IEEE Kitchener-Waterloo Section By-Law
(Approved by the Executive on 27 October 1996)
(Amended by the Executive on 10 January 1977)
(Amended by the Executive on 28 January 1988)
(Amended by the Executive on 16 December 1988)
(Amended by the Executive on 30 November 1989)
CONTENTS
- SECTION NAME AND TERRITORY
- GUIDING PRINCIPLES
- OFFICERS
- SECTION EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
- DUTIES OF THE SECTION CHAIRPERSON
- DUTIES OF THE SECTION VICE-CHAIRPERSON
- DUTIES OF THE SECTION SECRETARY
- DUTIES OF THE SECTION TREASURER
- QUORUM AND CONDUCT OF MEETINGS
- SECTION FISCAL YEAR AND OPERATING YEAR
- MEETINGS
- NOMINATING COMMITTEE
- ELECTION OF OFFICERS
- APPOINTMENT OF EXECUTIVE
- DUTIES OF THE MEMBERSHIP DEVELOPMENT CHAIRPERSON
- DUTIES OF THE OTHER EXECUTIVE MEMBERS
- MEETING NOTICES
- AMENDMENTS TO THE BYLAWS
1.0 SECTION NAME AND TERRITORY
This Organization shall be known as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers, Incorporated, Kitchener-Waterloo Section . Its territory shall
consist of the five counties of Bruce, Grey, Perth, Waterloo and Wellington in
the Province of Ontario, Canada. Any member of the Institute of any grade who
is in good standing and whose official mailing address lies within this territory
shall be a member of the Kitchener-Waterloo Section of the Institute. This
Section is a member of the Central Canada Council and of Region 7 (IEEE
Canada).
2.0 GUIDING PRINCIPLES
- (a)
- The Section shall have for its purpose the advancement of the theory and
practice of IEEE designated fields and the maintenance of high
professional standards among its members, with special attention to such
aims within the territory of the Section, in consonance with the IEEE
Constitution and these Bylaws. - (b)
- The operation of the Section shall be in accordance with the Bylaws and
the Section Operations Guide of the IEEE. Bylaws and Regulations shall
be enacted from time to time to deal with problems peculiar to the Section
but they shall at all times by considered supplementary to the IEEE
Bylaws and Section Operations Guide.
3.0 OFFICERS
The Officers of the Section shall be a Chairperson, a Vice-Chairperson, a
Secretary and a Treasurer elected bi-annually by the member of the Section.
4.0 SECTION EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
The Section Executive Committee shall consist of the Officers of the Section,
the Chairpersons of the Section Executive Standing Committees, the
Chairperson of each Group Chapter, the Student Activities Chairperson, the
immediate past Chairperson of the Section and the Chairperson and Treasurer
of the Sub-Section.
5.0 DUTIES OF THE SECTION CHAIRPERSON
The Section Chairperson
- (a)
- shall exercise general supervision of the affairs of the Section in accordance
with the provisions of the Section Manual, these Bylaws and the policies
and instructions of the Section Executive Committee, - (b)
- when the Executive Committee moves the appointment of an Ad Hoc
Committee, shall appoint a Chairperson for the Ad Hoc Committee with
the approval of the Executive, and this Chairperson shall be a member of
the Section Executive Committee during the life of the Ad Hoc Committee
but no longer, - (c)
- shall preside at all general meetings of the Section and at all meeting of
the Executive Committee, and shall be the representative of the Section at
any District, Regional or other meeting requiring such representation. In
the event that neither the Chairperson nor the Vice-Chairperson can attend
any particular event, the Chairperson shall appoint a member of the
Executive Committee or, if necessary, a member of the Section to act in
his/her place, - (d)
- shall deposit and sign cheques when the Treasurer is unable to act,
- (e)
- shall ensure that copies of all official correspondence received and
originated by him/her are forwarded to the Secretary for retention, - (f)
- shall be guided by the Sections Operations Guide V part 2.
6.0 DUTIES OF THE SECTION VICE-CHAIRPERSON
The Vice-Chairperson of the Section
- (a)
- shall carry out the duties of the Chairperson whenever the Chairperson is
not available. At the end of the term of office of the Chairperson, the
Vice-Chairperson shall normally be expected to serve as the next
Chairperson of the Section and shall therefore as much as possible become
familiar with the history and current affairs of the Section, - (b)
- shall be guided by the Sections Operations Guide V part 3,
- (c)
- shall deposit and sign cheques when the Treasurer is unable to act.
7.0 DUTIES OF THE SECTION SECRETARY
The Secretary of the Section
- (a)
- shall record accurate minutes of all Section Executive Committee meetings
and all Section business meetings, and shall distribute them promptly to
the members of the Section Executive Committee, - (b)
- shall normally originate and answer all correspondence for the Section, and
shall keep a complete record of the activities of the Section, including
copies of all correspondence received or issued by any other member of the
Executive Committee, - (c)
- shall forward to the Regional Activities Board an annual report of all
meetings held by the Section, its Chapters and its Subsections, - (d)
- shall notify Headquarters, and the member of the Executive Committee of
the names and addresses of the Executive Committee members within 20
days of their election, - (e)
- shall prepare and distribute an agenda for each meeting of the Executive
Committee as directed by the Chairperson of the Section, - (f)
- shall keep an adequate stock of the forms, stationery and other material
supplied by IEEE Headquarters to Sections of the Institute, - (g)
- shall be guided by the Sections Operations Guide V part 5, and IEEE
Bylaws 404.9, - (h)
- shall deposit and sign cheques when the Treasurer is unable to act.
8.0 DUTIES OF THE SECTION TREASURER
The Treasurer of the Section
- (a)
- shall be responsible for the receipt of all moneys received by the Section
and for their deposit in one or more accounts as directed by the Section
Executive Committee, - (b)
- normally shall sign all cheques for the disbursement of Section funds.
Such disbursements shall be as laid down in the approved Section budget
or as authorized by the Section Executive Committee, - (c)
- shall keep and submit quarterly for audit by one or more Section Officers
adequate records of the receipt and expenditure of funds and shall prepare
all budgets and other financial reports required by the Executive
Committee or IEEE Headquarters, - (d)
- shall ensure that annual reports are forwarded to IEEE Headquarters, that
rebates are received and that they are correct, - (e)
- shall provide copies of all official correspondence undertaken by him/her
to the Secretary of the Section for retention, - (f)
- shall arrange for the signing authority required by the bank where the
section funds are kept. At least three and no more than four officers of the
section plus the Staff Director of Financial Operations, as required by the
Financial Operations Guide, shall have signing authority, - (g)
- shall prepare a Financial Statement at the end of the Fiscal Year submit it
to the IEEE Staff Director of Financial Operations as required by the IEEE
Financial Operations Guide, - (h)
- shall be guided by the Current Financial Operations Guide.
9.0 QUORUM AND CONDUCT OF MEETINGS
- (a)
- Six members of the Executive Committee shall constitute a quorum.
- (b)
- Ten members shall constitute a quorum of a Section business meeting.
- (c)
- Meetings shall be conducted in accordance with Roberts’ Rules of Order.
10.0 SECTION FISCAL YEAR AND OPERATING YEAR
- (a)
- The fiscal year of the Section shall be the Calendar year. (see IEEE Bylaw 318).
- (b)
- The period between the first of January of one year and the thirty-first of
December of that year shall be the Section Operating Year and the
members of the Executive shall hold office for two such periods.
11.0 MEETINGS
- (a)
- The Section shall hold at least five regular meetings, which may include up
to 4 Chapter meetings during the fiscal year. The meetings will normally
be arranged by the Chairperson of the Program Committee but will be
conducted by the Chairperson of the Section or his/her appointee. (see
Section Operations Guide III E). - (b)
- The annual meeting of the Section shall be held in November of each Year.
At this meeting, the officers for the succeeding operating year shall be
elected. - (c)
- A Student Papers Night Meeting shall be held once each calendar year.
- (d)
- Each Group Chapter shall hold at least two meetings a year, conducted by
the Chairperson of that Chapter.
12.0 NOMINATING COMMITTEE
- (a)
- The Nominating Committee is a Standing Committee.
- (b)
- When the Chairperson of the Section steps down, he/she becomes a
member of the Nominating Committee. - (c)
- The Committee shall consist of at least three members. The Chairperson of
the Section shall appoint members as required if the number falls below
three. - (d)
- The Section Chairperson shall appoint the Chairperson of the Nominating
Committee from among its members. The longest serving member of the
committee shall normally be appointed to this position. - (e)
- Members of the nominating committee may not be Officers of the Section.
See IEEE Bylaws 404.5.
13.0 ELECTION OF OFFICERS
- (a)
- The Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson shall normally serve two full years
in office. At the end of the term of office of the Chairperson, he/she shall
step down and the Vice-Chairperson shall automatically become
Chairperson. The Nominating Committee shall nominate a member in
good standing who has given consent to serve as Vice-Chairperson and in
due course as Chairperson. Neither position can be held for more than 2
consecutive years by the same individual. - (b)
- The Nominating Committee shall also nominate members in good standing
who have agreed to serve, to the positions of Secretary and Treasurer. No
individual can hold one office for more than 2 consecutive years. - (c)
- These nominations shall be submitted to the Chairperson, who shall
instruct the Secretary to notify all members, giving them at least 28 days to
propose alternate nominations (petition candidates) for any or all of the
positions. - (d)
- If any petition candidates are proposed, the Chairperson shall arrange for
elections to be held at the next Annual General Meeting. - (e)
- If a quorum is not obtained at the Annual General Meeting, or for other
good reason as determined by the Chairperson, the Chairperson:- i)
- shall call for a postal ballot of all members in good standing, in
accordance with IEEE Bylaws 315.16 and .17, - ii)
- shall immediately instruct the Secretary to prepare and mail to all
voting members of the Section by November 31st a ballot containing
the names of the contestants and the office or offices contested, - iii)
- shall also appoint an Election Officer who shall not receive a ballot.
The Election Officer may not be the holder of any current office nor a
candidate for office nor the signer of a petition of nomination.
- (f)
- Every member who wishes to vote shall mark his/her ballot to indicate
his/her choice and shall seal the ballot in an envelope. He/she shall write
his/her name on the outside of the envelope and shall mail the envelope to
the Chairperson for the Section to arrive no later than December 21st. - (g)
- On December 22nd the Chairperson shall take the unopened ballot
envelopes to the Election Officer who shall open them and count them in
the presence of the Chairperson. The candidate obtaining the largest
number of votes shall be declared elected to the office. If there should be a
tie, the deciding vote or votes shall be cast by the Election Officer. The
final list of successful candidates shall be circulated to the members before
December 30th. - (h)
- The nominating committee is responsible for filling, by appointment,
vacancies among the officers which occur during the term.
14.0 APPOINTMENT OF EXECUTIVE
- (a)
- As soon as possible (if possible, no later than the fifteenth of October), the
Nominating Committee shall report to the Chairperson of the Section the
names of the nominees for the following positions:- Membership Development Chairperson
- Education Chairperson
- Program Chairperson
- Publications Chairperson
- Student Branch Representative
- Chapter Chairpersons:
- Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processing
- Antennas and Propagation, Circuits and Systems, Electron
Devices, Microwave Theory and Techniques - Computer
These nominees shall be members in good standing who have given their
consent to serve as Officers of the Section if elected. - (b)
- These nominations shall be subject to votes at a meeting of the existing
executive, and if confirmed, the appointments shall be announced at the
Annual General Meeting in November, and published in the Section
Newsletter. - (c)
- The Nominating Committee is instructed to make an effort to find members
of the Section to fill these positions. However, if these positions are not
filled by October 15, the Nominating Committee is asked to continue their
efforts to fill same by no later than September 15th of the year. - (d)
- More than one position of officer, chairperson, student branch
representative or committee member can be held by the same person,
except that the positions of officers must be held by separate persons. - (e)
- The nominating committee is responsible for filling vacancies in the
executive which occur during the term .
15.0 DUTIES OF THE MEMBERSHIP DEVELOPMENT CHAIRPERSON
The Chairperson of the Membership Development Committee
- (a)
- shall keep a current record of Section membership,
- (b)
- shall perform all duties outlined in the Section Operations Guide V part 13.
16.0 DUTIES OF THE OTHER EXECUTIVE MEMBERS
All Members of the executive committee shall carry out the duties outlined in
the Section Operations Guide.
17.0 MEETING NOTICES
- (a)
- The Chairperson of the Program Committee of the Section shall prepare
notices giving details of future regular Section Meetings and pass them to
the Chairperson of the Publications Committee. - (b)
- The Chairperson of the Publications Committee shall prepare a newsletter
containing these notices, and any other information of interest to the
members, and shall arrange to have copies mailed to all members. In
addition, a special notice shall be mailed in circumstances calling for such
action. - (c)
- These activities shall be timed so that notice of any meeting reaches the
members not less than seven days prior to that meeting. - (d)
- The Publication Chairperson shall provide copies of newsletters and notices
to the Region 7 Office and to IEEE Headquarters, as published. - (e)
- The Publicity Chairperson shall take whatever additional actions are
appropriate and practical to advertise meetings and to encourage members
and non-members to attend meetings.
18.0 AMENDMENTS TO THE BYLAWS
Proposed amendments to these Bylaws, together with the reasons therefore,
shall be submitted to the members of the Executive in writing at least 20 days
before an executive meeting, at which a vote shall be taken. Two-thirds of the
votes cast at the meeting shall be required to approve the proposed
amendments. The Bylaws must be consonant with the IEEE Constitution,
Bylaws and published interpretation of policy. The amendments shall be
submitted to the Director of Region 7 and the IEEE for approval. The
amendments shall be deemed to be in effect from the date of the letter of
approval from IEEE Headquarters. See IEEE Bylaw 404.5.