SEAWAY SECTION OF THE MAA: BYLAWS

(as approved by the Seaway Section at the April 2011 Meeting and by the MAA Board of Governors in August 2012)



Article I

Name and Purpose

  1. The name of this section shall be the Seaway Section of The Mathematical Association of America.
  2. The purpose of the Seaway Section shall be to promote the mathematical sciences, especially at the undergraduate level, by helping to carry out the objectives of The Mathematical Association of America.

Article II

Membership

The membership of the Seaway Section shall consist of members of The Mathematical Association of America with MAA mailing addresses in the province of Ontario (except Thunder Bay), the province of Quebec, or in areas of the state of New York having a zip code between 12000 and 12399 or between 12800 and 14999, except as this may be altered under provision of Article VI, Section 6 of the Bylaws of The Mathematical Association of America.

Article III

Officers and Executive Committee

  1. The officers of the Seaway Section shall be the Chair, the First Vice-Chair, the Second Vice-Chair, the Secretary, the Treasurer, the Governor, and the Immediate Past-Chair or Chair-Elect.
  2. The Executive Committee of the Seaway Section shall consist of the officers of the section and one at-large member elected at the Spring meeting of the section in even years. The at-large member is limited to two consecutive terms.
  3. Each officer of the section must be a member of the Mathematical Association of America and of this section.
  4. Elections of the section shall be held at the annual spring meeting of the section. The Secretary shall be elected for a three-year term. The Treasurer shall be elected for a three-year term. The Secretary and Treasurer will not be elected in the same year. The First Vice-Chair and Second Vice-Chair shall be elected to two-year terms, with elections for these offices being held in even-numbered and odd-numbered years, respectively. The Chair-Elect shall be elected at the same time as the First Vice-Chair; upon completion of a one-year term in this office, the Chair-Elect shall become the Chair of the Section, shall serve as Chair for a term of two years, and then shall become Immediate Past-Chair for one year, until a new Chair-Elect assumes office. For these officers, terms of office begin at the close of the annual spring meeting. The Governor of the Section is elected and serves a three-year term in accordance with Article IV, Section 1(b) of the Bylaws of The Mathematical Association of America.
  5. Candidates for section officer positions shall be nominated by a committee appointed for this purpose by the Chair and shall be announced in the section newsletter prior to the annual spring meeting. Additional candidates may be nominated by members at the time elections are held. The Governor is not eligible for these positions.
  6. Except for the Secretary, Treasurer and the Second Vice-Chair, no member is eligible for immediate reelection to an office having served a full term in that office. The Second Vice-Chair may be elected for two consecutive terms only.
  7. The duties of the section officers shall be:
    1. The Chair shall preside at meetings of the section and at meetings of the Executive Committee. The Chair shall appoint committees of the section and shall be a member of each committee, ex officio, unless specifically directed otherwise by the section membership.
    2. The Chair-Elect or the immediate Past Chair shall assume the duties of the Chair in the absence of the Chair.
    3. The Second Vice-Chair shall be responsible for promoting the objectives of The Mathematical Association of America in the two-year colleges located within the geographical region of the section, and shall assist the First Vice-Chair in planning programs for section meetings.
    4. The Secretary shall keep minutes of official meetings of the section and of the Executive Committee. This officer shall also have responsibility for collecting and maintaining documents, photographs, and other material of historical or archival value to the section. The Secretary shall notify the members of all regular and special meetings of the section at least one month before the meeting. The Secretary shall submit the annual report on the activities of the section to the Chair of the MAA Committee on Sections when requested each spring.
    5. The Treasurer shall maintain proper and accurate financial accounts of the section and shall receive all monies paid to the section for meeting registration and other purposes, and shall pay all bills of the section. The Treasurer will also prepare the annual financial report for the section. The Treasurer shall submit the annual section financial report to the Mathematical Association of America each January.
  8. The Executive Committee shall conduct the affairs of the section between meetings of the section. Except for the Section Governor, should an officer be unable to complete his or her term, the Executive Committee is empowered to appoint a member to fill the position until the next scheduled election, when a member shall be elected to finish the uncompleted term.
  9. When the Executive Committee has completed its agenda, it will host a meeting of the Extended Executive Committee. At this meeting the committee will hear reports from those holding other positions in the Section (as listed in below) and from standing committees of the section. These positions and committees are listed below with their duties.
    1. Editor, Seaway Current — The editor of the Seaway Current will collect information from section officers and from the program chair and publish electronically the Seaway Current in a timely fashion before each meeting of the Section.
    2. Liaison Coordinator — The Liaison Coordinator will distribute information to the departmental liaisons of the section and help the executive committee ensure that each department has a liaison.
    3. Public Information Officer — The Public Information Officer will alert local news organizations to the meetings of the Section and document the meetings through photographs.
    4. Webmaster — The Webmaster will maintain the Section's website.
    5. Student Program Coordinator — The Student Program Coordinator will collect and arrange the student talks given at regular meetings of the section.
    6. Student Chapter Coordinator — The Student Chapter Coordinator will correspond with the MAA Student Chapters at various institutions in the section and will coordinate their activities at the regular meetings.
  10. Standing Committees
    1. Gehman Lecture Committee — The Gehman Lecture Committee shall select and invite a speaker to give the Gehman lecture at the spring meeting of the section. The Gehman Lecture is viewed as a showcase for the talent within the region of the Seaway Section, thus the speaker should be a faculty member or visitor at an institution within the region. The committee will inform the First Vice-Chair of its choice of a speaker as soon as the speaker has accepted. The committee chair or a representative shall introduce the speaker at the spring meeting. The process of choosing a speaker should be completed before the fall meeting if possible. The choice of speaker and topic has historically followed an alternation between Applied and Pure Mathematics. The Past-Chair will be an ex-officio member of the committee.
    2. Randolph Lecture Committee — The Randolph Lecture Committee shall select and invite a speaker to give the Randolph Lecture at the Fall meeting of the section. The Randolph Lecture is devoted to a topic in Mathematics Education, viewed very broadly. The committee will inform the First Vice-Chair of its choice of a speaker as soon as the speaker has accepted. The committee chair or a representative shall introduce the speaker at the fall meeting. The process of choosing a speaker should be completed before the spring meeting if possible. The Second Vice-chair is an ex-officio member of the committee.
    3. Clarence Stephens Distinguished Teaching Award Committee - The committee shall solicit nominations for the award, and choose an award winner from among the nominees. The committee will also set a deadline for submission of nominations that allows the award winner's file to be forwarded to the Mathematical Association of America in time for consideration for the Haimo Award. The committee chair shall inform the Chair of the section of the committee's choice prior to the Spring meeting of the section. The Secretary of the section is an ex-officio member of the committee.
    4. Educational Policy Committee — The Educational Policy Committee will consider issues affecting undergraduate education in Mathematics in the larger educational context of elementary, secondary, undergraduate, and graduate education in mathematics. It will report to the Executive Committee on any issues for which it deems action by the section is necessary. The Governor of the section is an ex-officio member of the committee.
    5. Nominations Committee — The Nominations committee will provide a slate of nominees for each elected position (when due) at the Spring meeting of the section.
    6. Seaway NeXT/PFF Advisory Committee — The committee will coordinate the Seaway NeXT and PFF programs for the section. It will organize the activities for these programs at the spring meeting.

Article IV

Meetings

  1. The section shall hold two regular meetings per year, one in the fall and one in the spring. Each meeting shall include a session at which the business of the section shall be conducted.
  2. The time and location of each regular meeting shall be designated by the Executive Committee and the program shall be planned by the Program Chair.
  3. Special meetings of the section may be called by the Executive Committee, which shall be responsible for all arrangements for such meetings, including the program. Such meetings shall not be for the purpose of conducting official section business, but rather to promote the general welfare and objectives of the section.
  4. A quorum at any regular meeting of the section shall consist of ten members. A quorum at a meeting of the Executive Committee shall consist of at least four of the seven officers and no business may be validly transacted at meetings where less than a quorum is present.
  5. Meeting procedures shall be governed by Robert's Rules of Order.

Article V

Fees and Use of Assets

  1. The Executive Committee shall set any registration fees for meetings and may request that members pay voluntary dues.

  2. The assets of the Seaway 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 returned to The Mathematical Association of America.

Article VI

Amendment to Bylaws

  1. These bylaws may be amended by a majority vote of a quorum at a regular meeting of the section, subject to approval by the Board of Governors of The Mathematical Association of America.
  2. Amendments may be proposed by the Executive Committee or by a member at a regular meeting of the section. Proposed amendments shall then be published in the section newsletter prior to the regular meeting at which they will be voted on.
  3. When an amendment has been approved by the section membership, it shall be sent to the Committee on Sections of The Mathematical Association of America for its recommendation to the Board of Governors.
  4. A complete revision of these bylaws shall be subject to the same procedure as that for amendment of them.