The Mathematical Association of America
Bylaws of the Florida Section

(Approved by the Board of Directors of the MAA: March 2020)

Article I

Name and Purpose

  1. The Name of this Section shall be the Florida Section of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA).
  2. The purposes of the Florida Section shall be to advance the mathematical sciences at the collegiate level by carrying out the purposes of MAA within the territory defined in Article II below.

Article II

Membership

The membership of the Florida Section shall be members of the Mathematical Association of America whose MAA mailing addresses are in Florida having a ZIP code between 32000 and 34999 or the territories of Puerto Rico having a ZIP code between 00600 and 00799 or between 00900 and 00999 and the United States Virgin Islands having a ZIP code between 00800 and 00899. Exceptions may be made by the MAA Secretary upon request of the member involved.

Article III

Avoiding Implicit Bias

The Florida Section of the Mathematical Association of America shall make every effort to avoid implicit bias and to reflect the diversity of the section. The Section shall ensure its committee members, officers, invited speakers, awardees, and other leaders represent the various geographic regions, types of institutions (public versus private, 2-year versus 4-year, and research versus undergraduate), and diverse membership within the section. It shall strive for balanced representation regarding gender as well as underrepresented groups and shall seek out nominations for any positions or awards to help achieve that balance. Section committees and members may consult the most recent version of the document Guidelines for MAA Selection Committees: Avoiding Implicit Bias for guidance.

Article IV

Officers

  1. The Officers of this Section shall be the President, President-Elect, Past President, Vice-President for Programs, Vice-President-Elect for Programs, Vice-President for Site Selection, Vice-President-Elect for Site Selection, Secretary-Treasurer, Newsletter Editor, Webmaster, and the Coordinator of Student Activities. In some years there shall be a Secretary-Treasurer-Elect or Newsletter Editor-Elect. (See III.4 below)
  2. The Executive Committee of this Section shall consist of the Officers of the Section and the Section Governor.
  3. Each Section Officer must be a member of the MAA and of this Section.
  4. The President-Elect and the Vice-Presidents-Elect shall be elected each year at the Annual Meeting of the Section and shall assume office upon the adjournment of the meeting. They shall succeed to the named office in the following year. The Secretary-Treasurer-Elect, the Newsletter Editor-Elect, or the Webmaster-Elect, who may be the current Secretary-Treasurer, Newsletter Editor, or Webmaster, shall be elected in the years, respectively, 2020+3i, 2021+3i, 2022+3i and shall assume office upon the adjournment of the meeting. They shall succeed to the named office for three-year terms in the years, respectively, 2021+3i, 2022+3i, 2023+3i after adjournment of the Annual Meeting of the Section. The Coordinator of Student Activities shall be elected in the years 2021+3i to a three-year term and shall assume office upon the adjournment of the meeting. Only the Secretary-Treasurer, Newsletter Editor, and Webmaster may serve consecutive terms in the same office. Nomination, election and tenure of the Section Governor shall be as specified through the MAA. In case of ties, the Nominating Committee shall make the selection from among those tied.
  5. One or more candidates for each office shall be nominated by a committee chaired by the Past President and appointed by the Executive Committee, but this shall not preclude nominations from the floor at the annual election. Any member of the Section is eligible for election to any office except as noted in paragraph III.4 above. The Committee shall nominate in such a way that should its nominees be elected the resulting Executive Committee would be representative of the varied professional and geographic affiliations of the Section membership. Professional affiliations refer to, but are not limited to, public versus private institutions, 2-year versus 4-year institutions, and research versus undergraduate institutions.
  6. The duties of the Section Officers shall be as follows:
    1. The President shall preside at each meeting of the Section, call and preside at meetings of the Executive Committee, appoint committees of the Section and be a non-voting member of each committee unless otherwise directed by the membership of the Section at an official Section meeting, or unless otherwise directed in the Bylaws, and perform other duties as required by the MAA or the Executive Committee.
    2. The Past President shall chair the Nominating Committee.
    3. The President-Elect shall serve as coordinator of regional meetings. This includes, but is not limited to, communicating with section members to encourage regional meetings and reporting to the Executive Committee on regional meetings after the fact.
    4. The Vice-President for Programs shall chair the Program Committee and the Vice-President-Elect for Programs shall serve on that Committee. In the absence of the President, the Vice-President for Programs shall act as President.
    5. The Vice-President for Site Selection shall chair the Site Selection Committee, and the Vice-President-Elect for Site Selection shall serve on that Committee. In the absence of the President and the Vice-President for Programs, the Vice-President for Site Selection shall act as President.
    6. The Secretary-Treasurer shall,
      1. be responsible for Section minutes, records, and official correspondence of the Section,
      2. distribute information from the MAA,
      3. assist and support other Section Officers in the performance of their duties,
      4. coordinate with the Local Arrangements Committee and the Program Committee in the planning of the Annual Meeting,
      5. collect Section registration fees and receive the subvention provided by the MAA, retain all funds of the Section, pay its bills and maintain an interest-bearing checking account, and
      6. Submit the annual Section Financial Report and Section Annual Report to the MAA Committee on Sections; provide copies of these reports to the executive committee of the Section and make them available to the members of the Section.
    7. The Newsletter Editor will be responsible for the gathering, editing, and dissemination of news of interest to the members of the Section. The newsletter will be submitted to the webmaster, in a timely manner, who will publish it electronically on the Section’s website.
    8. The webmaster should be responsible for the design, technical operation and content of the Section’s website, which shall be updated at regular intervals so that the information posted is current and accurate. The webmaster shall post on the Section's website items of interest to Section members, including, but not restricted to, newsletters provided by the Newsletter Editor, information about Section's colleges and universities, and any relevant archival material.
    9. The Coordinator of Student Activities shall be responsible for arranging the involvement of students in the Annual Meeting and encouraging the formation and continuation of Student Chapters of the MAA throughout the Florida Section.
  7. The Executive Committee shall conduct the affairs of the Section between meetings of the Section.
  8. If a vacancy among the Officers of the Section occurs, the Executive Committee shall fill the vacancy by appointing a member of the Section to serve until the next meeting of the Section; at that meeting, an election shall be held to fill the vacancy.

Article V

Meetings

  1. The Section shall hold one regular meeting each year.
  2. A motion concerning the time and place of this meeting shall be reported at least two years in advance by the Committee on Site Selection at the Annual Meeting and the report of the Committee acted upon by a majority vote of those section members present at the Annual Meeting.
  3. The Annual Meeting shall be planned by the Program Committee in coordination with the Local Arrangements Committee and the Secretary-Treasurer. The Executive Committee shall make suggestions for speakers and it may also suggest topics of interest.
  4. The Coordinator of Student Activities shall work with the Program Committee to provide an opportunity for student participation in the Annual Meeting. The Program Committee shall consider suggestions from the MAA concerning program organization and the membership shall be solicited for program suggestions as well as contributed papers.
  5. A Special Meeting may be called either by the Executive Committee, by a resolution passed by a majority of the membership present at a meeting, or by petition presented to the Secretary-Treasurer with verification of signatures of 1/10 of the membership of the Section. The details of the meeting shall be arranged by the Executive Committee.
  6. Each member of the Section shall be notified at least twenty days in advance of any Regular Meeting or Special Meeting of the Section.
  7. A quorum shall consist of fifteen members of the section and no business may be validly transacted at meetings where less than a quorum is present.

Article VI

Assets

  1. The Secretary-Treasurer shall collect a registration fee from all members who attend the Annual Meeting. The fee shall be set by the Executive Committee.
  2. The assets of the Florida Section shall be used exclusively to further the purposes of the Section, and, in the event of dissolution of the Section; the remaining assets will be returned to MAA to be used for purposes consistent with the bylaws of that organization.

Article VII

Committees

  1. Standing committees of the Section include the Executive Committee, Nominating Committee, Program Committee, Site Selection Committee, a Local Arrangements committee, and the Awards Committee. The President may appoint other ad hoc committees to carry out the work and activities of the Section.
  2. The Executive Committee shall appoint the members of the Nominating Committee in such a way that the Nominating Committee is representative of the varied professional and geographic affiliations of the Section’s membership. Each member of the Nominating Committee shall be a member of the MAA and of the section.
  3. The Program Committee shall consist of the Vice-President for Programs and the Vice-President-Elect for Programs. The Site Selection Committee shall consist of the Vice-President for Site Selection and the Vice-President-Elect for Site Selection. The Awards Committee shall consist of three Past Presidents appointed by the President. The President shall appoint a chair of the Awards Committee from among the three Past-Presidents.
  4. The Awards Committee shall be appointed by the Executive Committee for two (2) years in such a way that the Awards Committee is representative of the varied professional and geographic affiliations of the Section’s membership. The Awards Committee shall consist of five (5) section members and may include up to 2 Past Presidents and at most one member of the Executive Committee.
  5. A Local Arrangements Committee shall be agreed upon with the members from the prospective host institution and chaired by a Section member from that institution. The Secretary-Treasurer shall provide to that Chair helpful information from the MAA and from previous Local Arrangements Committees.
  6. Other projects undertaken by the Section, through action of the membership or the Executive Committee, may be implemented by a project coordinator; such projects may include the Secondary School Lecture Program, the Annual High School Exam, and Articulation. The President shall appoint or reappoint such coordinators unless otherwise specified.
  7. Meetings of the Executive Committee may be observed by any member of the Section, space permitting. Prior notification to the President is necessary if an observer wishes to speak on a particular issue. The Secretary-Treasurer shall notify the membership when possible of the time and place of Executive Committee meetings through announcements in the Newsletter or at a business meeting.
  8. If a vacancy among the committee members of the Section occurs, the Executive Committee shall fill the vacancy by appointing a member of the Section to serve.

Article VIII

Amendments

  1. These Bylaws may be amended by a majority of the votes cast by members at any meeting of the Section, subject to the approval of the Board of Governors of the MAA.
  2. Proposed amendments shall be submitted by the Secretary-Treasurer to all members of the Section at least twenty days prior to the time of voting.

Updated August 27, 2020