As amended June 1, 2020
Article 1: Name
This organization shall be known as the Mid-East Honors Association (MEHA), a regional association of the National Collegiate Honors Council.
Article 2: Objective
The objective of this association shall be the promotion and advancement of honors and similar activities in colleges and universities in the mid-east region.
Article 3: Membership
Section 1: Institutional membership in the association shall be open to all institutions of higher learning in the mid-east region.
Section 2: Individual memberships shall be open to faculty/administrator/staff (hereafter “professional”), students and other persons interested in honors and similar programs.
Article 4: Voting
Section 1: Voting shall be limited to institutional members. Each institution shall be entitled to one vote.
Section 2: Only those institutional members whose dues are paid by the time of the annual conference are entitled to vote in the business meeting.
Article 5: Officers
Section 1: The officers of the association shall be a president, vice-president, an immediate past president, a secretary, a treasurer, and a professional representative. All officers shall be affiliated with an institutional member of the association.
Section 2: The president shall hold office for one year, or until his/her successor is installed. The president, or in his/her absence the vice president, shall preside at all meetings of the organization.
Section 3: The vice president, secretary, treasurer, and professional representative shall be elected at the annual meeting and shall hold offices for one year or until their successors are installed. The vice president shall succeed automatically to the office of president upon the death or incapacity of the president, or upon the election and installation of his/her successor as vice president. The president shall succeed automatically to the office of the immediate past president upon the election and installation of his/her successor as president.
Article 6: Executive Committee
Section 1: The executive committee shall consist of the president, the vice president, the immediate past president, the secretary, the treasurer, the professional representative, and four at-large student representatives elected by the association.
Section 2: Student representatives shall be elected annually. Only those students who expect to remain enrolled in the same institution the following year will be eligible for service.
Section 3: In the event of the death or resignation of one of the student representatives, a replacement to complete the un-expired terms shall be appointed by the president.
Section 4: The president shall serve as the chairperson of the executive committee. A majority of the executive committee shall constitute a quorum.
Article 7: Restrictions Pertaining to Terms of Office
Section 1: Except for the Secretary and Treasurer, no professional officer of the association who has served a full term may be elected to succeed her/himself to the same office upon the completion of his/her term. This provision does not apply to students; they shall be eligible for re-election.
Section 2: Any executive committee member may be removed from office for cause by a vote of two-thirds of the executive committee members.
Section 3: The executive committee may appoint a person(s) to fulfill any member’s un-expired term.
Article 8: Meetings
The association shall hold a regular annual meeting at a time and place to be determined by the executive committee.
Article 9: Voting
Section 1: Between meetings, any question or item of business may be submitted by the executive committee to a vote of the association membership.
Section 2: Voting shall be limited to institutional members whose dues have been paid at the time the ballots are distributed.
Article 10: Amendments
Any proposal to amend this constitution shall be referred to the executive committee for suitable wording which clearly expresses the intent of the proposal and which is consistent with the other sections of the constitution. It shall be submitted in writing to the president at least two weeks prior to the annual meeting of the association. A copy of such proposed amendment shall be distributed by the president to each member at least one week prior to the said annual meeting. Such amendment shall, upon receiving at a regular annual meeting a two-thirds majority of those present and voting, become a part of the constitution.
Article 11: Ratification
Ratification of this document shall be by a simple majority of those present and voting at the first annual business meeting of the association.
Article 12: Dissolution of Corporation
Section 1:In the vent that that the Mid-East Honors Association disbands, all of its assets remaining after payment of debts shall be liquidated and the cash be disbursed to such nonprofit organizations as shall be determined by a majority of the executive committee at the time of dissolution.
Section 2: Dissolution of the corporation may be authorized only by the affirmative vote of two-thirds of members of the executive committee then in office, at a meeting of the executive committee called for that purpose. Notice of the meeting to authorize the dissolution shall be given to each executive committee member then in office not less than ten days before the meeting and shall state that the purpose of that meeting is to vote on the dissolution of the corporation. The notice shall include a copy or summary of the plan of distribution of assets.
Section 3: If the dissolution is approved, the corporation shall cease to conduct its affairs except as may be necessary for the winding up of the corporation. It shall immediately cause a Certificate of Dissolution to be executed and filed setting forth: A) the name of the corporation; B) the date and place of the meeting of the executive board approving the dissolution; and C) a statement that dissolution was approved by the requisite vote of the members of the executive committee.
BY-LAWS
Article 1: Dues
Section 1: The amount of the annual dues of institutional membership of the association shall be evaluated annually by the executive committee who will present suggested changes at the annual business meeting.
Section 2: Proposed changes to the annual dues can be enacted by a two-thirds majority vote of the institutional membership at the annual committee meeting.
Article 2: Voting
Section 1: Each institutional member shall designate one student and one professional member to cast the institution’s vote at the annual business meeting.
Section 2: Each of the designated representatives shall cast one-half vote.
Section 3: If at least one student and one profession representative of an institution are not in attendance, the institution’s full vote may be cast by a single representative.
Article 3: Secretary
Section 1: The secretary shall keep minutes of the association and the executive committee, and perform other duties incident to the conduct of the office as may be required.
Section 2: S/he shall serve as the editor of the association’s publication(s) or see to it that the editorial functions are properly discharged.
Article 4: Treasurer
Section 1: The Treasurer shall collect all fees and dues owed to the organization and shall be the custodian of the organization’s funds, securities, etc., and shall cause to be deposited in the name of the organizations all monies and valuable effects in such banks, trust companies, or other depositories as shall be approved by time to time by the executive committee.
Section 2: The Treasurer shall make an annual report to the organization, and submit annually, a complete and verified statement of the financial condition of the organization.
Section 3: S/he shall serve as the liaison with the National Collegiate Honors Council.
Article 5: The President
Section 1: The President shall be the chairperson of the program committee and shall appoint such other committees as s/he or the executive committee deem necessary and appropriate.
Article 6: Headquarters
The article of the association shall be at the place of business of the secretary/treasurer.
Article 7: Executive Committee
Section 1: The executive committee shall transact such business of the association as may be referred to it by the officers or in the annual meeting, in accordance with the constitution by-laws.
Section 2: It shall serve as the program committee for the annual meeting.
Section 3: It shall meet immediately prior to the annual meeting, immediately following the annual meeting, and at least one additional time during the year and such other times as determined necessary by the president.
Section 4: The executive committee shall be responsible for reviewing and approving an annual budget to be prepared by the secretary/treasurer.
Article 8: Nominations
Section 1: Executive committee positions shall be posted to the MEHA website so that anyone interested may run for office. One month prior to the annual meeting, those wishing to run for office will send a picture and short biographical paragraph to the webmaster for inclusion on the website. Information on each candidate will also be available at the association meeting.
Section 2: Time will be set aside in the annual meeting schedule for the election of new officers and executive committee members. Each person who submitted information to the website may introduce themselves to the association and ask for their vote. Additional nominations from the floor may be accepted. Voting by ballot (as described in Article 2 of the by-laws) will take place after all candidates have been introduced. Winners will be determined by the majority of votes.
Article 9: Fiscal Year
The fiscal year of the association shall be July 1 through June 30.
Article 10: Points of Order
On all points of order not covered by these laws, the association shall be governed by Robert’s Rules of Order or by the established usages in assemblages governed by parliamentary rule. The presiding officer of each annual meeting shall appoint a parliamentarian for the meeting.
Article 11: Adoption and Amendments
Section 1: These by-laws may be adopted, altered, or added to at any annual business meeting. Any alteration or addition must, however, have been referred to the executive committee for clarity of wording and consistency with other sections of the bylaws and constitution, and then submitted in writing to the membership at the annual meeting.
Section 2: The adoption, alteration or additional of the by-laws shall be by a simple majority vote of those present at the annual business meeting.