Constitution and By-Laws of the SCILS Alumni
Association (SC&I Alumni Association)
This Constitution Last Revised Spring 2007
Proposed Changes to this Constitution are in BOLD.
ARTICLE I -NAME
This organization shall be known as the School of Communication, Information and Library Studies (School of Information) Alumni Association,
informally known as the SCILS (SC&I) Alumni Association. It succeeds and assumes the assets and obligations of the organization known as the Graduate Alumni of the School of Communication, Information and Library Studies.
ARTICLE II - PURPOSES
The purpose of this Association shall be to promote and perpetuate amity and understanding among and between students, faculty and alumni; to promote understanding among students, faculty and alumni in their various professions in libraries, information science and the communication and speech arts; to advance networking and communication pathways between students, faculty and alumni; to support and enable SCILS graduates in maintaining high levels of professionalism; to enhance scholastic and social fellowship among graduates; to encourage scholastic and intellectual growth among graduates; to mobilize alumni as may be appropriate; to cooperate with other Alumni Associations in promoting the goals of Rutgers University; and to support the programs and activities of the
School of Communication, Information and Library Studies (School of Communication and Information).
ARTICLE III - MEMBERSHIP
Section 1. Membership in the SCILS (SC&I)Alumni Association is open to graduates, faculty and recipients of honorary degrees from
all programs offered by SCILS (SC&I)since its establishment in 1983, graduates of the Graduate School of Library Service, the Graduate School of Library and Information Studies or the
Library Service program of Douglass College; graduates from any New Brunswick college with a major in Communication, Journalism or Speech.
Section 2. Association membership may be extended by the Executive Committee to those persons interested in SCILS (SC&I) and in the programs of the Association. Other persons wishing to join the SCILS Alumni Association may be permitted to do so at the discretion of the Executive Committee.
Section 3. All of the above shall become members in good standing on payment of dues determined by the Executive Committee (Remove Section 3).
ARTICLE IV - OFFICERS
Section 1. The President shall preside at all meetings of the Association and of the Executive Committee. S/he shall appoint all committees or shall delegate to the chairperson this responsibility, and s/he is an ex-officio member of each committee.
Section 2. The Vice President (President-Elect) shall preside in
the absence of the President. Should the office of President become vacant, s/he shall
succeed to the office of President for the remainder of the unexpired term and
continue in that office for the period to which s/he was elected. The Vice President will
oversee all membership initiatives.
Section 3. The Secretary shall prepare minutes and maintain records of all meetings.
Section 4. The Treasurer shall expedite all expenditures of funds, maintain records of finances and prepare periodic financial reports.
Section 5. The following shall serve as voting members of the
Executive Committee by direct election of the membership at the annual meeting:
President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and ten members-at-large elected for two-year
terms on a staggered basis. Of the 10 members-at-large, four shall represent the
Master of Library and Information Studies program, two shall represent the Master of
Communication and Information Science program, two shall represent the
Ph.D. in Communication, Information, and Library Studies program, and two shall
represent the undergraduate programs. In the event that any of the above offices are
vacant for more than six months, the Executive Board may make appointments outside of
the designated department up to one-half of the department representatives (Change last sentence to read: Should any position become vacant, the President may appoint a
person to serve in the interim).
Section 6. The President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer shall
serve terms of one year and may be re-elected. An officer may serve
no more than three consecutive years in one office. The ten members-at-large shall serve
terms of two years on a staggered basis and may be re-elected.
ARTICLE V - FUNCTION OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Section 1. The Executive Committee as described in Article IV shall conduct the business of the Association.
Section 2. The President shall appoint two representatives to the
Rutgers University Alumni Federation who shall serve for three years each on staggered
terms; two Co-Editors of the Newsletter, one Association Correspondent for Rutgers
Magazine; one School Agent; and a Web Page Editor (Remove Section 2).
Section 3. The following shall serve on the Executive Committee by
virtue of previously determined positions: immediate Past President; Dean of
SCILS (SC&I) or his/her designee as Faculty Liaison (ex-officio); the SCILS (SC&I) Director of
Development (ex-officio); Director of the Department of Alumni Relations or
his/her designee (ex-officio) (Remove this position); the alumni federation representatives (Remove thes positions); and a
representative of the student associations (designated by the Dean of SCILS (SC&I)).
Section 4. A majority of the voting members of the Executive Committee shall constitute a quorum.
ARTICLE VI - COMMITTEES
Section 1. The Nominating Committee for new officers and members-at-large shall
consist of three members, with the Past President or his/her appointee serving as
Chairperson. The Committee will prepare a slate of officers prior to the annual
meeting. Ten members in good standing may petition for addition of other nominees.
Section 2. The Symposium Committee will consist of five members, with the Vice President serving as Chairperson and one member being the liaison person from the SCILS faculty (Remove Section 2).
Section 3. The Program Committee will consist of five members. The Chairperson will be appointed from the membership of the Executive Committee. The Committee will be responsible for the fall program and other activities assigned to it by the Executive Committee.
Section 4. The By-Laws and Constitution Committee will consist of four members and will be appointed from the membership of the Executive Committee. The Committee will deal in a timely and effective manner with necessary changes The Committee will meet at least every two years to review timeliness of the By-Laws.
Section 5. Additional committees may be appointed by the President.
ARTICLE VII - MEETINGS
Section 1. The Executive Committee shall meet at least once every other month from
September to May. The Executive Committee may vote electronically.
Section 2. If deemed necessary, the President [and/] or a majority of the Executive Committee shall call for a special meeting.
Section 3. An (open) Annual Meeting shall be held; members in good standing
are eligible to vote at this meeting. Notification of the date of the Annual Meeting
shall be (Remove "published in the newsletter") announced via electronic mail prior to the
annual meeting.
ARTICLE VIII - FINANCES
Section 1. Dues shall be determined by the Executive Committee. Paid dues are a
requirement for "member in good standing" status. The membership year runs from
July 1 to June 30 (Delete Section 1).
Section 2. Receipts from activities and publications of the SCILS Alumni Association will be paid to the Treasurer.
ARTICLE IX- REVISION
Section 1. Amendments to the Constitution and By-Laws may be proposed to the
membership in writing or at any regular meeting. Publication of proposed amendments will
appear (delete: "either in the newsletter or") on the SC&I Alumni Association webpage at least one month prior to the vote
for their adoption.
Section 2. A majority vote, in the affirmative, of members
in attendance at the annual meeting will be necessary for the amendment to be enacted.
ARTICLE X - CONDUCT OF BUSINESS
Except as provided by the Constitution and By-Laws, Robert's Rules of Order (Revised) shall govern the meetings of the SCILS (SC&I) Alumni Association.
ARTICLE XI - ADOPTION
This Constitution and By-Laws will be adopted by a majority vote of members in
attendance at the annual meeting.
ARTICLE XII - DISSOLUTION
Section 1. The Executive Committee may propose dissolution of the Association by submitting to membership a resolution to dissolve. The resolution shall be ratified by an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the ballots returned. In the event of dissolution, the assets of the Association shall become property of the Rutgers University Foundation or its successor.
Section 2. This Association may be merged with another Alumni Association of Rutgers University by a two-thirds vote of the membership. In the event of merger, the assets of the Association shall become property of the merged Association.
Section 3. In the event that this Association conducts no business and has no meetings for a period of two academic years, it shall be considered dissolved and the assets shall be distributed in the manner described in Section 1. Delete: Members in good standing for the last year in which dues were collected shall be notified of dissolution
under this section. Dissolution shall occur ninety days after mailing of notification unless the membership meets and elects officers.
May 1995
Revised
Spring 2007
This page last updated September 8, 2009, by Gary
P. Radford.
|
