Midwest Section Bylaws

Midwest Section Bylaws

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Revised  March 20, 1996
Revised September 12, 2003
Revised September 12, 2023

ARTICLE I - NAME AND PURPOSE

SECTION I: The name of the Section shall be the Midwest Section.

SECTION 2: The purpose of the Midwest Section shall be:

a. To bring about cooperation between the engineering/technology colleges of the Section and other educational institutions, industry, government, and practitioners of the profession.

b. To serve its members as a common agency for the exchange of ideas regarding curricula and educational processes, graduate education and research, continuing education, and improvements in teaching, educational materials, and administration.

To further the enhancement of professional ideals and the cultivation of a fraternal spirit among the members of the Section.

ARTICLE II - MEMBERSHIP

SECTION I - The membership shall consist of all individual and institutional members of the American Society for Engineering Education residing in or located in the states of Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Oklahoma.

SECTION II - All individuals, academic institutions, and industrial concerns located in the Midwest Section jurisdiction, who are not individual or institutional members of ASEE, are eligible to participate in the functions of the Midwest Section but are not eligible for election or appointment to the Executive Committee. Individual members of ASEE are eligible for election or appointment to the Executive Committee regardless of their affiliated institution’s membership status.

ARTICLE III - OFFICERS AND STANDING COMMITTEES

SECTION I: The officers of the Midwest Section shall be a Chairperson, Chairperson Elect, Immediate Past Chairperson, Program Chairperson, Program Chairperson-Designate, Secretary-Treasurer, and Section Campus Representative Coordinator. Their one-year terms of office begin 30 days after the close of the Annual Section Meeting at which they were elected or appointed.

SECTION II: The Executive Committee shall consist of all the officers of the Midwest Section listed in Article III, Section I, along with up to two industrial members that may be appointed by the Chairperson. The Executive Committee typically meets twice a year: once about 6 months prior to the Annual Section Meeting and again during the Annual Section Meeting. The function of the Executive Committee is:

(a) To clarify and implement policies, projects, and programs for the coming year.

(b) To appoint a Program Chairperson Designate and additional members to the Program Committee to assist the Program Chairperson in preparing the program for any and all Section programs.

(c) To select a Secretary-Treasurer from nominee(s) provided by the next Annual Meeting’s host institution to serve for the upcoming Annual Section Meeting.

(d) To select meeting dates and locations for Annual Meetings according to the Meeting and Officer Rotation Table which follows. If a designated State is unable to secure a host location, the Section may select a substitute from any other state.

(e) To establish communication with future host institutions concerning advanced planning for Annual Meetings.

SECTION III: The Chairperson Elect shall be elected from the general membership of the Midwest Section during the Annual Business Meeting according to the Meeting and Officer Rotation Table in Article III, Section II. The Chairperson Elect shall become the Chairperson of the Section in the following year. If he or she cannot assume the duties of Chairperson, the Nominating Committee shall nominate a successor to be elected concurrently with the Chairperson Elect as provided in Article III, Section IX. The Secretary-Treasurer shall be appointed by the Executive Committee at the Annual Section Meeting based upon the recommendation of the upcoming host institution.

SECTION IV: The Program Chairperson Designate shall be appointed by the Executive Committee and shall assume the duties as Program Chairperson at the close of the Annual Section Meeting following the year of his or her appointment as Designate. The Program Chairperson shall be responsible for planning and organizing all Section Meetings which occur during his or her term of office. He or she shall be assisted by up to a four-member committee consisting of the Program Chairperson Designate and other members appointed by the Executive Committee or the Program Chairperson. These members are to be chosen based on a personal interest in the programs of the Midwest Section.

SECTION V: The Chairperson shall have administrative responsibility for the Section. He or she shall appoint a Section Campus Representative Coordinator to serve a coincident term.

SECTION VI: The Chairperson-Elect shall be responsible for special projects, membership, and serve as Awards Committee Chair for the Section.

SECTION VII: In the absence of the Chairperson, the Chairperson-Elect shall be the presiding officer at Executive Committee Meetings and Section Business Meetings. In the event the Chairperson cannot continue in office, the Chairperson-Elect shall become the successor. In the event of any vacancy in the offices of the Section, the Executive Committee shall appoint a successor from the general section membership to act during the remainder of the term, except as provided in Article III, Section III.

SECTION VIII: The Nominating Committee shall consist of the Immediate Past Chairperson as Chair and up to two other members appointed from the general section membership by the Immediate Past Chairperson. In the event members of the Nominating Committee cannot act, their replacement shall be designated by the Committee Chair. The Nominating Committee shall solicit nominations for all elected positions as required by these By-laws from the membership, in accordance with the suggested Meeting and Officer Rotation Table shown in Article III, Section II. Nominations must be submitted to the Chair of the Nominating Committee preferably at least 30 days before the Annual Section Meeting along with a statement of the nominee's qualifications for the office. The Nominating Committee shall review nominations and select at their discretion up to three nominees for each position on the ballot. The ballot shall contain the names for the nominees along with their qualification statements condensed to a reasonable length.

SECTION IX: The Nominating Committee shall present nominees for the vacant office of Chairperson-Elect to the membership of the section in paper ballot form with space for write-in candidates at the Business Meeting during the Annual Section Meeting. Election shall be by ballot of the registered attendees and a simple majority shall constitute election. The Nominating Committee shall be responsible for all election procedures including reporting the results at the Annual Section Meeting.

SECTION X: The Awards Committee shall solicit nominees and select awardees for all Awards offered within the Section. The Chairperson-Elect chairs this committee and appoints preferably two additional members from the Section membership. The names of committee members shall not be divulged to the general membership until such time as awardees are announced.

SECTION XI: The current Chairperson and the Chairperson-Elect shall be the representatives of the Midwest Section to the Zone III Executive Board. It shall be the duty of these representatives to attend all Zone III Business Meetings.

SECTION XII: The responsibilities of the Section Campus Representative Coordinator include ensuring that ASEE is effectively represented on all appropriate campuses and that individual campus representatives are aware of their responsibilities and duties.

ARTICLE IV - MEETINGS

SECTION I: The Midwest Section shall hold an Annual Section Meeting in the months of September or October. The dates and locations for all meetings of the Midwest Section for the following years shall be selected by the Executive Committee on the recommendation of the incoming Program Chairperson.

SECTION II: The program for the next Annual Section Meeting shall be the responsibility of the Program Chairperson and his or her committee. They shall be responsible for planning the program, soliciting papers, making all arrangements, and notifying the section by mailing at appropriate times, preliminary and final program announcements.

SECTION III: A registration fee as set by the Program Chairperson and his or her committee shall be charged at each Annual Section Meeting. The fee should be sufficient to pay the necessary expenses of the meeting and finance publicity, mailings and so forth for the following year’s meeting. Any balance remaining after payment of necessary expenses shall go into the treasury of the Midwest Section.

ARTICLE VI - AMENDMENTS TO BYLAWS

SECTION I: These Bylaws may be amended by a majority vote of the members present at the section Business Meeting during the Annual Section Meeting. Notice of proposed Bylaws changes shall be mailed to the Executive Committee members at least 30 days prior to the Annual Section Meeting. Amendments to these Bylaws also require final approval of ASEE Board of Directors.