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ARTICLE I
Name and Purpose

The name of this Section shall be the Louisiana-Mississippi Section of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA).  

The purposes of the Louisiana-Mississippi 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.

ARTICLE II
Membership

The membership of the Louisiana-Mississippi Section shall be members of the Mathematical Association of America whose MAA mailing addresses are in the states of Louisiana and Mississippi. Exceptions may be made by the MAA membership department upon request of the affected member.

ARTICLE III
Officers

1. The officers of this section shall be a Chair, a Program Chair, a Program Chair-Elect, a Secretary-Treasurer, and a Newsletter Editor. The Executive Committee of the Section shall consist of the officers of the section, the Immediate Past Program Chair, the Section NExT Coordinator, the Webmaster, and the Section Governor.
   
2. Each section officer must be a voting member of the Mathematical Association of America and of this Section.
   
3. (a) The officers shall be elected at the annual business meeting of the Section.

(b) The term of office for the Chair shall be three years. The term for the Chair shall not coincide with the term for the Section Governor.

(c) The term of office for the Program Chair-Elect shall be one year. At the end of this term, the Program Chair-Elect shall assume the position of Program Chair. A Program Chair-Elect who is elected in an even-numbered year shall be from Louisiana. A Program Chair-Elect who is elected in an odd-numbered year shall be from Mississippi.

(d) The term of office for the Program Chair shall be one year, after which he or she assumes the position of Immediate Past Program Chair for one year.

(e) Terms for the Secretary-Treasurer and Newsletter Editor shall be three years, and terms for these two officers shall not coincide.

(f) Terms of officers other than the Secretary-Treasurer shall begin immediately upon the adjournment of the annual business meeting. The term of the Secretary-Treasurer shall begin on May 1 in the year of the election.

(g) The Chair, Program Chair and Program Chair-Elect shall not be eligible to serve more than one consecutive term. Other officers shall be eligible to serve two, but not more than two, consecutive terms. All officers are eligible to serve more than one term, subject to the above restrictions on consecutive terms. In the event of a tie in the election of a Section Officer, the Location and Nominations Committee will decide the election.

(h) The Webmaster and Section NExT Coordinator shall be appointed by the Chair, with the approval of the officers, for a term of one year.

4. The nominations for Section Officers shall be submitted by the Location and Nominations Committee to the Chair, and may also be submitted by voting members of the Section directly to the Chair, no later than two weeks before the annual business meeting. Nominees for Chair must have served previously for at least one year on the Executive Committee.
   
5. The duties of the Executive Committee Members shall be:

(a) The Chair shall preside at each meeting of the Section and of the Executive Committee of the Section and be an ex-officio member of each committee. The Chair, or his or her designee, shall be the official Section representative at the national MAA meetings.

(b) The Program Chair, assisted by the Program Chair-Elect, shall be responsible for planning and executing the annual section meeting. The Program Chair shall act as Chair in the event the Chair is unable to preside.

(c) The Secretary-Treasurer shall keep minutes of official meetings of the Section and meetings of the Executive Committee; shall be responsible for the safekeeping of all monies paid into the Section for any purpose; shall be responsible for the payment of bills of the Section; shall maintain proper and accurate books, accounts, and records of the Section. A report shall be made at the annual business meeting of the Section. The Secretary-Treasurer is responsible for preparing and sending the annual Section report to the Committee on Sections, as well as the annual section meeting report and the section financial report to the MAA Director of Finance.

The Secretary-Treasurer and the Chair together may grant authority to the organizers of a meeting to handle financial matters connected with that meeting. These matters could include the deposit of income and the payment of bills. Such authority may be granted only for a specified time period not to exceed six months.

(d) The Newsletter Editor shall produce a Section Newsletter at least once per year and shall be responsible for the distribution of this Newsletter to all Section members. The Newsletter Editor shall also be responsible for producing and distributing an announcement of the annual section and business meetings, along with a tentative program, a registration form, and other pertinent information.

(e) The Webmaster shall maintain the Section's web site. This shall be updated at regular intervals so that the information posted is current and accurate.

(f) The Immediate Past Program Chair shall recommend members to the Chair to fill open positions on all standing committees, with the exception of the Location and Nominations Committee.

(g) The Section NExT Coordinator shall advertise and recruit new faculty and mentors to participate in the Section NExT Program. The Section NExT Coordinator shall plan and implement the Section NExT activities at the annual section meeting.

6. The Executive Committee shall conduct the affairs of the Section between meetings of the Section membership. A quorum for a meeting of the Executive Committee shall consist of at least two-thirds of the members of the Executive Committee.
   
7. If a Section office should become vacant, the Executive Committee shall select a replacement from the Section membership to serve in that position until the next annual business meeting of the Section. If the term of that office does not expire at the conclusion of that meeting then a person shall be chosen by election at that meeting to fill the remainder of the term. If a vacancy for Section Governor should occur, the Executive Committee will recommend a member of the Section to the Board of Governors of the Association for the appointment as a replacement to complete the unexpired term.

ARTICLE IV
Meetings

1. The Section normally shall hold an annual section meeting each year, to include the annual business meeting. The annual section meeting days shall be set by the Executive Committee and shall include a consecutive Friday and Saturday in late February or early March, unless this is not feasible due to holidays or the unavailability of facilities. In that event another weekend in February or March may be designated.
   
2. Meeting programs shall be planned by the Executive Committeewith the Program Chair, assisted by the Program Chair Elect, taking the lead in both program planning and logistical arrangements.
   
3. Additional section meetings may be organized by the Executive Committee at its discretion.
   
4. The annual business meeting shall be planned by the Executive Committee as a part of the annual section meeting.
   
5. The quorum for a business meeting shall consist of 15 voting members of the Section and no business may be validly transacted at business meetings where less than a quorum is present.
   
6. A special business meeting may be called by the Executive Committee upon petition by two-thirds of the Committee. In addition, a special business meeting may be called upon petition of 50 of the voting members of the Section.
   
7. Each member of the Section shall be notified at least 20 days in advance of any section or business meeting of the Section.

ARTICLE V
Fees and Use of Assets

1. There shall be no dues for membership in this Section, and the registration fee for the annual section meeting shall be at the discretion of the Executive Committee. The student registration fee shall be no more than one-third of the regular registration fee. The registration fee for non-members may be set at a different amount than for members.
   
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.

ARTICLE VI
Committees

1. The standing committees of the Section shall be the Location and Nominations Committee, the Section NExT Committee, the Student Competition Committee, the Student Papers Committee, the Proceedings Committee, and the Outstanding Teacher Award Committee.
   
2. Other ad hoc committees may be appointed by the Chair as the need arises.
   
3. The Location and Nominations Committee shall be appointed annually at the annual business meeting by the Chair, to consist of three members, one from each state and a chair from the state in which the next annual section meeting location is being selected. At the annual business meeting this committee shall present nominees for all offices which are to be vacated and shall announce the location and dates of the next annual section meeting.
   
4. The Section NExT Committee shall consist of three members and a Coordinator. The Coordinator shall also serve on the Executive Committee. The members and the Coordinator shall be appointed by the Section Chair each year and they are eligible to serve multiple terms. The Committee shall be responsible for recruiting and selecting new Section NExT Fellows each year, as well as planning and presenting the Section NExT Program at the annual section meeting.
   
5. The Student Competition Committee shall consist of four members and a Chair. The members and the Chair shall be appointed by the Section Chair each year and they are eligible to serve multiple terms. The Committee shall be responsible for preparing, administering and grading the student team exam at the annual section meeting, as well as awarding the prizes during the annual business meeting.
   
6. The Student Papers Committee shall consist of three members and a Chair. The members and the Chair shall be appointed by the Section Chair each year and they are eligible to serve multiple terms. The Committee shall be responsible for judging the undergraduate and graduate student papers at the annual section meeting, as well as awarding the prizes during the annual business meeting.
   
7. The Proceedings Committee shall consist of a Managing Editor, and Editor and a Technical Editor. The Committee shall be chaired by the Managing Editor. The members of this Committee shall be appointed by the Section Chair each year and they are eligible to serve multiple terms. The Committee shall be responsible for soliciting, reviewing and publishing papers from talks presented at the annual section meeting.
   
8. The Outstanding Teacher Award Committee shall consist of three members. The members shall be the three most recent section Outstanding Teacher Award winners. The Committee shall be chaired by the previous year’s Outstanding Teacher Award winner. The Committee shall be responsible for soliciting and reviewing nominations for the Award, as well as selecting the section Outstanding Teacher Award winner, to be announced at the annual section meeting.

ARTICLE VII
Amendments to Bylaws

1. Amendments may be proposed by any member of the Section. Proposed amendments must be submitted to the Executive Committee at least sixty days prior to a business meeting. After due consideration of a proposed amendment the Executive Committee may or may not recommend that the proposal go to the section membership for a vote. If recommended by the Executive Committee, a vote on a proposed amendment shall be taken by ballot. Votes will be tallied by a Committee of four voting members of the Section, two from each state appointed by the Chair. Each state must be represented by at least one member who was not a sponsor of the proposed amendment and is not a member of the Executive Committee.
   
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 at a business meeting of the Section.
   
3. The Secretary-Treasurer of the Section shall notify each member of the Section, either by regular mail or electronically, of any proposed amendment(s) at least 20 days prior to the business 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.

Current bylaws as a pdf document. - effective following Board of Governors meeting, Boston, MA - January 2012

Old bylaws...before January 2012.