ARTICLE I - NAME, LOCATION AND OBJECTIVE
SECTION 1. The name of this organization shall be the ALABAMA SECTION, AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS.
SECTION 2. Its geographic location shall be the area within the local section boundaries established periodically by the American Society of Civil Engineers for the Alabama Section and its current official address within these boundaries shall be that of, or an address established by, its Secretary-Treasurer.
SECTION 3. The objective of the Alabama Section shall be the advancement of the science and profession of civil engineering, in a manner consistent with the objectives of the American Society of Civil Engineers.
ARTICLE II - MEMBERSHIP
SECTION 1. All members of the American Society of Civil Engineers of all grades whose addresses are within the boundaries of the Alabama Section, as defined by the Society, shall be assigned members of the Section. All assigned members of the Alabama Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers of all grades, subscribing to the Constitution and By-laws of the Section, as evidenced by the payment of dues of the Section, shall be subscribing members of the Section.
SECTION 2. Only subscribing members of the Section shall have the right to vote, to hold office, to serve on committees, or to represent the Section officially.
ARTICLE III - DUES
SECTION 1. There shall be no entrance fees.
SECTION 2. The annual dues payable by members of the Section shall be determined by the Board of Directors. The fiscal year of the Section shall be the period from October I through September 30. Such dues shall be payable in advance of the first day of October and are in arrears after the thirtieth day of the following September. The dues shall be cumulative for one year and any member whose dues are more than one year in arrears shall cease to have the right and privileges of a subscribing member of the Section.
SECTION 3. New members and members transferring from other local sections who become members of the Section after the first day of April shall pay only one-half of the annual dues for that year.
SECTION 4. Members exempt from payment of dues in the Society as Life Members shall be exempt from payment of dues in the Section, and shall exercise all rights and privileges of subscribing members of the Section.
ARTICLE IV - OFFICERS
SECTION 1. The Directors of this Section shall be a President, a President-Elect, a Vice-President, a Secretary-Treasurer, and seven Directors, one of whom shall be the most recent Past-President residing in the Section area. These eleven, along with the President of each official branch in the Section, shall constitute a Board of Directors in which the government of the Section shall be vested. The President-Elect shall automatically become President following the completion of his elected term as President-Elect or at any other time when the office of President becomes vacant.
SECTION 2. The term of the office of each officer shall begin on the first day of the Society's fiscal year following the annual meeting at which such officer is elected, and except as hereinafter provided, shall continue for a period of one year. A Director shall continue for a period of two years, except that the term of the most recent Past-President serving as Director shall be one year. Each officer shall serve until a successor is duly elected and installed. An officer filling a vacancy in office shall continue for the unexpired term of that office.
SECTION 3. A vacancy for the unexpired term of any office shall be deemed to exist when the officer moves his residence out of the Section area or ceases to be a subscribing member of the Section. A vacancy in the office of President shall be filled by the President-Elect, who shall serve out the remaining term of the President and shall then continue to serve the year during which he would automatically have been President according to Section 1. A vacancy in the office of President-Elect shall remain vacant. In such case, the Nominating Committee shall nominate a President in addition to the slate of officers normally nominated in accordance with Article I of the By-laws.
In the absence of a President-Elect, the Vice-President may chair meetings but shall not automatically become President. The duties of the chairman of the Public Relations Committee shall be assigned to a Director by the President. A vacancy in the office of Vice-President shall be filled by a Director appointed by the President. A vacancy in the office of Secretary-Treasurer or Director shall be filled by provisional appointment by the President, effective only until such vacancy has been filled by election at a meeting of the Section. All such appointments by the President shall be subject to the approval of the unaffected members of the Board of Directors. This approval may be obtained by voice vote or letter confirmation.
SECTION 4. A majority of the members of the Board of Directors shall constitute a quorum. In emergency or in the absence of a quorum, a mail ballot may be requested, and any proposition receiving a majority of votes by letters to the President shall become the action of the Board. The President shall serve as chairman ex- officio and the President-Elect shall serve as vice chairman ex-officio of the Board of Directors.
SECTION 5. The officers of the Section shall be elected at the annual meetings of the Section. Three directors shall be elected each year. hisofar as practical, the directors shall be selected so that the members in the various geographical areas of the Section will be represented.
ARTICLE V - MEETINGS
SECTION 1. The annual meeting of the Section shall be held at such time and place as may be designated by the Board of Directors.
SECTION 2. Meetings shall be held at such time and place as may be designated by the Board of Directors. Appropriate advance notice of all meetings shall be sent to each member of the Alabama Section, the Chairman of the Committee on Sections and District Councils, the District Director, and the Secretary of the Society.
SECTION 3. A meeting at which any official action is taken shall have present a quorum which shall consist of 25 subscribing members, 2 of whom shall be officers.
SECTION 4. Meeting places shall be chosen by the Board of Directors and shall be located as equitably as possible based upon the geographical distribution of the membership in the Section.
ARTICLE VI - BRANCHES
SECTION 1. Branches of the Section may be created in accordance with the following requirements:
(a) Those proposing a new branch shall demonstrate in writing how it will be of advantage to the members in the area to have a branch.
(b) A petition containing a minimum of 15 signatures of subscribing members residing in the area shall be submitted, together with a proposed Constitution, to the Board of Directors of the Section for approval.
(c) A proposed branch area shall contain a minimum potential of 30 members of the Society.
(d) A proposed branch must have distinct boundaries stated in the petition.
(e) Only subscribing members of the Section are eligible for membership in the branch.
SECTION 2. Branches shall submit an annual report and financial statement to the Board of Directors of the Section by October 30 of each year.
ARTICLE VII - AMENDMENTS
SECTION 1. The Constitution may be amended only by the following procedure:
(a) A proposed amendment to this Constitution must be submitted to the Secretary of the Section by either
(1) a written petition signed by not less than 15 subscribing members of the Section, or
(2) by a vote of the Section at a meeting as defined by Article V, Section 3.
(b) The proposed amendment shall be submitted to the Board of Directors of the Section for study, comment or action and shall be cleared through the American Society of Civil Engineers' Committee on Sections and District Councils.
(c) The proposed amendment shall be mailed to all subscribing members of the Alabama Section not later than 4 months after the submissions, but at least 30 days before the votes are to be tallied.
(d) The proposed amendment shall receive an affirmative vote of not less than two-thirds of the subscribing members voting.
ARTICLE VIII - BY-LAWS
SECTION 1. The Board of Directors may adopt By-laws consistent with this Constitution for the guidance of officers and members, subject to the approval of a majority of the subscribing members attending a business session of a duly constituted meeting of the Section.
ARTICLE IX - MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
SECTION 1. No part of the net earnings of the Section shall inure to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual and no substantial part of the activities of the Section shall be carrying on propaganda, or otherwise attempting to influence legislation and the Section shall not participate in, or intervene in, including the publishing or distributing of statements, any political campaign on behalf of any candidate for public office.
SECTION 2. Upon dissolution of the Section, the assets remaining after the payment of the debts of the Section shall be distributed to such corporation community chest, fund, or foundation organized and operated exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific, testing for public safety, literacy or educational purposes, or for the prevention of cruelty to children or animals, which would then qualify under the provisions of Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, as they now exist or as they may hereafter be amended, as the Board of Directors shall have designated and in the absence of such designation they shall be conveyed to the American Society of Civil Engineers.
Last updated: 07/25/00