Fort Huachuca Section, Region 6, IEEE

Section By-Laws

Reviewed and Adopted November 2003

IEEE FORT HUACHUCA SECTION BYLAWS

In all instances, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Bylaws, Constitution, IEEE Policy Manual, and Regional Activities Board (RAB) Operations Manual shall prevail when there is a conflict between these documents and Section Bylaws.

 ARTICLE I - Name and Territory

 Section 1       

This organization shall be known as the IEEE Fort Huachuca Section.

 Section 2       

 The territory of the Fort Huachuca Section, as approved by RAB, includes the counties of Cochise and Santa Cruz.  

ARTICLE II - Membership

 Section 1

 Section members are those individuals of Associate or higher grade membership and Student members residing within the boundaries of the Section, or who live or work in a neighboring Section and have requested Contiguous Section Membership status from the Regional Activities Department.  

Section 2  

Section members with the grade of Associate or higher may vote in Section elections.  Student members are not eligible to vote in Section elections.  IEEE Society Affiliates are not members of the Section, but they will be notified of Section events and are welcome to participate.  

Section 3

 Section members of Member or higher grade may hold elected office, or chair a Section Committee.  Students and Associate members may not hold office nor chair a committee.

 Section 4

 Section Chapter members are those Section members who qualify as members of the Chapter’s Society.  

Section 5

 Section Affinity Group members are those Section members who qualify as members of the Affinity Group.

ARTICLE III - Officers

 Section 1

The elected officers of the Fort Huachuca Section shall be

 1.  Chair

2.  Vice Chair

3.  Secretary

4.  Treasurer

 Section 2

The terms of office of the elected officers shall be for one (1) year.    

Section 3                   

Terms of office shall begin on 1 January.  Outgoing officers shall continue until their successors are duly elected and take office.  However, no officer may serve in the same position for more than two consecutive years.  

Section 4                   

Any vacancy occurring during the year shall be filled by a majority vote of the Section Executive Committee.  

Section 5

The duties of the elected officers shall be available from Regional Activities Department staff, in the RAB Operations Manual and in the IEEE Bylaws.

ARTICLE IV - Standing Committees

 Section 1

The Standing Committees of the Section shall be as follows:

1.  Awards/Fellows

2.  Membership Development  (chaired by the past Chairman)

3.  PACE

4.  Programs  (chaired by the sitting Vice Chairman)

5.  Publicity

6.  Strategic Planning

 Section 2

The Chairs (not already appointed) of the Standing Committees shall be appointed by the Section Chair with the approval of the Section Executive Committee, and their terms will correspond to the term of office of the elected officers of the Section, and will be a member of the Section Executive Committee.  

Section 3

Each Committee Chair shall appoint their Committee members, with the approval of the Section Executive Committee, and their terms are to be the same as the Chairs’ end-of-term date.  

Section 4                   

The duties of the Standing Committees shall be printed in the RAB Operations Manual and the IEEE Bylaws.

ARTICLE V - Management

 Section 1                   

The management of the Section shall be by the Section Executive Committee, which shall consist of the elected officers, the Immediate-Past Section Chair, the Chair of each Standing Committee and the Chair of each Chapter in the Section.

 Section 2

The number of voting members elected must be at least one greater than those appointed. Chapter Chairs, as elected by their membership, are considered “elected” officials, as is the Immediate-Past Section Chair.

 Section 3

A majority of the Section Executive Committee shall constitute a quorum.  A quorum shall be necessary for the Section Executive Committee to conduct the business of the Section

 Section 4

Meetings of the Section Executive Committee ordinarily shall be held monthly, except for July and August, and shall be called by the Section Chair or by a request of any three members of the Section Executive Committee.

 Section 5

The fiscal year of the Section shall be 1 January to 31 December.

ARTICLE VI - Nomination and Election of Officers

 Section 1                   

A Nominating Committee consisting of 3 members, not then officers of the Section, nor intending to stand as candidates for office, shall be appointed by the Section Chair with the approval of the Section Executive Committee.  If available to do so, the Immediate-Past Section Chair will serve as Chair of the Nominating Committee.

 Section 2

The nominations of the Nominating Committee shall be announced to the Section membership and, following this, a minimum of 28 days allowed for additional nominations by petition.  To be valid, the petition must be signed by 5 or more voting members or 2% of the Section’s voting membership, whichever is fewer.

 Section 3

If only one nomination is made for each office, the election shall be declared at a meeting of the Section Executive Committee.  If additional nominations are made, election shall be made by ballot, mailed or made available on the Internet to the membership with the vote counted by a Tellers Committee appointed by the Section Chair.  

Section 4

The timetable for this procedure is as follows:

Appointment of Nominating Committee:                                             1^st Thursday of September

Announcement of Nominations & Seek Petitionees:                          1^st Thursday of October

Close nominations by petition:                                                            1^st Thursday of November

If required, a ballot shall be mailed/posted on the web prior to:         15 November

Section 5

A plurality of the votes cast shall be necessary for election.

ARTICLE VII – Finances

 Section 1

Without prior authorization of RAB and/or the IEEE Executive Committee, Section funds can be used only for normal operations of the Section.  Those activities, which fall outside of normal operations, include donations, establishment of scholarship funds, and investment of funds outside of the IEEE Investment Program.

 Section 2

All expenditures of Section funds must be approved by the Section Chair or Vice Chair.

(A form requesting expenditure of Section funds is available from the Section Treasurer.)

 Section 3

The Section Treasurer and Chair shall be authorized to draw funds as approved by the Section Executive Committee.   

Section 4

If permitted by government and banking regulations, all unit bank accounts will provide for the signature authority of the IEEE Staff Director, Financial Services.   

Section 5

The financial management of the Section's subunits shall comply with the policies and procedures detailed in the RAB Operations Manual Section 9.

ARTICLE VIII – Subunits

 Section 1                   

The Section shall encourage the formation of subunits, including Society Chapters and Affinity Groups.  The Section shall support the efforts of subunits to serve the members.  

Section 2

Management of the subunit will be undertaken by the Section and governed as detailed in these bylaws, including financial activity where appropriate, as well as officer and election activity.  

Section 3

The officers of Subunits shall be identified at the time of formation.  At a minimum, each Subunit shall have a Chair.  

Section 4

A list of the Section's recognized subunits shall be maintained by Regional Activities Department staff.  The list is available from RAD Staff, from the online geographic roster, or the online database query tool.

ARTICLE IX - Amendments

Section 1

Proposals for amendments to these Bylaws may originate in the Section Executive Committee or by a petition signed by 15 or more voting members.

Section 2

Amendments to or revocation of these Bylaws shall be in accordance with the IEEE Bylaws, RAB Bylaws and RAB Operations Manual.  Such amendments must be reviewed by IEEE Staff, and approved by the Region Director and Regional Activities Board.