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SCIPIE BylawsBYLAWS of the SOUTHWESTERN CONSORTIUM for INNOVATIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN ARTICLE I: Name and Purpose Section 1: The name of this organization shall be the SouthwesternConsortium for Innovative Psychology in Education (known herein as SCIPIE). Section 2: The Consortium is made up of Member Institutions. Section 3: It is planned for SCIPIE to be incorporated as a non-profit,educational corporation under the laws of the State of Section 4: The purposes of SCIPIE shall be a) to support andfacilitate innovative research in Psychology in Education, b) facilitateopportunities for development of research programs at member institutions, andc) to preserve educational psychology. Section 5: Neither the name of, nor membership in, SCIPIE shall be used topromote personal benefit. ARTICLE II: Membership Section 1: Membership comprises four categories: charter, voting, active,and student. Section 2: Active members shall be persons interested in promoting thepurpose of SCIPIE and who pay annual dues. All participants of the InauguralSCIPIE conference will be designated as Inaugural Members and will function asactive members. Section 3: Active members may apply for voting status. To achieve votingstatus, an active member must have achieved a standard of excellence as ascientist conducting empirical research in the field of educational psychology.The Membership Committee (see Article VI, Section 5) shall review applicationsand make recommendations to the Board of Directors. The Board of Directorsshall make the final decisions regarding who shall receive voting member status(see Article IV). Voting member status shall continue as long as annual duesare paid. Section 4: Student members shall be graduate students (full or part-time) infields related to the study of educational psychology who are interested inpromoting the purposes of SCIPIE and pay annual dues. Applications and renewalsfor student membership must be accompanied by evidence of graduate studentstatus, e.g., by a certifying signature from a member of SCIPIE. Section 5: Charter members are the founding members ofSCIPIE. Charter Members are ARTICLE III: Officers Section 1: The elected officers shall be President, President Elect, Past President,and Secretary. The appointed officers shall be Treasurer and Historian (seeArticle III, Section 3). Officers must be Voting Members. Section 2: The officers shall serve for a term of two years. Each officers’term shall begin and on the final day of the SCIPIE Conference. Section 3: The appointed officers shall be named by the President with theadvice and consent of the Board of Directors (as indicated by a 2/3rds majorityvote) for a term of two years. The responsibilities will start on the datespecified at the time of appointment. Officers may be reappointed. Section 4: Appointed and Elected officers may be removed from office at anytime by a vote of at least three quarters of the members of the Board ofDirectors. Section 5: The President shall act as the chief executive officer, chairingmeetings of the members and of the Board of Directors, and exercising generalleadership and supervision over the affairs of the organization in implementingits purpose. The President shall be responsible for approving and signing allcontracts and other instruments of SCIPIE and, along with the Treasurer,authorizing the disbursement of funds in accordance with the annual budget. ThePresident shall fulfill other duties as directed by the Board of Directors andshall assume the duties of any vacant office, until such time as the office isfilled. At the expiration of the term of office, the President shallautomatically become Past President. Section 6: The President Elect shall serve as the Chair of the ProgramCommittee (see Article VI, Section 2) and fulfill other duties as directed bythe Board of Directors. In the absence of the President, the President Electshall assume and perform the duties of the President. At the expiration of theterm of office, the President Elect shall automatically become the President. Section 7: The Past President shall serve as liaison between SCIPIE andother professional organizations or government bodies, Chair the MembershipCommittee, (see Article VI, Section 5) Chair the Nominations Committee (seeArticle VI, Section 4), and fulfill other duties as directed by the Board ofDirectors. Section 8: The Secretary shall perform the duties necessary for themaintenance of records and correspondence of SCIPIE, ensure the recording of anaccurate record of discussions and actions taken at meetings of the members andthe Board of Directors, oversee the election process, keep abreast of andinform the Board of Directors of any necessary actions relative toincorporation, give copies of all minutes to all the members of the Board withan extra archival copy for the Historian, and fulfill other duties as directedby the Board of Directors. Section 9: The Treasurer shall ensure the maintenance of all fiscal recordsand reports, oversee the custody of all SCIPIE funds and receipt of all duesand other monies owed to SCIPIE, authorize the disbursement of funds inaccordance with the annual budget approved by the Board of Directors, cooperatewith the Board of Directors in preparing the annual budget, and fulfill otherduties as directed by the Board of Directors. Section 10: The Historian shall keep archival copies of the program from theConference, the minutes of all board meetings, and copies of incorporationrecords, bylaws, and the Policy and Procedures Handbook. The Historian shallalso be responsible for distributing a copy of the bylaws and a Policies andProcedures Handbook to the new officers and members of the Board of Directors. ARTICLE IV: Board of Directors Section 1: The Board of Directors shall be empowered to hold and administerall property and funds and to direct the affairs of the organization. The Boardof Directors will be made up of the elected and appointed officers, two memberat-large, and conference coordinator. A representative will be elected fromamong the student members and serve exofficio. A Technology Coordinator will beappointed by the President and serve exofficio. Fourof the voting Board Members must be faculty from a Member Institution. TheBoard of Directors shall maintain a SCIPIE Policy and Procedures Handbook whichshall be reviewed and updated annually by the Historian. Section 2: Members at-large are elected through the general membership.Voting members will vote for the members at-large but an active member canserve as a member at-large. The conference coordinator will be appointed by thePresident in consultation with the President Elect. Section 3: The Conference Coordinator shall be responsible for planning the Conference.This includes site selection and arrangements with the host hotel, before, during,and after the meeting. All arrangements are subject to the final approval ofthe Board of Directors as indicated by a simple majority vote. Section 4: As designated by the President, each Director shall serve as aliaison to committees, in addition to other duties. Section 5: The Board of Directors shall meet at least once a year, wheneverpossible at the time and place of the Conference. Additional meetings may beheld at the call of the President or upon the written request of any fourmembers of the Board of Directors. The time and place of additional meetingsshall be determined by the President, or by the group calling the meeting, solong as all members of the Board of Directors are given reasonable notice ofthe meeting. Members of the Board of Directors are authorized to use othermeans of communication to conduct necessary business of SCIPIE. Section 5: The Secretary shall ensure the maintenance of a full set of minutesof all sessions. The minutes will be available for inspection by any member ofthe Board of Directors. A summery of the minutes will be made available to thegeneral membership. Section 6: A quorum shall consist of at least five members of the Board ofDirectors, three of whom shall be elected officers. Section 7: If the position of any elected Director becomes vacant, theremaining members of the Board of Directors shall, by appointment by thepresident, fill the empty position until the next election. Section 8: The Technology Coordinator will be appointed by thePresident. The president may appoint anyactive or voting member to this position. The Technology Coordinator, under thedirection of the President, will assist the Board of Directors by maintainingthe official website, provide technical assistance during official meetings andconferences, and make recommendations to the board concerning equipmentpurchases and electronic communications. ARTICLE V: Elections Section 1: The Nominations Committee (see Article VI, Section 4), shallprepare, prior to the conference, a list of nominations for each position to befilled. Section 2: After securing the approval of the nominated individuals, thelist of candidates shall be mailed to all voting members before the Conference(if possible). Other nominations may then be submitted by the written requestof at least ten active members. Additional nominations must include a statementof consent to stand for office from each nominee. Section 3: Election ballots listing the names of all properly nominatedpersons accompanied by a brief vitae for each nomineeshall be mailed to all voting members. The ballot shall include a deadline forits return to the secretary and the secretary's address. Section 4: Voting shall be by regular or electronic mail. Only ballotsreceived before the deadline stated on the ballot shall be counted. Section 5: The Secretary shall be responsible for the counting of ballots.The Secretary, and at least two other members, shall certify the results to thePresident who shall report the results to the membership in the annual businessreport. Positions of elected officers shall be filled by those personsobtaining the highest number of votes. Ordinarily, tie votes will be decided bythrough a run-off election organized by the Secretary. Section 6: The members at-large will serve two year staggered terms. Section 7: Elections shall take place during the calendar year ARTICLE VI: Committees Section 1: Members of ad-hoc committees shall be appointed by the Presidentwith the advice of the Board of Directors. Committees shall serve for the termof the President unless otherwise specified at the time of appointment. The chairof each committee shall be appointed by the President, except for the chair ofthe standing committees as specified in these Bylaws. Vacancies on committeesshall be filled by the President as they arise. Section 2: The Program Committee shall advise the Conference Coordinator onthe planning and organization of the SCIPIE Conference and function as a reviewboard for program paper proposals. Any member is eligible to present a paper atthe Conference. The Conference Coordinator shall serve as Coordinator and thePresident Elect shall serve as the Chair of this committee. Other members ofthis committee shall be appointed at the discretion of the ConferenceCoordinator. Section 3: The Program Committee will be assisted by the On-Site ConferenceCommittee. The chair of the On-Site Conference Committee will be the exoficiostudent representative to the Board of Directors. The On-Site ConferenceCommittee will consist of student members. The Members will be appointed by thePresident Elect and the Conference Coordinator and will provide logisticalsupport during the Conference. Section 4: The Nominations Committee shall function as defined in theseBylaws. The Nominations Committee shall be composed of the four elected officers.The Past President shall serve as Chair. Section 5: The Membership Committee shall deal with all issues involvingmembership; its primary function will be to make decisions regarding theconferral of voting status in SCIPIE. It will submit its criteria for votingstatus to the Board for its approval; the Board may review and change thesecriteria at any time. This committee will be responsible for informing membersabout criteria and about the form of applications. Each year the Committee willreview applicants and make membership determinations by a simple majority vote.The Past-President shall serve as Chair of this committee. Section 6: Ad hoc committees may be established and their members appointedby the President, with the advice of the Board of Directors, for specialpurposes and shall serve for such time as is specified at the time ofappointment. ARTICLE VII: Finances Section 1: The Board of Directors shall have the power to allocate funds tocarry out the purposes of the organization. Section 2: All receipts and disbursements shall be made through accountsauthorized by the Board of Directors. The President or Treasurer shall beresponsible for authorizing the disbursement of funds in accordance with theannual budget. Section 3: The Board of Directors shall be responsible for adopting anannual budget; the Treasurer shall be responsible for preparing the budget forthe Board's consideration. Section 4: Membership dues, subscription rates, and conference fees shall beestablished by the Board of Directors. Section 5: The membership year shall run from November 1 to October 31.Members are expected to pay their dues during the last quarter prior to thebeginning of the membership year. Members who fail to pay their dues by December15 of a membership year will be dropped from membership. Section 6: The fiscal year shall run from January 1 through December 31, oras otherwise determined by the Board of Directors. ARTICLE VIII: Indemnification Section 1: SCIPIE will indemnify any officer or director, former officer ordirector, or any agent or employee of SCIPIE against expenses actually andnecessarily incurred in connection with the defense of any action, suit, orproceedings in which the defendant, having acted in the best interests ofSCIPIE, is made a party by reason of being or having been an officer, director,agent, or employee of SCIPIE. ARTICLE IX: Conference Section 1: The Conference shall be (a) three days or less in length and (b)held at a time and place designed by the Board of Directors. The conferencewill be held at a Member Institution . The annualbusiness report to the members shall beheld during theConference at such time and place as shall be listed in the official program orwill be made available through electronic publication. Section 2: Additional meetings may be called by a simple majority vote ofthe Board of Directors. Section 3: The conference program shall serve as official notification ofthe Conference and no notification other than the mailing of the program to thefull membership list will be given. In the case of special meetings, a writtennotice stating the date, time, and location of the meeting and indicating thepurpose(s) for which the meeting is being called shall be mailed to the fullmembership list not less than thirty days before the date of such meeting. Section 4: Ten members or ten percent of the active members, whichever isfewer, shall constitute a quorum at any meeting of the members. Section 5: The rules contained in Robert's Rules of Order, revised shallgovern the conduct of all official meetings. ARTICLE X: Amendments Section 1: Amendments to these Bylaws may be initiated in two ways. TheBoard of Directors may formulate amendments and submit them, with any argumentsit chooses, to the voting members for action by ballot. Or any ten percent ofthe voting members, as sponsors, may submit to the Board of Directors proposedamendments in writing and signed by the sponsors, along with any arguments theychoose. The Board of Directors shall then submit the proposed amendments, withthe arguments developed by the sponsors, along with any recommendations andarguments it chooses, to the voting members for action by ballot. Section 2: Amendments may be adopted by the affirmative vote of two thirdsof the voting members present at a regular or special meeting called accordingto these Bylaws, provided that the proposed amendments have been mailed to eachvoting member at least thirty days prior to the meeting at which the vote takesplace. Section 3: Amendments may also be adopted by ballots mailed to all thevoting members and returned to the Secretary. When a mail ballot is used, onlythose ballots returned within forty-five days after the date of mailing shallbe counted. The Secretary and at least two other SCIPIE members shall certifythe results to the Board of Directors. Amendments shall be adopted if at leasttwo-thirds of the ballots returned within the prescribed time are affirmative,provided that ballots are returned by at least twenty percent of the totalvoting membership. Section 4: Amendments to these Bylaws become effective upon adoption unlessotherwise specified. Amendments which might affect the Articles ofIncorporation become effective only upon issuance of a Certificate of Amendmentfrom the recorder of deeds or other proper authority. ARTICLE XI: Exceptions for First Conference It may not be possible or feasible to implement all of the provisions of theBylaws during the first year after the organization is formed. For example thePresident, rather than the Past-President, will serve as the Chair of theMembership committee. |
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