Section 3:  The Board of Directors of the ASSOCIATION shall appoint annually a representative to the NMEA.  This appointment may be made from the Board of Directors or the general membership.

ARTICLE III.  DUES

Section 1:  All dues and assessments in the ASSOCIATION shall be set by the Board of Directors annually.

Section 2:  Funds on deposit at the end of one (1) fiscal year shall be carried forward to the following fiscal year.  The Board of Directors will appoint a committee of three (3) to audit the Treasurer’s records annually.

ARTICLE IV.  ELECTION OF OFFICERS

Section 1A:  At least seventy-five (75) days prior to each election, the Nomination Committee shall name candidates for each elective office.

Section 1B:  Members of the ASSOCIATION may send nominations to the Nomination Committee any time prior to the aforementioned seventy-five (75) day period.

Section 2:  The Recording Secretary shall send not later than thirty (30) days prior to an election, a ballot bearing all nominations for office to all Active members in good standing with the ASSOCIATION.

Section 3:  All mail-in ballots must be received by the day before the set date of the election at the Annual Meeting, and ballots cast at the Annual Meeting, must be cast three (3) or more hours prior to the Annual Meeting time. Ballots will be counted by two (2) tellers appointed by the Recording Secretary.  The tellers will report the results to the Recording Secretary who shall announce the results at the Annual Meeting.

Section 4:  The candidates who receive the highest number of votes shall be elected.  In case of a tie vote, the election shall be determined by an emergency meeting of the Board of Directors called by the Incumbent President.  The Directors will all vote by written ballot.  In the event of a tie, the Incumbent President will cast his/her ballot and break the tie.

Section 5:  Officers may be recalled by a two-thirds (2/3) majority of the votes cast by his/her constituency, or by three quarters (3/4) majority vote by the Board of Directors.

ARTICLE V.  DUTIES OF OFFICERS

Section 1:  All Officers and Board Members must be Active members of the ASSOCIATION.

Section 2:  The President shall preside at the meetings of the ASSOCIATION and at meetings of the Board of Directors.  The President shall appoint the Chair and members of all Standing and Ad Hoc Committees as provided in the Constitution and Bylaws.  These appointments must be approved by a two-thirds (2/3) majority of the Board of Directors.  The President will provide leadership in effecting the purposes of the ASSOCIATION and in fulfilling directives from the Board of Directors and provide a President’s Annual Report covering the activities of the ASSOCIATION during his/her term of office.  The President is an ex-officio member of all committees and shall assume all other duties normally associated with the office.

Section 3:  The immediate Past President shall serve as Chair of the Nominating Committee.  If the immediate Past President declines or if there is not an immediate Past President, the President will appoint a Chair.

Section 4:  The President Elect shall work cooperatively with the President in administering the affairs of the ASSOCIATION.  The President Elect shall assume other duties delegated to the office.  The President Elect shall assume the duties of the President in his/her absence or in case of their inability to serve.  The latter condition will be determined by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the Board of Directors.

Section 5:  The Treasurer shall oversee the management of the ASSOCIATION’s fiscal affairs such as the supervision of collection and disbursement of ASSOCIATION funds and keeping accounts in books belonging to the ASSOCIATION.  The Treasurer shall prepare a bimonthly financial statement.  An annual financial statement shall be presented to the membership.  The books shall at all times be open to inspection by ASSOCIATION members and prepared for an annual independent audit conducted by a committee of three (3) or more Directors.

Section 6:  The Recording Secretary shall record and preserve the proceedings of the meetings of the Board of Directors and general membership.  The Recording Secretary will handle all correspondence of the ASSOCIATION as deemed appropriate by the President of the Board of Directors.  The Recording Secretary will supervise and conduct ASSOCIATION elections.  These records of the ASSOCIATION shall be open to the inspection by the members of the ASSOCIATION and the Board of Directors of the NMEA.

Section 7:  The Membership Secretary will keep updated membership records and a current mailing list of the ASSOCIATION’s members.

Section 8:  The NMEA Representative shall assume all of the responsibilities of the position as required by the Bylaws of the NMEA.  The NMEA Representative will serve as the communications liaison between NMEA and the ASSOCIATION.

Section 9:  Board members will assume duties as delegated by the President.  Board members will assist the Officers with development of activities, policy, and development/evaluation of the structure of the organization; serve on Standing Committees; assist with events or functions by serving as liaison between the Board and the event coordinator or, if appropriate, serving as event coordinator.

Section 10:  All Officers and Board members shall attend bimonthly meetings of the Board of Directors.  The calendar of these meetings shall be set at the first meeting of the year for the newly elected Board of Directors.

Section 11:  The Board of Directors may authorize any Officer or the Executive Director to enter in to any contract or to execute and deliver any instrument in the name or on the behalf of the ASSOCIATION, and such authority may be general or confined to specific instances.

Section 12:  The Board of Directors shall determine the time and place of the Annual Meeting and other special meetings of the ASSOCIATION and give notice thereof.  They shall review general arrangements for Annual and special meetings and insure that an agenda for such meetings is formulated.  They shall make provision for adequate bonding and insurance of the Treasurer.  They shall have the authority to appoint a Parliamentarian (see ARTICLE XIII, Section 2) from the general membership.

ARTICLE VI.  APPOINTED OFFICIALS

Section 1:  The Executive Director shall be appointed at the discretion of the Board of Directors.  The position may be filled by a past president or other past officer of the ASSOCIATION whenever possible.  The Executive Director shall serve a minimum of one (1) year and shall guide the President and other Officers as needed.  The Executive Director may maintain archival records for the ASSOCIATION and assist with Board and Advisory Committees.  In the event that the NMEA representative cannot perform his/her role, the Executive Director may represent the ASSOCIATION at NMEA functions.

Section 2:  The Newsletter Editor will be appointed by the Board of Directors and shall serve a minimum of two (2) years.  The Editor shall appoint a committee to oversee production and distribution of at least three (3) newsletters per year for the ASSOCIATION’s members and set policy governing the production of the newsletter.  The Newsletter Editor shall attend bimonthly meetings of the Board of Directors as a voting member.

ARTICLE VII.  COMMITTEES

Section 1:  Membership on all committees is open to all members of the ASSOCIATION.  Committee members will be appointed by the President or his/her designee with the exception of the Nominating Committee (see Section 4).  Any member of the ASSOCIATION wishing to serve on a committee may request appointment by notifying the President in writing.

Section 2:  There shall be five (5) Standing Committees:  Membership, Publicity/Publications, Conference/Special Events, Financial Advisory and Nominating.

Section 3:  The President may from time to time appoint Ad Hoc Committees as deemed necessary.

Section 4:  The Nominating Committee shall be appointed by the Board of Directors.  It shall consist of not less than three (3) Active members who are not officers as defined in ARTICLE IV, Section 1 of the Constitution.  The Nominating Committee shall make the nominations specified by the Constitution and Bylaws and such other nominations as shall be required.  Geographic distribution of the membership should be considered when making nominations.

Section 5:  The Financial Advisory Committee shall consist of at least three (3) members of the Board of Directors including the Treasurer, President Elect and Executive Director.  Other members of the Committee shall be appointed by the President with the approval of the Board of Directors.

Section 6:  The President may appoint one (1) or more representatives of the ASSOCIATION to serve with any group, board committee, council, congress or convocation as the interests of the ASSOCIATION demand.  He/she may negotiate agreements (consistent with the Constitution or these Bylaws) with institutions, individuals, or other societies, subject to the approval of the Board of Directors.

ARTICLE VIII.  COMMITTEE CHAIRS

Section 1:  The President-elect shall submit for approval to the incoming Officers and the Executive Director selections for Chairs of the various committees for the year in which he/she shall be President.  Committee Chairs for all Standing Committees should be approved by the first of the month following the Annual Meeting of the year in which the President-elect becomes President.

ARTICLE IX.  MEETINGS

The Annual Conference of the membership may include a business meeting.  Additional business meetings may be held with reasonable notice, upon the call of a majority vote of the Board of Directors.  The President shall fix the time and place for all Board of Directors’ meetings.

ARTICLE X.  QUORUM

Section 1:  One-half (1/2) plus one (1) of the members of the Board of Directors shall constitute a quorum.

Section 2:  When, at the discretion of the President, the Board of Directors transact business by mail, one-half (1/2) plus one (1) of the Board of Directors constitute a quorum, providing that thirty (30) days have elapsed between the mailing of a proposal with ballot and the counting of returns.

ARTICLE XI.  FISCAL YEAR

The fiscal year of the ASSOCIATION shall begin on the first day of January and end on the last day of December of each year.

ARTICLE XIII.  RULES OF ORDER

Section 1:  The rules contained in Robert’s Rules of Order shall determine the parliamentary practice of the ASSOCIATION and in all cases to which they apply, and when they are not inconsistent with the Constitution or the Bylaws of the ASSOCIATION.

Section 2:  The Parliamentarian’s duties shall be to determine and interpret the Rules of Order that govern the deliberations of the ASSOCIATION.

ARTICLE XIII.  AMENDMENT TO THE BYLAWS

These Bylaws may be amended by a two-thirds (2/3) majority vote of the Board of Directors or by one-half (1/2) plus one (1) vote of all members responding to a mailed ballot.