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IX. Bylaws for Sections

While sections should tailor their bylaws for their particular needs, each section's bylaws must be in accord with the bylaws of the Mathematical Association of America. In particular, to preserve the tax-exempt status of MAA and its sections, it is important to follow the suggested format as closely as possible for Articles I, II, and V. In addition to the format and suggestions contained here, consideration should be given to further ideas contained in Chapter II, "Organization of an Effective Section". Sections contemplating changes in bylaws should consult the Committee on Sections early in the process. This committee will provide guidance after reviewing a preliminary version of the proposed section bylaws. (See section I-B of the Guidelines for Section Officers at www.maa.org/sections/guidelines/toc.html.)

1. The name of this section shall be the _________________ Section of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA).


2. The purposes of the ______________ Section shall be to advance the mission of the MAA on a regional level (namely within the territory defined in Article II below); to offer guidance to the MAA as it forms and fulfills its mission; to provide professional development and networking activities for section members and mathematics students in geographically accessible locations; and to promote discussion and action on issues affecting mathematics teaching, learning, and research in the region.

The membership of the ___________________ Section shall be members of the Mathematical Association of America whose MAA mailing addresses are in (geographic area), postal codes ____________. Exceptions may be made by the MAA membership department upon request of the affected member.

Article III describes the officers of the Section, other members of the Executive Committee, and their duties. It includes nomination and election procedures.

1. The officers of this Section shall be...
   
   [Each section must have a chairperson (or president) and either a secretary-treasurer or a secretary and a treasurer. There could be one or more vice chairpersons who may serve in roles such as those outlined in Section III-2. In some sections, one of the officers is specially charged with representing the interest of members and potential members from two-year colleges and/or high schools.]


2. The executive committee of the section shall consist of the officers of the section and the section governor.
   
   [In addition to the Section officers listed in III-1, some sections include other non-elected, non-officers such as chair-elect, immediate past chair, webmaster, newsletter editor, student activities coordinator, section liaison coordinator, section NExT coordinator, program chair, archivist, and members-at-large as voting members of their executive committees. Persons serving in these roles should not be currently serving as Section chairperson, secretary-treasurer, secretary, or treasurer.]


3. Each section officer must be a member of the Mathematical Association of America and of this section.


4. The officers shall be elected...
   
   [Many sections specify that elections be held during a designated regular scheduled business meeting, but elections by mail or email ballot are also acceptable. A method for resolving ties, such as a decision by the nominating committee, should be included. The terms of office for each officer must be specified in this paragraph. (Terms of at least three years for secretary and treasurer are encouraged.) If the section wishes to prohibit successive terms by an officer, such a restriction is included here. The case for not letting a chair serve consecutive terms is particularly persuasive but care should be taken to provide continuity on the executive committee when considering terms of office and rules against consecutive terms.]


5. The nomination procedure for section officers shall be...
   
   [Typically the chair appoints a nominating committee to recommend a slate of officers. The number of persons required for the nominating committee and the time of the existence of the nominating committee should be stated. Provision should be made to permit additional nominations by members of the section prior to elections.]


6. The duties of the section officers shall be...
   
   [This paragraph details the duties of all section officers named in Section III-1. For example, the chair shall preside at each meeting of the section and of the executive committee. The chair shall appoint committees of the section and shall be an ex officio member of each such committee unless specifically barred by vote of the membership at an official section meeting or unless otherwise specified in these bylaws.
   
   Duties that should be assigned to the secretary include keeping minutes of business meetings (including meetings of the executive committee), preservation of records of the section, maintenance of files of official correspondence of the section, notifying members of all regular and special meetings, notifying members of the executive committee of meetings of that group. The secretary is responsible for sending meeting reports after each meeting of the section and an annual section report to the Committee on Sections. (See Chapter III, "The Section Secretary or Secretary-Treasurer", for other possible duties.)
   
   Duties of the treasurer shall include the collection of voluntary section dues and/or registration fees, the receipt of funds provided by MAA, the arrangement for safekeeping of all section monies, the maintenance of proper and accurate books of account of such monies, responsibilities for the timely payment of all debts of the section, and filing an annual report with the MAA headquarters office. If it is desired that the treasurer disburse section funds with the concurrence of another section officer, provision for countersignatures or other forms of authorization should be spelled out in this section.
   
   If the chair-elect, past-chair, webmaster, newsletter editor, program chair, or other persons are identified in Section III-2 as members of the executive committee, their duties should be defined here.]


7. The executive committee shall conduct the affairs of the section between meetings of the section membership.
   
   [You should specify a quorum for a meeting of the executive committee. A section may wish to specify what kinds of decisions the executive committee may make on behalf of the membership and/or those which the membership may keep to itself.]


8. If a vacancy on the executive committee should occur...
   
   [Except for the position of section governor, the executive committee fills vacancies that occur between elections. If the first position in a sequence of positions (such as a chair-elect) is filled by appointment, provision should be made for an election of the succeeding position (such as chair) in the sequence. For the section governor, the MAA Board of Governors elects a replacement to complete the unexpired term when a vacancy occurs between elections.]

1. The section normally shall hold _______ program meetings each year and an annual business meeting.


2. Program meetings shall be planned by...
   
   [There are two distinct tasks here; logistical arrangements (often assigned to the host institution), and program planning. Many sections identify the vice-chair (or the first vice-chair) as program chair. It is best to trust meeting arrangements and program planning solely to individuals, although the bylaws should indicate who has overall responsibility if it is anticipated that committees will do the detail work. The duties of the Program Chair should not be performed by the Section Chair.]


3. Additional program meetings may be organized...
   
   [Provide a mechanism for doing so.]


4. The annual business meeting shall be planned by...
   
   [The annual business meeting is usually held in conjunction with a program meeting and is planned by the executive committee. You may wish to specify parts of the agenda here, such as nominations and elections, or reports, etc.]


5. The quorum for a business meeting shall consist of not fewer than _____ members of the section and no business may be validly transacted at business meetings where less than a quorum is present.
   
   [Insert a relatively small number, possibly 15, here. A specific number should be included.]


6. A special business meeting shall be called...
   
   [Provision should be made to permit the executive committee to call such meetings. In addition, provision for calling such meetings upon petition by a specified number of members of the section should be included. No matter how called, arrangements for such meetings should be a responsibility of the executive committee, which may, of course, delegate specific duties to program committees, etc.]


7. Each member of the section shall be notified at least 20 days in advance of any program or business meeting of the section.
   
   [The notification description should be kept general in order to accommodate changing communication technology. The goal is to communicate with the membership in a cost effective and timely manner.]
   

1. Fees...
   
   [If the section wishes to charge registration fees for section meetings, that fact should be included here. Sections may also request voluntary dues from members of the section in addition to MAA dues in order to provide supplemental funds for section activities. Since every MAA member is a member of a section, the section dues must be voluntary dues. To avoid having to amend the bylaws unnecessarily, the bylaws should assign responsibility for setting fees and voluntary dues (most likely to the section's executive committee) rather than state dollar amounts since the amounts needed may change over time.]


2. The assets of the section shall be used exclusively to further the purposes of the section and, in the event of the dissolution of the section; the remaining assets shall be turned over to MAA to be used for purposes consistent with the bylaws of that organization.

[This article (which should be numbered like the others if it has separable clauses) should define each of the standing committees and detail specified duties. If the members of such committees are elected, provisions for such elections and terms of membership should be spelled out. Terms of service should also be set so as to provide continuity of membership on standing committees. The number of standing committees should be minimized.]

[This article should also describe how ad-hoc committees are formed and disbanded.]

1. Amendments to the bylaws may be proposed by...
   
   [Normally changes in the bylaws are proposed by the section executive committee. Some sections also provide a means for amendment proposals to be brought for a vote of the membership upon petition by a specified number of members.]


2. Subject to subsequent approval by the Board of Governors of the Mathematical Association of America, these bylaws may be amended by 2/3 of the votes cast by a quorum at a business meeting of the Section.


3. The secretary of the section shall notify each member of the section of any proposed amendment(s) at least 20 days prior to the meeting at which voting on the proposed amendment(s) takes place.


4. A complete revision of these bylaws shall be subject to all of the same procedures required for other amendments to these bylaws.

The Committee on Sections suggests that each MAA section thoroughly review the section's bylaws every ten years so that the bylaws reflect current practice in the section and current MAA policies. Interim amendments can be made at any time during the intervening nine years with the approval of the Board of Governors.

The Committee on Sections will work with each MAA section to review the section's bylaws every ten years. The following table shows the suggested rotation schedule for reviews of section bylaws.

2008-2009 EPaDel Intermountain Metro New York	2009-2010 Florida Maryland/DC/Virginia Missouri	2010-2011 NoCaNeHi Texas Wisconsin	2011-2012 Nebraksa/SE South Dakota Indiana Louisiana-Mississippi
2012-2013 Oklahoma/Arkansas SoCal/Nevada	2013-2014 Pacific Northwest Southwestern Northeastern	2014-2015 North Central Ohio Rocky Mountain	2015-2016 Allegheny Mountain New Jersey Kansas
2016-2017 Iowa Kentucky Southeastern	2017-2018 Illinois Michigan Seaway	2018-2019 EPaDel Intermountain Metro New York	2019-2020 Florida Maryland/DC/Virginia Missouri

In the year that a section is reviewing bylaws, the section should follow certain procedures in a timely fashion. Important steps before the section members vote on the proposed bylaws are study of the model for section bylaws posted on MAA Online and consultation with the Committee on Sections.

The following table shows a suggested schedule for a section that plans to vote on a bylaws proposal at a spring business meeting held after March. If a section intends vote on its bylaws proposal at a business meeting held before March, this schedule can be adjusted to accommodate that action.

TIME	ACTIONS
Spring of preceding year & Fall	The Section decides on any needed bylaws changes after considering current Section practice and reading the model for section bylaws posted on MAA Online. Preliminary versions of proposals may be sent to the Committee on Sections for comments.
December 1	The section submits the following to the chair of the Committee on Sections via email: the current bylaws, and the proposed new section bylaws and a list of major changes, if changes are anticipated.
JMM	The Committee on Sections reviews the current or proposed bylaws.
After JMM	The Chair of the Committee on Sections sends any suggestions to the Section.
February 15	If requested, the Section submits a new proposal to the Chair of the Committee.
February 15 - March 15	The Section and Committee continue to communicate about the proposal until the Committee and Section agree.
Spring Section Meeting	Formal notice of the proposed bylaws is sent to section members according to the Section's current bylaws. The Section votes on the proposed bylaws at the business meeting. After approval, the Section formally submits the bylaws to the Chair of the Committee.
Summer	The Committee approves the proposed bylaws. The Chair of the Committee places approved bylaws on the agenda of the MAA Board of Governors meeting held the day before MathFest. The Board votes on the bylaws.

Interim Amendments to Section Bylaws

After a ten-year review, limited amendments to section bylaws may be proposed in the years when a ten-year review is not scheduled. In this case, only the amendment and related parts of the bylaws, not the entire document, will be considered. The procedure is analogous to that for complete review: the Section consults with the Committee on Sections, the Section members vote on the proposed change, the Committee approves, and finally the MAA Board of Governors approves.

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Questions about Sections? | email Madeline Palmer at mpalmer@maa.org