Bylaws

Revised in 2021

Article I Elections/Appointment of Executive Board Members

Section 1.  Nominees for an elected ASEE North Central Section (NCS) Executive Board officer position must be a member in good standing of the ASEE National organization for at least the two years immediately prior to being nominated for an ASEE NCS Executive Board position.

Section 2.  Based on a person’s geographic location, nominees for an ASEE NCS Executive Board position must be a member of the North Central Section.

Section 3. The Chair of NCS shall be elected to serve a term of two years and shall have served as a previous Vice Chair or Director of NCS.

Section 4. The Past Chair shall be the immediate past Chair of NCS and will serve for two years.

Section 5. The Vice Chair shall be elected at the annual Section meeting and shall serve for one year. In the event of resignation or incapacity of the Chair, the Vice Chair shall succeed to the office of Chair for the remainder of the term of office.  Nominees for Vice Chair shall have served previously in an elected or appointed position as a member of the NCS Executive Board.

Section 6. In the event of resignation or incapacity of the Vice Chair of NCS, the NCS Executive Board shall elect a successor for the remainder of the term of office. A Vice Chair elected by the NCS Executive Board shall not be eligible for the office of Chair the following term. A Vice Chair shall be elected by the membership of NCS at the next annual section meeting.

Section 7. The Secretary, the Treasurer, and the ASEE Campus Representative Coordinator of NCS shall be appointed annually by the Chair, with the advice of the NCS Executive Board and the consent of the Past Chair and Vice Chair.

Section 8. The Directors of the NCS Executive Board shall be elected at the Annual Section Meeting for a term of two years. Two of these Directors shall be elected in odd-numbered years and two of these Directors shall be elected in even-numbered years.

Section 9. The NCS Newsletter Editor shall be appointed in even-numbered years for a term of two years by the Chair with the advice of the NCS Executive Board and consent of the Past Chair.

Section 10. The local Program Chairs of the next two Spring Conferences and other positions on the NCS Executive Board, as outlined in the Constitution, are to be filled by appointment by the Chair.

Section 11.  The Chair with the advice of the NCS Executive Board and consent of the Past Chair, may appoint up to two Senior Directors, each for a one-year term that may be renewable.Section 12. Any vacancies on the NCS Executive Board which occur during a term of office shall be filled by action of the NCS Executive Board in a manner consistent with the election/appointment guidelines outlined in the preceding sections of this article.

Article II Executive Board Term of Office

Section 1. The  NCS Executive Board shall take office at the end of the ASEE national meeting.

Article III Executive Board Member Duties

Section 1. The Chair of NCSshall preside at all general sessions of the section and of the NCS Executive Board, make all appointments outlined in other sections of the Constitution and Bylaws and provide general supervision and leadership to the section. He/she shall also serve as an ex-officio member of the section committees and as the senior representative of the section to the Executive Board of the Council of Sections, Zone II. Upon conclusion of his/her term of office, he/she shall prepare a written report of his/her term of office, and submit copies to the NCS Executive Board, to ASEE Headquarters, and to the Zone II Chair not later than 30 days after the close of the Annual Section Meeting.

Section 2. The Vice Chair of NCS shall assume the duties of the Chair in the absence of the Chair and assist the Chair in the general supervision and leadership of the section. He/she shall serve as Chair of the Outstanding Teaching Award Committee, and as the junior representative of the section to the Executive Board of the Council of Sections, Zone II.

Section 3. The Secretary of NCS shall be responsible for the minutes of the business meetings of the section, and of the NCS Executive Board. He/she shall keep these minutes and have them added to the section website in a timely manner. He/she shall be responsible for all correspondence concerning the business of the section.

Section 4. The Treasurer of NCS shall be responsible for collecting the voluntary section sponsorship dues from all academic institutional members and shall keep a permanent record of all receipts and expenditures of the section. He/she will report them to the Annual Section Meeting.

Section 5. The Past Chair of NCS shall appoint other members of the Nominating Committee if needed. He/she shall review the Constitution and Bylaws and submit recommended changes to the NCS Executive Board for consideration.

Section 6. The Directors of the NCS Executive Board shall serve as members of the Best Paper Awards Committee and shall assist the Host Institution and Best Paper Awards Chair with the Peer Review Process.

Section 7. The NCS Newsletter Editor shall be responsible for gathering news and publicity of section activities, editing, publishing, and mailing the Section Newsletter. He/she shall establish editorial policy and provisions for financing, with the approval of the NCS Executive Board. He/she shall supply the Secretary with two copies of each Section Newsletter and shall make sure a copy is added to the section’s website as permanent record of the publication.

Section 8.  The Senior Directors are former members of the NCS Executive Board whose knowledge or historical perspective of past section activities is desired to be retained as active contributors to the NCS Executive Board.  Specific duties may be assigned by the Chair with advice of the NCS Executive Board and consent of the Past Chair.

Section 9. The members of the NCS Executive Board not mentioned specifically in the preceding sections shall serve as representatives of and provide liaison with the groups they represent in such a manner as to promote better communications and stronger relations between their groups and section-level ASEE activities.

Article IV Finances

Section 1. NCS activities shall be financed by voluntary section sponsorship dues of an amount determined by the NCS Executive Board and not to exceed $25 per academic member institution, with provisions for additional individual and group contributions, to include the operating budget and the National Member Allocation.

Section 2. A Registration fee for the Spring Conference  may be assessed.  The amount is to be recommended by the host institution and approved in advance by the NCS Executive Board. Any balance over and above expenses incurred by the host institution shall revert to the NCS treasury.

Section 3. The section shall maintain a financial account, reviewed and approved by the NCS Executive Board   The Chair and the Treasurer of NCS  shall each be authorized to make deposits and withdrawals.

Article V Fiscal Year

Section 1.
 The fiscal year of NCS shall coincide with the fiscal year of ASEE Nationals, October 1 through September 30.

Article VI Annual Section Meeting in Coordination with Spring Conference

Section 1. The NCS Executive Board shall choose the site and the dates of the Annual Section Meeting to be held in coordination with the section’s Spring Conference and shall notify the host institution of the site years in advance of the meeting and Conference.

Section 2. The NCS Executive Board shall act as coordinator between the host institution and the section and shall aid and advise the host institution in the planning of the Annual Section Meeting and Conference.

Article VII Publications

Section 1. The official publications of NCS shall be the Section Newsletter and the Proceedings of the Annual Section Meeting.

Section 2. The Section Newsletter shall be issued to the section membership no less than two times per year. Editorial policy and procedures for financing the Section Newsletter shall be established by the Newsletter Editor, with the approval of the NCS Executive Board.

Section 3. The Proceedings of the Annual Section Meeting shall be distributed to all duly registered attendees of the Annual Section Meeting and will be the responsibility of the host institution.

Article VIII Parliamentary Authority

Section 1. The rules contained in Robert’s Rules of Order (latest edition) shall govern the section in all cases to which they are applicable and in which they are consistent with the Constitution and Bylaws of ASEE and the Bylaws of the Section. In case of inconsistency, the Constitution and Bylaws of ASEE shall govern.

Section 2. Any action by the NCS Executive Board or the section shall be invalid if it is in conflict with the Constitution or Bylaws of ASEE.

Article IX Amendments

Section 1. These Bylaws may be amended by a favorable vote of a simple majority of the votes cast at the annual business meeting of the section, provided a quorum has been declared. Amendments may be submitted by a majority vote of the members of the NCS Executive Board or by a petition signed by no fewer than ten members of the section. Proposed amendments shall be made available to all members of the section no less than 30 days prior to the annual section meeting at which the amendments are to be presented for adoption.

Amendments approved by the section membership shall be submitted through the Zone Chair for approval by majority vote of the ASEE Board of Directors and shall take effect only upon such approval.

Article X  Statement on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

The North Central Section is committed to fostering collaborative and inclusive environments that value equity and celebrate diversity. The North Central Section commits to ensuring that we continually challenge ourselves to deepen and broaden our understanding of inequities, so that we are prepared to take action to transform our Section, ASEE, our institutions, universities, and the whole of the engineering community.

More information can be found on ASEE’s Statement on Diversity and Inclusiveness at https://diversity.asee.org/about/ and the ASEE SEFI Joint Statement on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. (https://diversity.asee.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/ASEE-SEFI_DEIStatement.pdf)