Constitution of the Lyndon State College Chapter of the American Meteorological Society and the National Weather Association
ARTICLE I NAME
This organization shall be called the Lyndon State College chapter of the
American Meteorological Society and the National Weather Association.(LSC-AMS & NWA).
ARTICLE II OBJECTIVES
The objectives of this chapter are:
To share the knowledge of meteorology among members and the
outside meteorological community.
To promote professional ideals among members and the outside meteorological community.
To promote fellowship among members and the outside meteorological community.
To stimulate awareness of and interest in meteorology among the campus and surrounding
community.
To involve the campus and surrounding community in the activities of the chapter.
ARTICLE III MEMBERS
A. Definitions
The membership of this student chapter shall consist of:
1. Student Members - Any person of the college community upon payment of dues.
The LSC-AMS & NWA does not discriminate on the basis of college major, race, color,
ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation, age, disabilities, sex, or marital status.
A student member will not be able to hold office.
2. Associate Members - Any person who is not a member of the Lyndon
State College Student body that wishes to be associated with the society upon
payment of dues. An associate member will not be able to vote or hold office.
3. Honorary Members - Any person who has promoted the field of meteorology may become an
honorary member. An honorary member will not be required to remunerate any membership dues
and will not be able to vote or hold office.
4. Active Members - An active member is defined as a member who attends at least 2/3 of
the general business meetings with excused absences permitted by majority vote of the
executive board and has participated in at least five club events (i.e. committee meetings, \
fundraisers, trips, etc.).
B. Term of membership
All memberships (except honorary) will expire at the beginning of the first general
business meeting of the academic year.
ARTICLE IV EXECUTIVE BOARD
A. Members of the Executive Board
1. President
2. Vice President
3. Secretary
4. Treasurer
5. Public Relations Director
6. Community Outreach
7. Historian
B. Duties of Executive Board:
1. General Duties
Newly elected officers shall draft a "Roles of Officers" contract at the first
executive board meeting following elections. The officers shall abide by this contract at
all times. The contract can only be amended by a 5/7 majority vote by the executive board.
2. President
The President of the Chapter will preside over meetings and will be the liaison to the
advisor and Lyndon State College administration. The President has the power to make all
executive decisions, but must inform the entire executive board within 24 hours. However,
if two or more officers or half of the officers object, then the matter can be brought to
a vote by the executive committee (Article III, Section By-Laws). Also, the President is
responsible for temporarily appointing new officers if any officer has vacated a position.
This appointment is in effect until new elections can be held.
3. Vice President
The Vice President of the chapter shall assist the President with his or her duties. Also,
the Vice President assumes the duties of the President in his/her absence and assists the
other officers in their duties.
4. Secretary
The Secretary of the chapter shall record the minutes of all official meetings of the
chapter, and when appropriate mail the minutes to the AMS and NWA for publication in their
respective bulletins. The Secretary also assists in the announcement of LSC-AMS & NWA
activities.
5. Treasurer
The Treasurer of the chapter shall record and report on all financial matters of the
chapter. Also, the treasurer shall be responsible for collecting, depositing, and
dispersing the funds of the LSC-AMS & NWA in an appropriate manner as directed by the
Executive Board.
6. Public Relations Director
The Public Relations Officer is in charge of organizing and initiating all campus
activities. Also, the Activities and Public Relations Officer shall be in charge of
campus activity announcements. Shall promote and advertise the LSC-AMS & NWA.
7. Community Outreach
The Community Outreach Officer is in charge of organizing activities in the surrounding
community. Also, the Community Outreach Officer shall promote eduacational meteorology material to
the surrounding community.
C. Term of Office
The term of office for executive board members shall be May 1st to May 1st of the
following year.
ARTICLE V ADVISOR
The advisor of the LSC-AMS & NWA shall:
A. Have a vote on issues not funded by the student government at executive meetings.
B. Be a faculty or staff member at Lyndon State College.
C. Be kept informed about all club activities through regular contact with the President.
ARTICLE VI ELECTION OF OFFICERS
A. All active members of the chapter shall be eligible to vote.
B. Annual elections shall be held no earlier than 01 April and no later than 01 May.
C. Nominations and elections shall be held during the same meeting.
D. At least 50% of the active membership must be present to hold elections.
E. Each person shall be nominated and elected by Robert's Rules of Order. A person may
be nominated for more than one position, but can only be elected to one.
F. Only Active Members may be nominated for a position.
G. Ballots will be secret.
H. Ballots shall be tabulated by the Advisor and the highest ranking outgoing officer.
If all outgoing officers are nominated, the Advisor shall assign a designee from the
membership to assist in the tabulating of the ballots immediately following each vote.
I. The offices shall be elected in the following order: President, Vice President,
Secretary, Treasurer, Public Relations Director, Community Outreach, Historian.
ARTICLE VII IMPEACHMENT AND DISMISSAL
A. Any officer or member is subject to impeachment/dismissal.
B. Grounds for impeachment and dismissal shall include:
a. Violation of constitution
b. Negligence of elected duties
c. Violation of LSC codes of conduct
C. An impeachment petition including reasons for impeachment and at least 25% of the
active members' signatures must be presented to the Executive Board.
D. The dismissal vote shall be held at a general business meeting 7-10 academic days
following the submission of the petition.
E. The dismissal vote shall be advertised at least 1 academic week prior to the vote.
F. At least 1/2 of the active members must be present for a dismissal vote to occur.
At least a two thirds (2/3) majority vote of the active membership present is needed for
the impeachment/dismissal.
ARTICLE VIII AMENDMENTS
No part of the constitution or By-Laws shall be amended or annulled except by the
following procedure:
A. A proposed amendment(s) shall be submitted to the Vice President with at least 25% of
the active members' signatures. The amendment(s) will by voted on during the following
general business meeting.
b. There must be at least 50% of the active membership present in order to conduct a vote
and a two-thirds majority of the active members present is required to approve the
proposed amendment(s).
C. The proposed amendments must be brought be before the Student Government to be
approved before going into effect.
D. The approved amendment(s) shall be effective immediately and incorporated into the
written constitution, or By-Laws, prior to the next meeting.
ARTICLE IX BOARD OF TRUSTEES
a. The board of trustees is the legal governing body of the VSC system and nothing within
this constitution is being constructed as to grant the faculty, students, or other body
concerned, the authority to act outside the policies of this board.
B. The board of trustees has the right to suspend any LSC-AMS & NWA activity as they see
fit.
BY-LAWS
ARTICLE I DUES
A. All members of this Student Chapter will be required to pay dues no later than 30 days
after the first day of classes for the first semester of their first semester enrolled at
Lyndon State for that academic year.
B. Before the first general meeting of the year, the officers will decide on the dues for
the academic year.
ARTICLE II COMMITTEES
A. The President has the right to set up committees and appoint chairs consisting of
officers and/or members to accomplish tasks determined by the officers. Committee members
shall be invited by committee chairs.
B. The committee chairs have the responsibility to keep the membership and officers
informed of the committees activities.
ARTICLE III MEETINGS
A. General meetings shall be held at least once a month during the academic year.
b. notice of meetings shall be announced to the membership not less than one week prior to
the data of the meeting.
C. Meetings shall be governed by Robert's Rules of Order
D. Officers must meet at least twice a month.
E. Any two officers can call an Executive Board meeting.
F. Any Executive Board meetings shall be announced at least 48 hours prior to the meeting.
G. During the summer, or when college is not in session, there will be no required meetings, but the officer's
duties to the club remain. The officers have the responsibility to stay in touch over breaks and plan future
activities for the club in the upcoming semester.