Northeast Section Bylaws

1.0 Name of the Section
The name of this organization shall be the North East Section of the American Society for Engineering Education, hereafter referred to as the Section.

2.0 Membership Section
The membership of the section shall be individual members of the American Society for Engineering Education who reside or are employed in the geographical boundaries assigned to the Section. These include Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont and Canada (postal codes beginning with A, B, C and E).

3.0 Officers
The officers of the section shall be Chair, Vice Chair, Past-Chair, Membership Chair, Campus Rep Chair, Conference Chair, Awards Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, Previous Chairs, Webmaster and Historian.

3.1 Duties of the Officers
The following shall constitute, in part, the duties of the officers.

3.1.1 The Chair shall serve as the representative and administrative head of the section, providing direction and leadership as required. It shall be the Chair’s duty to conduct all business meetings of the Section and all meetings of the Executive Committee. The Chair shall make all those appointments required by these Bylaws, and discharge such duties as are necessary for the proper conduct of the affairs of the section.

3.1.2 The Vice Chair shall serve as understudy to the Chair and provide assistance in areas designated by the Chair.

3.1.3 The Past Chair shall serve on the Executive Committee and as the chair of the nominating committee of the section.

3.1.4 The Membership Chair shall work with the ASEE membership department to maximize the recruitment and retention of members affiliated with the Section.

3.1.5 The Campus Rep Chair acts as a liaison for the Campus Reps of the Section to the Executive Committee and to ASEE headquarters when needed.

3.1.6 The Conference Chair shall arrange and coordinate the Section’s conference activities for the year. This includes securing a location for the conference and developing a technical program for the conference(s). The Conference Chair will determine the time for the conference, invite speakers and oversee the conference committee.

3.1.7 The Awards Chair will appoint and oversee the committee who reviews the nominations from the outstanding teaching award and the outstanding campus rep award. The Awards Chair will receive the nominations from the national office. The Awards Chair will oversee the committee for the awards given at the Section annual meeting. These include the Best Student Poster and the Best Paper Award.

3.1.8 The Secretary will record the minutes of the Executive Committee meetings and the annual business meeting, and distribute copies of the minutes to the appropriate unit and Society officers. The Secretary will be responsible for the official records of the Executive Committee and the Section and ensure that the files of the Section are passed along to his/her successor. He/she will tabulate, verify and communicate the results of the Section elections.

3.1.9 The Treasurer shall oversee and maintain the financial records of the Section and regularly report on the financial status to the Executive Committee. She/he shall collect unit income, if any, and disburse monies authorized by the Section Chair.

3.1.10 The Historian shall keep catalog and transfer to his/her successor those Section documents that are not normally kept by the Secretary or Treasurer.

3.1.11 The Webmaster shall develop and maintain the Section’s web site.

3.1.12 Previous Chairs shall assist the section as defined by the chair of the section. Previous chairs are defined as the chairs of ASEE NE Section in the past 6 years.

3.2 Election of Officers
No election shall be held for the offices of Chair, Conference Chair, Campus Rep Chair and Awards Chair. The Chair is automatically filled by the accession of the Vice Chair. The Conference Chair is appointed by the Host institution. The Campus Rep chair and the Awards Chair shall be appointed by the Chair. All other offices shall be filled by election by majority vote of those members attending the business meeting at the spring meeting of the Section. At each business meeting of the spring meeting the Committee on Nominations shall place in nomination the names of its suggested candidates for the offices of Vice Chair, Membership Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, Webmaster and Historian. The names of other candidates for the offices to be filled may be placed in nomination from the floor by any member of the Section, but no name shall be placed in nomination for any office of the Section of any person not a member of the Section.

3.3 Terms of Office
The term of office of all officers is for two years. All terms shall commence at the start of the Society Year (As defined in the ASEE constitution).

4.0 Committees
The section shall conduct some of its business through the work of committees.

4.1 Standing Committees
The following committees are all standing committees of the Section: the executive committee; the planning committee; the committee on nominations; the committee on awards.

4.1.1 The Executive Committee serves as a steering committee for the general affairs of the Section. It is composed of all of the officers. The committee meets at times and places designated by the Section Chair, holding at least one meeting between each regular meeting of the Section.

4.1.2 The Planning Committee arranges the locations, times and programs of the annual meetings of the Section. The Chairperson shall appoint such members and sub-committees as may be appropriate. The Planning Committee invites all members of the section to attend the first meeting of the year.

4.1.3 The Committee on Awards selects the recipient of all Section awards. This includes the Outstanding Teaching Award and the Section Campus Rep Award. The nomination for these comes through the national office. The Best Student Poster Award and the Best Paper Award are part of the Annual Section Meeting. The membership of the committee shall be geographically diverse. Ideally there should be at least one representative from each State in the section and from Canada. The members are ambassadors for these awards. As such they should encourage colleagues to nominate people for these awards.

4.1.4 The Nominating Committee shall consist of the three most recent past Chairperson of the Section who are willing and able to serve on it, commencing on July 1 of each year, the Past Chair serving as its Chair.

4.2 Special Committees
The Section Chair may appoint and discharge special committees as deemed necessary.

5.0 Meetings
There shall be a minimum of one regular meeting of the Section each year, usually held in the spring. The annual business meeting for the Section will be held at the Annual meeting. The business meeting will use Roberts Rules of Order. Any items which require a vote will carry if the majority of the members present vote in favor. Each meeting must be planned to be substantially self-supporting financially. The Host Institution, in conjunction with the Planning Committee and the Executive Committee, will set the registration fee for the meeting.

6.0 Amendments
These Bylaws may be amended by majority vote of those members attending any regular Section meeting providing the proposed changes are brought before the membership in written form with the endorsement of the Executive Committee. The members of the section shall receive any proposed by-law changes two weeks prior to the regular section meeting. ASEE Board of Directors must approve any bylaw revisions / name changes prior to them becoming effective.