BY‑LAWS OF THE LOUISIANA SECTION

 

ARTICLE I.  MEMBERSHIP AND GEOGRAPHIC AREA

SECTION 1.                The geographic area of the Louisiana Section shall comprise the State of Louisiana.  The membership for this Section shall be domiciled as permanent residents within the boundaries of the Section.  The membership shall be restricted, as provided in the Constitution, to members in any grade of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

 

ARTICLE II.  MEETINGS

SECTION 1.                For all meetings, a quorum shall consist of those members in attendance.

SECTION 2.               Except as provided in the Constitution and in these By‑Laws, meetings shall be conducted as provided in Robert's Rules of Order.

 

ARTICLE III.  OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS OF THE SECTION

SECTION 1.               The members of the Board of Directors shall be members of the Section in good standing, subject to the following eligibility and restrictive requirements for holding of office:

(a)        An individual must have served at least one year on the Board of Directors of the Section to be elected President-Elect, Secretary-Treasurer or Vice President.

SECTION 2.               The Secretary‑Treasurer may receive an honorarium as may be determined by the Board of Directors.

SECTION 3.               Attendance of General Membership Meetings and Section Board Meetings is the responsibility of each Section Board Member.

SECTION 4.               A Board member may be removed from office for poor attendance at Section Board Meetings, for failure to perform the duties assigned to their office or a previously held office, or for other justifiable reasons.  If, in the opinion of the Section Board, a member of the Board should be removed from office, the Board shall direct the President (or President-Elect, in the case of removing the President) to advise that member that the Board will vote to remove said member at the next scheduled Board meeting.  With an affirmative vote by two thirds of the Section Board, the member shall be removed from the Section Board, and his office declared vacant.  Vacancies of the Section Board will be filled according to Article IV, Section 5 of the Constitution of the Louisiana Section.

SECTION 5.               A seated Board member that has been elected to another office, but not installed in that office, may be removed from the Board and barred from assuming that office, as described in Section 4.

SECTION 6.                A Board member that has been removed from office will not be eligible for nomination to the Section Board for Five (5) years.

SECTION 7.                Poor attendance will be considered to be anyone missing two (2) consecutive meetings without providing satisfactory explanation to the Board.

 

ARTICLE IV.  MANAGEMENT

SECTION 1.                The Board of Directors shall manage the affairs of the Section as provided by the Constitution and these By‑Laws.  The Board of Directors shall direct the investment and care of the funds of the Section; establish the amount of dues; make appropriations for specific purposes; prepare a budget to limit fund expenditures; take measures to advance the interest of the Section; approve or disapprove committees and activities thereof.

SECTION 2.               The Board shall make an annual report to the Section through the President at its annual meeting or through the Louisiana Civil Engineer, the official magazine of the Section.  The report shall relate the general activities of the Section for the term closed.

SECTION 3.                The President shall call meetings, appoint committees and present their reports to the Section, preside at meetings of the Section and Board of Directors at which he may be present; and shall be an ex‑officio member of all committees.

SECTION 4.                The President‑Elect shall perform the duties of the President in the absence of, or the disability of the President.  The President-Elect shall also perform the duties of the Secretary‑Treasurer in the absence of the Secretary‑Treasurer.

SECTION 5 .               The Vice‑President of the Section shall attend meetings of the Section and of the Board of Directors and record proceedings of importance.

SECTION 6.                The Secretary‑Treasurer of the Section shall deposit funds in the name of the Section. He shall present such records of account to the annual meeting of the Section.  He shall keep membership records, committee records, and such other records as may be deemed necessary by the Board of Directors.  He shall receive for the Section all bills of debit against the Section and shall promptly pay such items of indebtedness.  He shall notify the membership of meetings, handle essential correspondence for the Section, and perform such other duties assigned to him by the Board of Directors.  He shall read the required reports and other documents, as designated, to Section assemblies.

SECTION 7.                The duties of the Directors‑At‑Large, Appointed Directors and Assigned Directors shall be as designated by the President of the Section.

SECTION 8.                The actions of the Board of Directors shall be authoritative if, and only when, at least five members of the Board are present, which five shall form a quorum of the Board of Directors.

SECTION 9.               The Board of Directors shall designate the two largest Branches, based on the number of Subscribing Members, to appoint the Assigned Directors.  The Section Board shall evaluate the size of the Branches every six years beginning in 1998, to determine the two largest Branches as specified above.  Upon identifying the two largest Branches, the Section shall notify in writing each designated Branch of its responsibility in appointing an Assigned Director, including the date that its first appointment is required.

SECTION 10.              Assigned Directors are appointed by the two Branches designated by the Section.  The two-year terms will be staggered so that only one Assigned Director will be appointed each year.  If a designated Branch loses its designation at the time of the Section evaluation as described in Section 9, the Assigned Director from that Branch will complete his two-year term prior to the new designated Branch appointing a replacement.  No Branch shall be designated to appoint two Assigned Directors.  If an Assigned Director resigns, the designated Branch shall have two months to appoint a new Assigned Director or the Section shall make an appointment in accordance with the Constitution.

 

ARTICLE V.  ELECTION OF OFFICERS

SECTION 1.                The election of officers shall be held at the spring meeting. 

SECTION 2.                Recommendations for nominations for office shall be made by a committee consisting of the President, President-Elect and the latest living Past‑President of the Section continuing to be a member of the Section.  The President shall charge them with their duty at least one month before the spring meeting.  In reaching its recommendations, the Nominating Committee shall consider each nominee's ability to travel to meetings of the Board over the State.  The recommendations of the Nominating Committee shall be presented to the Section during its spring meeting.  At the same time, the President or presiding officer shall invite nominations from the floor.  When nominations have been received and closed, all nominations for each office shall be voted separately.  The nominee receiving the majority of the votes cast shall be declared elected.  If there are more than two candidates, and if no nominee procures a majority, the two candidates receiving the highest number of votes shall be declared the only candidates, and a new vote for the office shall be taken.  The candidate then receiving a majority of the votes shall be declared elected.

 

ARTICLE VI.  DUES

SECTION 1.                The annual dues for the current year shall become due on October 1 and shall be paid in advance.  A statement of the amount due shall be mailed by the Secretary‑Treasurer, unless collected by the national office of ASCE to each member within thirty days after the due date.

SECTION 2.                Any member whose dues are more than six months in arrears shall lose his voting privilege and shall forfeit the right to serve on Section committees and to receive Section publications. These privileges and rights; however, will be restored upon payment of current dues.

 

ARTICLE VII.  COMMITTEES

SECTION 1.                Committee appointments shall be made promptly on assumption of office by the President.

SECTION 2.                The standing committees of the Section shall be:

Committee on Legislation

Public Relations Committee

                                             Younger Member Committee

Nominating Committee

History and Heritage Committee

                                             Publications Committee

                                             Student Awards And Activities Committee

Membership Committee

                                             Special Activities and Awards Committee

 

SECTION 3.               The Committee on Legislation shall consider and review all legislative matters, and make recommendations to the Board of Directors.  It shall consider and report matters of legislation that concern its membership whether such be Federal, State, Parish or Local, and recommend action or steps, if any, which the Section should follow.