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Mensa Alaska
Article I. NAME AND PURPOSE
A. The name of this organization shall be Mensa Alaska.
B. Mensa Alaska is a local group of American Mensa, Ltd., and is subject to the Constitution of Mensa, the Bylaws of American Mensa, Ltd., and the resolutions adopted by the American Mensa Committee (last two organizations abbreviated herein as "AML" and "AMC" respectively.
B. Mensa members in good standing who are not also members of Mensa Alaska are welcome to participate in the social activities of the local group as are others who may be interested in attending, unless banned by the Mensa Alaska Board of Directors. However, only members of Mensa Alaska may vote or hold elected office in Mensa Alaska, nor may they participate in business activities unless they be the national Ombudsman or designate, members of the AMC in the discharge of official responsibilities.
B. All elected officers must be current members in good standing of AML and of Mensa Alaska.
C. A simple majority of all voting members of the Board of Directors constitutes a quorum to transact business.
D. Duties of Officers
1) The President shall be the chief executive officer and the liaison with other local groups and with the AMC and AML, and shall appoint all appointed positions with approval from the Board of Directors.
2) The Vice President shall perform duties as assigned by the President, preside over meetings in the absence of the President, and shall succeed to the office of President if that office becomes vacant.
b. submit to the Board of Directors a semi-annual financial report, which shall be published in the newsletter and shall contain schedules of income, expenses and balances for all funds under the control of Mensa Alaska, including RG, scholarship and other special funds, and a listing of all equipment owned by the local group;
4) The Program Officer shall be responsible
for arranging and scheduling Mensa Alaska activities and shall coordinate
with and advise the other members of the Board of Directors of these
activities.
5) The Recruitment Officer shall be responsible for publicity, public relations, and recruitment programs.
6) The
Newsletter Editor shall edit the Mensa
Alaska newsletter, and publish, unedited, notices of meetings and programs, required
ballots, candidate statements, results of business meetings and elections,
amendments to the bylaws and related discussions and ballots, the
semi-annual financial reports, and shall prepare, submit, and publish Postal
forms as required.
b. The outgoing Newsletter Editor must turn over all files in good order to the incoming Editor no more than fifteen days after leaving office.
c. At least 2 copies of the
Mensa Alaska newsletter will be maintained each month.
7) The Webmaster
shall edit and maintain the Mensa Alaska website. This site shall include
notices of meetings and elections, results of business meetings and
elections, a current copy of the bylaws, contact points for members
of the Board of Directors, and any other material deemed appropriate
by the Board of Directors. b. The Webmaster may be removed
by a vote of the Board of Directors. The membership can require
a vote by petition signed by the square root of the number of members
of Mensa Alaska. c. The outgoing Webmaster must
turn over all files, and any related passwords or keys to access the
Website to the incoming Webmaster no more than 15 days after leaving
office.
a. The Webmaster shall submit
the URL of the Mensa Alaska Website to the American Mensa Webmaster
and to the Region 8 Webmaster for linking to their respective sites, and shall maintain a link to each
of these sites on the Mensa Alaska website.
8) The Recording Secretary shall take the minutes of official Mensa Alaska and Board of Directors business meetings. The Recording Secretary shall be a voting officer only if selected from Mensa Alaska membership.
9) Other appointed positions of Mensa Alaska Board of Directors may include, but are not limited to Area Coordinators for outlying groups of members and Coordinators for other activities as deemed necessary.
E. Terms of Office
2) Terms of Office for Treasurer and At-Large Board Members shall be two years from January 1st of even-numberd years through December 31st of odd-numbered years, or until installation of a properly qualified successor, except in the case of resignation or removal from office as provided for in Article III F.
3) The term of office for all appointed officers and positions expires at the end of the term of office of the President and Vice-President.
4) All officers and appointees shall turn over all files, equipment, and materials pertaining to their offices to either their successor(s), to the current President, or to another member of the Board of Directors no later than four weeks after leaving office unless otherwise stated herein. Failure to turn over the files, equipment and other materials of office may be considered an act inimical to the Society.
F. Removal from Office
2) Appointed members of the Board of Directors may be removed from office by majority vote of the Board of Directors unless otherwise stated herein.
3) Any member of the Board of Directors who misses three consecutive regularly scheduled meetings of the Board of Directors without cause and prior notification of other members of the Board of Directors will automatically be removed from the Board of Directors. Attendance can be in person, by telephony, or electronic or other means acceptable to the Board of Directors.
4) The Board of Directors shall select a replacement for any member of the Board of Directors who resigns or who is removed or recalled, by simple majority vote.
Article IV. MEETINGS
A. Regular meetings may be held at such times as may be appropriate; however a regularly scheduled meeting must be held at least once per quarter. Notice of meetings and activities shall be published in the Mensa Alaska newsletter.
B. Special business meetings for specified purposes may be called at any time by the President, by the Board of Directors, or by special petition signed by the square root of the membership of Mensa Alaska as listed on the most recent membership roster provided by AML. The agenda for special meetings is limited to the specified purpose for which the meetings are called.
A. No
later than July 15 of each even-numbered year the Board of Directors shall
appoint a Nominating Committee which shall, no later than the deadline
for the October Mensa Alaska newsletter, nominate one or more candidate
for each position on the Board of Directors. The membership of Mensa
Alaska shall be notified of these nominations, and of the upcoming election,
in the October newsletter or by mail posted no later than October 15th.
B. No later than
October 1st, the Board of Directors shall name an Election Committee of
three members who shall be responsible for conducting the election, receiving
and counting the ballots, and certifying the results. The Election Committee
shall determine and cause to be published any rules for conducting the
election they determine to be necessary and not covered by these bylaws.
C. No member of the Nominating or Election Committees may be a voting member of the Board of Directors or a candidate in the upcoming election. The Nominating and Election Committees may be composed of the same members.
D. No later than October 20th, additional nominations may be made by petition signed by 1/2 of the square root of the number of members of Mensa Alaska, and delivered to the Chair of the Nominating Committee.
E. Ballots and candidate statements shall be printed in the November issue of the Mensa Alaska newsletter or mailed to all members of Mensa Alaska, but, in either case, must be posted no later than November 15th.
F. All ballots must be returned to the Chair of the Election Committee and received no later than November 30th. Ballots received after that date will not be counted. A plurality of valid votes cast for each office shall constitute election. The Chair of the Election Committee will certify the results of the election to the President and shall have the election results published in the December issue of the Mensa Alaska newsletter. Votes which are tied shall be determined by the Chair of the Election Committee by the flip of a coin.
G. Challenges to an election must be received by the current Board of Directors no later than December 31st of the election year. These challenges must include the reason for the challenge and a petition signed by twice the square root of the members of Mensa Alaska. Notice of the challenge must be published in the January Mensa Alaska newsletter, along with a mail ballot. Ballots to challenge the election must be received by February 28th. If a majority of ballots cast is in the affirmative, a new election process must begin within thirty days, and will follow the procedures and timeframes as stipulated above. Actions taken by the newly elected Board of Directors will remain in effect even if the election is challenged unless those actions are specifically repealed by vote of the Board which replaces them.
H. If there are no nominations for office, the current office holders may retain their positions, if they so desire. If they do not so desire, the positions may be appointed by simple majority vote of the Board of Directors. The results of either of these actions shall be reported as required for the result of an election, and shall be subject to the same challenge procedures.
I. AML shall be notified of the results of the election, and shall be notified of any changes in the membership of the Board of Directors during the year. Publishing of these results and changes in the Mensa Alaska newsletter which is sent to AML each month shall constitute this notification.
B. Rules of Order for the Board of Directors and for those matters concerning Mensa Alaska which are not specified in these bylaws may be adopted by the Board of Directors.