Constitution and By-Laws
CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS
OF THE
ST. LOUIS SECTION ASME
As adopted in 1939 and amended in 1950, 1981, 1993 and 2008
PREFACE
The provisions of the Constitution, By-Laws and Rules of the Society shall govern the procedure of all components of the Society, but no action or obligation of such components shall be considered an action or obligation of the Society as a whole.
In accordance with the Society Policy P5.3, the St. Louis Section ASME adopts the following Constitution and By-Laws. In the event of conflict between this Constitution and these By-Laws and those of the Society, now or in the future, the Constitution and By-Laws of the Society shall prevail.
CONSTITUTION
1 NAME:
1.1 The name of this organization shall be the St. Louis Section of The American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
2 MEMBERSHIP:
2.1 All members of The American Society of Mechanical Engineers who have indicated an address in or near St. Louis within the boundaries established by the Society, shall be considered members of the St. Louis Section.
2.2 Student Members residing in this area shall be members of the Section without vote.
2.3 The qualifications of voters at elections shall be the same as are prescribed by the Constitution of the Society.
3 MANAGEMENT:
The Management of the Section shall be vested in an Executive Board. The Executive Board shall consist of the officers plus the two most recent past chairmen, plus the chairmen of the standing committees. The Executive Committee, consisting of the officers plus the two most recent past chairmen can, where necessary, act for the Section.
3.1 A member eligible to work on committees or hold office in the St. Louis Section must be a member of the St. Louis Section.
3.2 The Officers of the Section shall be a chairman, a vice-chairman, a secretary and a treasurer.
3.3 Members of the Executive Committee in accordance with the By-Laws shall assume office for one year beginning the first day of July following election, in accordance with the uniform practice of all the sections.
3.4 The Executive Committee is empowered to appoint for special purpose temporary subcommittees, upon which non-members of the Society may serve.
4 NOMINATING COMMITTEE:
4.1 The membership of the Section shall elect annually a Regular Nominating Committee whose duty it shall be to select candidates for the elective offices to be filled at each election, as provided by the By-Laws.
4.2 Other nominations may be made by petition as may be provided in the By-Laws.
5 AMENDMENTS:
Proposed amendments to this Constitution may be submitted in writing at any regular meeting of the Section, and if approved by a majority vote of the ASME members present at the meeting, the amendments shall be submitted to the membership of the Section for vote. If approved by two-thirds of the votes cast, the proposed amendments shall become a part of the Constitution.
BY-LAWS
1 OFFICERS:
1.1 Chairman - The Chairman shall preside at all meetings of the Section, of the Executive Board and of the Executive Committee. The Chairman shall appoint all committees, with the exception of the Nominating Committee, with the approval of the Executive Committee and shall be an ex-officio (without vote) member of all appointive committees.
1.2 Vice-Chairman - In the absence of the Chairman, the duties of the Chairman will be performed by the Vice-Chairman. Members of the Section may, in the absence of the Chairman and Vice-Chairman, select a Chairman to preside at that meeting.
1.3 Secretary - The Secretary will have general charge of the correspondence of the Section and shall attend and keep records of the meetings of the Section, the Executive Board and the Executive Committee.
1.4 Treasurer - The Treasurer shall have charge of the books of the Section, collect all funds and make disbursements upon the direction and approval of the Executive Board of the Executive Committee. The Treasurer shall submit financial reports in accordance with Society requirements.
1.5 The Executive Committee shall fill any vacancy occurring in its own body; such appointees will hold office until the next regular election.
1.6 Any member of the Executive Committee who for a period of three months consecutively or longer, does not take any active part in the management of the affairs of the Section shall cease to be a member of the Committee.
2 NOMINATING COMMITTEE:
2.1 The Nominating Committee shall consist of five members elected by majority vote in a ballot submitted to the Membership not later than the January meeting notice each year. Said ballot shall contain two separate lists of candidates. List No. 1, from which two shall be elected, shall consist of the members of the preceding year's Committee and List No. 2, from which three shall be elected, shall consist of at least five candidates nominated from the floor no later than December meeting of the Section. No person who has been a member of the preceding Committee shall be eligible as a candidate on List No. 2 for the current Nominating Committee. Ballots shall close no sooner than 21 days after the submittal. Candidates receiving the highest number of votes in each of the two groups shall be declared elected. The Nominating Committee shall select its own chairman.
2.2 The Nominating Committee so elected shall submit its selections for each of the elective offices of the Section not later than March 1 and such selections shall be reported to the membership as a part of the notice for the next regular section meeting, which shall be given at least 10 days prior to the meeting date.
2.3 At the meeting described in Section 2.2, if only one nomination has been made for each office by the Nominating Committee and if no further nominations have been made by petition signed by not less than 15 members, the Chairman shall direct the Secretary to cast a ballot for the unanimous election for the nominees.
2.4 If there is more than one nominee for any office, through the selections of the Committee or by petition, the Chairman shall direct the Secretary to submit a ballot, containing the names of all nominees and blank spaces for the write-in of choices, to the membership. Said ballot shall be submitted within ten days and shall be counted no sooner than 10 days after submittal. The candidate receiving the highest number of votes for each office shall be declared elected.
3 COMMITTEE:
3.1 The Executive Committee shall have the power to appoint such standing and special committees as it may seem desirable to assist it in the conduct of the affairs of the Section.
3.2 Chairmen of standing committees shall have a seat on the Executive Board.
4 AMENDMENTS:
Amendments to these By-Laws may be submitted in writing at any regular meeting of the Section, and if approved by a majority vote of the ASME members present at the meeting, the amendments shall be submitted to the membership of the Section for vote by ballot, and if approved by two-thirds of the votes cast, the amendment or amendments shall become a part of the By-Laws.