BY-LAW 1. MEMBERSHIP
Section 1. Requirements
Member organizations of the Central Pennsylvania Engineers
Week Council shall be non-profit engineering or technical societies, with
members located in the greater Harrisburg area and the surrounding
communities.
Section 2. Approval
All prospective member organizations shall submit in
writing a request for admission to the Council for approval, demonstrating the
membership requirements.
Section 3. Representation
Member organizations shall designate two representatives to
the Council, one primary representative and one alternate representative.
Section 4. Term of Service
Term of representatives on the Council or on its committees
is nominally one year, April 1 through March 31. Representatives may serve
more than one term.
Section 5. Removal
Any member organization demonstrating lack of participation
may result in that organization’s removal from membership by the Council.
BY-LAW 2. MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION
Section 1. Administrative Year
The administrative fiscal year is April 1 to March 31.
The transfer of duties will occur at the April meeting, and
will convene by the outgoing Council Chair and adjourn by the incoming Council
Chair.
Section 2. Council Leadership
The leadership of the Council will consist of the Officers
and Standing Committee Chairs, whereas the Officers will be comprised of a
Chair, a Vice Chair, a Treasurer, and a Secretary. The Standing Committees
will be comprised of the Operations, Elections, Events and Public Affairs
committees.
The elected term of officers and committee chairs will be
one Administrative Year, April 1 to March 31. Should the Council Chair fall
vacant during the term of office, the Vice Chair will assume the duties of the
Council Chair for the unexpired term.
Section 3. ELECTIONS OF OFFICERS AND APPOINTMENT OF COMMITTEE
CHAIRS
Effective April 1 of each year, the preceding year’s Vice Chair will
assume the Council Chair.
Officers shall be elected at the first meeting of the
fiscal year, where the new Council Chair shall request nominations for Vice
Chair, Secretary and Treasurer. A ballot shall be prepared, and voting shall
be by secret ballot. Candidates receiving a majority vote of the
representatives of the member organizations shall immediately be inducted into
their position, and complete the business of the meeting. The outgoing Council
Chair shall decide the result of the votes.
The new Council Chair at the first meeting of the fiscal
year shall appoint standing Committee Chairs.
Section 4. Advisory Committee
The Advisory Committee will be appointed by the Council
Chair to provide continuity to the Council operations and to assist the
Council Chair.
The Advisory Committee will consist of no more than five
members; at least one of which is a past Council Chair.
The member of the Advisory Committee shall be appointed to
serve during the current Administrative Year.
Current representatives of the member organizations to the
Council shall not serve on the Advisory Committee.
Section 5. Sub-Committees and Task Forces
The Council Chair may organize sub-committees, task forces
and "ad hoc" committees in addition to the Standing Committees.
Section 6. Committee Duties and Vacancies
The duties and responsibilities of all Standing Committees
and sub-committees will be detailed in the Standard Operating Procedures. For
ad hoc committees and task forces, the Council Chair, when making the
appointment, shall specify the duties and designate the length of the
assignment. Unless otherwise approved by the Council, all such committees and
task forces will terminate at the end of the administrative year.
Vacancies in any Vice Chair or Standing Committee Chairs'
position shall be filled by appointment of the Council Chair with approval of
the Council by majority vote.
BY-LAW 3. MEETINGS
Section 1. Frequency
The Council shall hold regular meetings at a predetermined
central location. Meeting dates shall normally be predetermined and notices
sent to all members at least one week prior to the meeting. Meeting reports
shall be kept by the Secretary and distributed promptly to the membership.
Committee and Sub-Committee meetings shall be on an
as-needed basis and shall be reported at the next meeting of the Council.
Section 2. Quorum and Voting
For meetings of the Council, a quorum for the transaction
of business will consist of 50 percent representation of the member
organization.
Each member organization will have one vote to be cast by
the primary representative, or in absence of the primary representative, by
the alternate representative
Mail, e-mail or fax ballots are permitted provided that
three-fourths of the members eligible to vote return ballots by the prescribed
date.
Majority for or against an issue will be the ruling
decision.
BY-LAW 4. FINANCES AND SUPPORT
Section 1. Income
No annual dues will be assessed member organizations of the
Council with the exception of a one time only initiation fee of $100. Member
Organizations of Council will be suitably recognized for their contributions.
Funds, from whatever source derived for Engineers Week
activities, are the property of the Engineers Week Council.
Section 2. Expenses
The Treasurer shall submit a balanced budget at the start
of the fiscal year for approval by the Council.
The Treasurer at each meeting of the Council shall provide
a financial report.
Funds not required for current use shall be invested by the
Treasurer in a safe manner as to earn optimal interest, and as approved by the
Council.
In addition to the Treasurer, the Council Chair and the
Vice Chair shall be authorized to sign disbursement checks for approved
expenditures. Two signatures of any three of these officers are required in
the signing of check.
Section 3. Accounting
Funds shall not be used for purposes other than fulfilling
the designated purposes and activities charged to the Council.
Section 4. Audit
Thirty (30) days after the beginning of the fiscal year an
audit of the record of accounts maintained by the Treasurer shall be performed
annually by a special audit committee independent of the Treasurer. This
committee will prepare and submit an audit report to the council for its
approval.
BY-LAW 5. ACTIVITIES
Section 1. The Council shall plan and
schedule an Engineers Week program consistent with the
objectives stated herein and encourage maximum participation on the part of the
member organizations, the sponsors, the public and the media.
Section 2. Engineering recognition programs may include, but
are not limited to, technical and professional meetings, science and math
workshops, career planning seminars, awards and other related recognition’s,
Engineer of the Year and Young Engineer of the Year presentations, engineering
exhibits, and all types of public affairs and public relations programs attuned
to the objectives.
Section 3. Affiliations, co-sponsorships and other liaisons
with appropriate organizations may be developed to enhance the effectiveness of
the programs so long as the Council's pre-eminent role in Engineers Week affairs
is maintained.
BY-LAW 6. ENGINEER OF THE YEAR RECOGNITION
Section 1. All member organizations and sponsors are
encouraged to participate in the selection of an Engineer of the Year and Young
Engineer of the Year by nominating individuals qualified to meet the selection
criteria and who desires to be a candidate.
Section 2. Each organization shall submit nominations to the
Elections Committee by August 30.
Section 3. The Elections Committee shall request each
candidate to provide his or her biography to the committee by the second week in
December. It shall be written in the sequence and in accordance with set
guidelines provided by the committee.
Section 4. The Elections Committee shall select the Engineer
of the Year and Young Engineer of the Year based on the screening and rating
criteria developed in the Standard Operating Procedures.
Section 5. Upon selection of the Engineer of the Year and
Young Engineer of the Year, the Chair of Elections Committee shall make the
announcement to the Council at the November meeting.
BY-LAW 7. PUBLICITY, PUBLIC RELATIONS AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS
Section 1. Every effort shall be made to create a coordinated
focus on the activities of Engineers Week and on the Engineer of the Year and
Young Engineer of the Year through the sponsoring organizations and the media.
Section 2. Efforts should be extended to utilize the
facilities of member or sponsoring organizations that have media connections to
publicize internally the various planned activities and to similarly enlist
their "good offices" to assist in securing coverage elsewhere.
Academic institutions should be pursued with respect to publicizing career
activities.
Section 3. When, in the opinion of the Council, the services
of professionals are required to properly promote media and other coverage of
these activities, such services should be properly investigated on a
cost/benefit basis, properly budgeted and covered by formal agreement detailing
the expected services and liability to the Council.
Section 4. Although the objective of Engineers Week is to
highlight the events of this period, the Council activities as planned and
implemented, and the sponsors should recognize and utilize all opportunities
existing throughout the year for promoting engineering and the role of the
profession. Specifically, the incumbent Engineer of the Year and Young Engineer
of the Year should be provided opportunity to emphasize this role particularly
in the educational institutions, the sponsoring organizations and to the public
at large.
Section 5. The Council should develop and utilize a
newsletter or bulletin for the purpose of disseminating information on Council
activities, giving wide distribution as a means of informing the sponsors and
the public of Council and relevant activities throughout the year.
BY-LAW 8. INDEMNIFICATION
Unless otherwise identified or provided herein,
responsibility for planning and implementing Engineers Week activities is that
of the Council. By affording financial or "in kind" support for
Engineers Week activities, the member organizations and sponsors do not incur
liability individually or collectively. Events shall be scheduled only at
locations where adequate liability coverage is recognized, available and
formally assumed by agreement.