NORTH CAROLINA EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ASSOCIATION
BY-LAWS
ARTICLE I. MEMBERS AND MEMBERSHIP
Section 1. Membership in the North Carolina Employment and Training Association (hereinafter referred to as “the association”) is open to any employee of an agency or organization operating and/or administering State or Federal employment and training programs in the state of North Carolina and individuals employed by public or private businesses which have a specific interest in employment and training programs.
Section 2. The Board of Directors shall establish annual membership dues for the membership year beginning April 1 and ending March 31 each year.
Section 3. A member shall be deemed to be in good standing if his/her membership dues have been paid for the current membership year, and those dues are to be paid by March 31 of the current membership year.
Section 4. Any action by any member of the Association which is discriminatory in nature or in opposition to the policies of the Association may result in the revocation of that individual’s membership. The Board of Directors may recommend that revocation to the general membership after an investigation committee, appointed by the Board of Directors, has investigated the charges, held a hearing with the accused and determined that a recommendation for revocation of membership is warranted based on the findings of the investigation.
ARTICLE II. OFFICERS AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Section 1. The officers of the Association shall be a president, vice president, treasurer, secretary, and immediate past president.
Section 2. Between meetings of the Association, the Association shall be governed by a Board of Directors (hereinafter referred to as “the Board”). The Board shall be comprised of the officers of the Association, eighteen regional representatives, and liaison members.
Section 3. The president will appoint an assistant secretary and assistant treasurer from within the board membership who shall not become officers by virtue of such appointments.
Section 4. The officers and regional representatives will request that related state agencies and/or special interest groups appoint liaison members to the Board. Such liaison members will be representatives from employment and training related state agencies and/or special interest groups as determined by the Board and shall have voting privileges.
Section 5. Each member of the Board in attendance at any meeting of the Board shall be allowed to cast one vote in any matter before the Board. Proxy votes shall not be allowed.
Section 6. The Board shall remove from its membership any regional representative or officer who is absent from three consecutive meetings of the Board. Following such removal, the Board shall appoint a member who is in good standing from the general membership of the Association to fill the unexpired term office in the vacated position. In the event that any liaison member of the Board is absent from three consecutive meetings of the Board, the Board shall request that the appointing agency/group designate another person to serve on the Board.
Section 7. The Board will have the authority to fill the office of vice president, secretary, and treasurer, if such offices are vacated. Such appointment shall be for a period of time not to exceed the unexpired term of the vacating officer.
Section 8. Should a member of the Board conduct him/herself in a manner as to bring the Association into disrespect or disrepute, the Board may call a special board meeting for disciplinary action as deemed appropriate. Such disciplinary action can include removal of the offending member from the membership of the Board.
ARTICLE III. QUALIFICATIONS AND ELECTION OF OFFICERS
Section 1. With the exception of the immediate past president, the officers of the Association shall be elected by the general membership during biennial annual meetings. Upon the adoption of these revised by-laws, the first election shall be held during the annual membership meeting of the Association during 1994 and thereafter every other year. Each officer shall be elected to a two-year term, which shall begin on July 1 next. No officer may serve more than two consecutive terms.
Section 2. Any association member who has served on the Board for one year and who is currently in good standing with the Association shall be eligible to serve as an officer of the Association.
Section 3. A nominations committee will be composed of the three regional coordinators, and the president shall appoint a committee chairperson. This committee will solicit nominations for Association offices from the general membership at least sixty days prior to the annual membership meeting at which elections are to be held. The nominations committee shall determine whether or not those persons so nominated meet the eligibility requirements as set forth in Article III, Section 2 of these by-laws and develop a slate of nominees containing the name of all eligible persons so placed in nomination, provided, however, that no person shall be placed in nomination for more than one office and, further provided that all nominees agree to run for the office to which they have been nominated.
Section 4. At its discretion, the nominations committee may make additional nominations to an office of the Association provided that all persons so nominated meet the requirements of Article III Section 2 of these by-laws and each person so nominated agrees to seek election.
Section 5. The nomination committee shall develop and mail a slate of candidates to the general membership at least thirty days prior to the annual meeting at which elections are to be held.
Section 6. The nominations committee shall distribute a ballot at the annual meeting during which elections are to be held containing the names of duly nominated candidates for each office and shall tally the results of each election during the meeting of the Association at which elections are held.
Section 7. Association members in good standing who wish to vote by absentee ballot may do so by requesting in writing a ballot from the chairperson of the nominating committee at least fifteen days prior to the annual membership meeting. Prior to complying with such a request, the chairperson of the nominating committee shall determine that the voter is a member in good standing and therefore eligible to vote. Prior to its return, each absentee ballot shall be sealed in a separate envelope. All absentee ballots must be received by the chairperson of the nominations committee prior to the annual membership meeting.
ARTICLE IV. REGIONS, REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVES, AND REGIONAL COORDINATORS
Section 1. The State of North Carolina shall be divided into three regions that shall be designated as the Eastern, Piedmont, and Western Regions. The Board will designate the counties to be included in each region.
Section 2. Six regional representatives shall be elected to the Board from each region at regional caucuses to be held in conjunction with the annual membership meetings. On alternate years, three of the six regional representatives shall be elected to two-year terms; on the other years, the remaining three of the six regional representatives shall be elected to two-year terms. Terms shall begin on July 1 next.
Section 3. Any member having been in good standing for a period of at least one year shall be qualified to seek election to the Board as a regional representative.
Section 4. At the time of election, all regional representatives must be employed in the geographic region that they represent. Those moving their places of employment from their geographic region will be replaced at the first meeting of the Board subsequent to their moving.
Section 5. Any person whose name is placed in nomination to be a regional representative must consent to have his/her name placed in nomination.
Section 6. The president shall appoint one regional coordinator for each region.
Section 7. The regional coordinator shall request nominees for the positions of regional representatives from the region’s membership prior to the annual membership meetings. The regional representatives will be elected from this slate of nominees. When insufficient nominations are received to fill vacancies to the board from the region, that regional coordinator shall obtain nominations for the remaining vacancies from the caucus and/or from the general membership list. The regional coordinator shall then present the recommendation to the executive committee for approval.
Section 8. In the event that a regional representative resigns or leaves the board for any reason, it is the responsibility of that region’s coordinator to recommend a replacement representative within thirty days to the president for approval by the executive committee.
ARTICLE V. MEETINGS AND VOTING
Section 1. There shall be an annual membership meeting during the Spring of each year. The date(s) and site of such meeting shall be set by the Board.
Section 2. Regular meetings of the board shall be held and shall be open to all members of the Association.
Section 3. The order of business at all board and membership meetings shall be determined by the Board as the first order of business at each meeting. However, the order of business may be altered or suspended at any time during the meetings by a majority vote of the members present.
Section 4. All board meetings and association business meetings shall be conducted in accordance with “Robert’s Rules of Order” except when such is in conflict with the by-laws of the association. When such a conflict exits, the by-laws of the Association shall supersede “Robert’s Rules of Order.”
Section 5. Special meetings of the Association to transact business shall be called if at least ten percent (10%) of the Association’s members petition in writing for such a meeting. Committee meetings may be called by the committees’ chairperson as deemed appropriate by each chairperson.
Section 6. Members in good standing shall have the right to vote and participate in all activities of the Association.
Section 7. The quorum for any membership meeting shall be twenty-five percent (25%) of the general membership plus one member. The quorum for a meeting of the Board shall be fifty percent (50%) of the Board membership plus one board member.
ARTICLE VI. DUTIES OF OFFICERS
Section 1. PRESIDENT: The president shall be the chief elected officer of the Association. He/She shall preside at all meetings of the Association and the Board and shall ensure that all orders, policies and resolutions of the Association and Board are implemented.
Section 2. VICE PRESIDENT: In the event of the absence of the president at any meeting of the Association and/or Board, the vice president shall preside. In the event that the president is unable to perform the duties and responsibilities of the office, the vice president shall fill the unexpired term of the president. The vice president shall arrange an independent review of the association’s financial records at least once each fiscal year. The vice president shall chair the Program and Planning Committee to organize and plan the annual conference.
Section 3. TREASURER: The treasurer shall be the custodian of the funds of the Association, pay all bills of the Association in a timely manner and provide financial reports of all expenditures as required by the Board and/or the general membership.
Section 4. ASSISTANT TREASURER: In the absence of the treasurer, the assistant treasurer shall perform all the functions of the treasurer. In the event that the treasurer is unable to perform the duties and responsibilities of the office, the assistant treasurer shall fill the unexpired term of the treasurer. He/She shall perform any other duties as assigned by the treasurer.
Section 5. SECRETARY: In addition to keeping the records of the Association and the minutes of all meetings of the Association and the Board, it shall be the duty of the secretary to: ” Transmit copies of such minutes to the membership of the Board following each meeting of the Board; ” Transmit copies of minutes of the general membership meetings to the general membership, by posting on the web site, following their approval by the Board; ” Maintain a roll of the Association and the Board memberships; ” Call the roll when requested.
Section 6. ASSISTANT SECRETARY: In the absences of the secretary, the assistant secretary shall perform all the functions of the secretary. In the event that the secretary is unable to perform the duties and responsibilities of the office, the assistant secretary shall fill the unexpired term of the secretary. He/She shall perform any other duties as assigned by the secretary.
ARTICLE VII. STANDING COMMITTEES
Section 1. The standing committees of the Association shall be:
- Membership
- Program and Planning
- By-Laws
- Nomination
- Newsletter
- Publicity and Scrapbook
- Marketing
Section 2. The president shall appoint the members, designate the chairperson and serve as an ex-officio member of each standing committee.
Section 3. The president shall appoint special committees from time to time at his/her discretion or at the direction of the Board or the general membership.
ARTICLE VIII. TREASURY AND DISBURSEMENT OF ASSOCIATION FUNDS
Section 1. The Association shall maintain a treasury, which shall be kept on deposit in checking and savings accounts with a qualified depository. The treasurer shall retain periodic depository statements.
Section 2. Disbursements of Association funds shall be made by check and signed by the treasurer or the assistant treasurer and the president of the Association.
Section 3. Provided that funds are available and without prior approval of the Board the officers of the Association shall have the authority to incur reasonable and customary operating expenses in the following categories: postage, stationery and telephone services in a cumulative amount not to exceed one hundred fifty dollars ($150.00) per year per category.
Section 4. The treasurer and the assistant treasurer shall submit an annual operating budget to the Board for approval at the first meeting of the Board following the annual memberships meeting of the Association. Upon approval by the Board of the annual operating budget, the treasurer shall have the authority to expend Association funds and shall record such expenditures for the final approval of the Board at each meeting of the Board.
Section 5. Upon request by any member of the Association, the financial records of the Association shall be made available for review at least once each fiscal year.
ARTICLE IX. FISCAL YEAR
The fiscal year of the Association shall be from January 1st through December 31st of each year.
ARTICLE X. AMENDMENTS
The Constitution and By-Laws of the Association may be amended by a two-thirds vote of the members present at any membership meeting upon notification at least thirty days prior to a membership meeting.
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