pdf version of constitution and bylaws

Article I: Name and Object

Section 1. The name of this organization is the Mississippi Association of Physicists, Incorporated, hereafter designated as The Association.

Section 2. Its purpose is to promote excellence in physics and physics education, and communication among physicists in Mississippi.

Section 3. The Mississippi Association of Physicists, Incorporated shall be the Mississippi Section of the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT).

Article II: Membership

Section 1. Each Physicist, Physics teacher, and Physical Scientist in Mississippi is eligible for individual membership.

Section 2. Each University, college, and two year college in Mississippi is eligible for institutional membership.

Section 3. A student or other person with an interest in physics but not meeting the requirements of Article II, Section 1, is eligible for associate membership. An associate member will be a non- voting member who will have rights and privileges of membership.

Section 4. A person found unworthy of membership may be expelled on recommendation of the Executive Committee, and on approval of that recommendation by two-thirds of the members attending a regular meeting. However, the Executive Committee will not make such a recommendation before the member has been advised of opportunity of being heard by the Committee.

Article III: Officers

Section 1. The Association will be governed by an Executive Committee; said Committee will to be the Board of Directors.

Section 2. Members of the Executive Committee will be elected for a period of two years.

The Executive Committee will have 13 members with the given number of representatives from the following categories: four representatives from the colleges and universities, three representatives from the two year colleges, four representatives from the high schools and two at large members.

In any of the four categories listed above, no two members may be from the same institution.

Section 3. The officers of the Association will be:

• President
• Vice-President
• Secretary
• Treasurer

The various officers will be chosen from the members of the Executive Committee by majority vote of the Association members present at the spring meeting. The term of office will be one year.

Section 4. The chief executive officer of the Association will be the President. The Vice-President will assume the responsibilities of the President in the absence of the President.

Section 5. The Executive Committee has all the powers of the Association in the intervals between meetings. This Committee will meet on call of the President, or on request of any three members of the Committee; and in any event will hold at least one meeting in each period of six consecutive months.

Section 6. Election of the Executive Committee will be held at the spring meeting each year with seven members elected in odd numbered years and six members elected in even numbered years. Nominations will be made from the floor. In any category for which the number of candidates exceeds the allotted number, the candidates receiving the most votes will be elected by written ballot, or if there is no opposition by any member present, any agreed on method, e.g. raised hand.

Section 7. Each candidate elected will assume office at the close of the meeting at which elected and will serve until a successor takes office.

Section 8. A MAP Newsletter will be published and distributed as directed by the Executive Committee. An editor for this newsletter will be appointed by the Executive Committee and will serve until a successor is appointed.

Section 9.Association members at each institution will designate one of their numbers to be their institutional representative. The institutional representative will coordinate programs and report newsworthy items to the editor of the newsletter.

Section 10. A Section Representative to then National AAPT will be appointed by the Executive Committee and will serve until a successor is appointed.

Article IV: Meetings

Section 1. Regular meetings will be held on dates and at locations to be determined by the Executive Committee. A regular meeting will be held each spring and each fall. Each member will be notified of the date and place of the next meeting at least three weeks in advance.

Section 2. Special meetings shall be held on call of the President on instruction from the Executive Committee.

Section 3. Any twenty-five percent of the membership may petition the President to call a special meeting, indicating in the petition the reason. On receipt of such a petition, the President will call the special meeting.

Article V: Dues and Obligations

Section 1. The amount of dues will be determined by the Bylaws and may be changed from time to time by adoption of a new Bylaw. The dues will be administered by the Executive Committee to promote the objectives of the Association.

Section 2. No candidate for membership is entered on the rolls of the Association until dues are paid.

Section 3. Any member behind in dues a full year will be suspended from the privileges of membership and will be dropped from the rolls if all dues then owed have not been paid within ninety days after the date of suspension.

Article VI: Amendments

Section 1. The Association may adopt new Bylaws by the affirmative vote of a majority of members in attendance of a meeting provided that notice of proposed changes is given to the membership at least thirty days in advance.

Section 2. A Bylaw may be repealed by passing a Bylaw to that effect.

Section 3. This constitution may be amended by the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members in attendance at a meeting provided that notice of the proposed change is given to the membership at least thirty days in advance.

Article VII: Dissolution

Section 1. In the event that this Association is dissolved, the membership at that time will choose a non-profit organization, whose aims closely resemble those of the Association, to receive all money and property remaining after debts are paid.

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BYLAWS

Chapter 1: Proposals to Funding Agencies

Members may submit proposals for contracts and grants to funding agencies in the name of the Association after a copy of the proposal has been presented to each member of the Executive Committee and a majority of the Committee votes in factor of the proposal. The President may poll the Committee members by mail or telephone to obtain their votes. Each proposal submitted in the name of the Association must carry the signature of the President.

Chapter 2: Dues

Annual dues are due on January 1 of each year and are payable to the Treasurer. Annual dues are fixed as follows:

• $50 for universities
• $25 for colleges
• $15 for two year colleges
• $5 for individual members
• $5 for associate members

Chapter 3: Vacancies on Executive Committee

The President has the authority to appoint an acting member to the Executive Committee if a vacancy occurs for any reason. The acting member will be appointed from the same category as the member he/she is to replace. He/she will serve until the next meeting of the Association when a replacement will be elected to fill the unexpired term.

Chapter 4: Procedures

The meetings of this Association and its committees will be conducted in accordance with the rules laid down in the latest edition of Roberts Rules of Order.

Chapter 5: Membership in National AAPT

Membership in the National AAPT is not a prerequisite for active membership in the Mississippi Association of Physicists, Inc. with the exception that non-members of the National AAPT may not serve as a representative to the National AAPT Council.