Bylaws of the Alpha Chapter of Virginia

Bylaws of the Alpha Chapter of Virginia

Bylaws of the Alpha Chapter of Virginia

Tau Beta Pi

Article I: Chapter

Section 1. The name of the organization shall be the Alpha of Virginia Chapter of the Tau Beta Pi Association

Section 2. These bylaws are intended to supplement and to be deemed subordinate to the Constitution and Bylaws of the Tau Beta Pi Association and wherever a conflict shall arise between any provision thereof and such Constitution and Bylaws of the Tau Beta Pi Association, the latter shall prevail.

Article II: Meetings

Section 1. Regular meetings of the chapter shall be held at least once a month throughout the scholastic year.

Section 2. Special meetings of the chapter may be called at any time by the President on his own initiative or on the request of one-fourth (1/4) of the active members. In either case, the notification of the meeting must be given at least twenty-four (24) hours before said meeting.

Section 3. One half (1/2) of the active members of the chapter shall constitute a quorum except at the meetings wherein the elections of new members are held, when three-fourths (3/4) of the active members shall constitute a quorum.

Article III: Order of Business

Section 1. The order of business at all meetings shall be:

  1. Call to order
  2. Roll call
  3. Reading of the minutes of the previous meeting (upon request)
  4. Election and initiation (when on agenda)
  5. Report of officers
  6. Reports of committees
  7. Reading of correspondence
  8. Unfinished business
  9. New business
  10. Election of officers (when on agenda)
  11. Adjournment

Section 2. Roberts Rules of Order shall govern all points of parliamentary law not covered by the constitution of the association or by the bylaws of the chapter.

Article IV: Officers

Section 1. The officers of this Chapter and their duties shall be as stipulated in the national constitution and bylaws.

Section 2. Nominations shall be made and elections shall be held at the regular meeting in February. Those elected shall take office immediately with the former officers serving in an advisory capacity until the end of the scholastic year.

Section 3. All officers shall be elected by open ballot and by a majority vote of those being present.

Section 4. All officers of the chapter shall serve for the entire calendar year.

Article V. Standing Committees

Section 1. The President, at the beginning of the school year shall appoint the following committees, whose chairmen shall serve for the entire scholastic year.

  1. An elections committee shows duties shall consist of preparing the list of eligibles, inviting eligible persons to the smoker, reserving a suitable place to hold the smoker, arranging for refreshments at the smoker, preparing name tags for the smoker, obtaining a suitable place to hold the initiation and preparing the equipment for initiation. Additionally, this committee shall carry out the necessary investigation of graduate students and the faculty members according to Article VIII of the Constitution of the Tau Beta Pi Association.
  2. A publicity committee whose duties shall consist of publicizing chapter activities in the Cavalier Daily, and sending news of each candidates initiation to his hometown newspaper.
  3. A social committee whose duties shall consist of finding suitable chapter social activities.
  4. A project committee whose duties shall consist of supervising the service projects adopted by the chapter and studying the feasibility of new projects proposed by chapter members.

Section 2. Each initiate is to be appointed by the President to serve on at least one of the standing committees following his initiation in order that he might learn of the chapter activities.

Section 3. The president shall be empowered to appoint any other committees he deems necessary.

Article VI: Finances

Section 1. Initiation fees

  1. Initiation dues for active membership in the society shall not exceed seventy-five dollars ($75). This sum shall is a one time membership fee to cover pin and certificate as well as chapter dues.
  2. Initiation dues for alumnus members shall not exceed forty-five ($45) dollars to include the items listed under (a).
  3. All initiation fees shall be payable before the time of initiation, subject to Article VII, Section 1.04 of the Bylaws of the Association.

Section 2. There are no dues assessed by the chapter after the initial membership fee.

Section 3. Dues may be levied upon active members only upon a three-fourths (3/4) vote of the active membership.

Section 4. The treasurer, or his assistant, shall report at every business meeting, giving the chapter’s financial status and noting any delinquency in payment of dues.

Article VII: Eligibility of Candidates

Section 1. The School of Engineering and Applied Sciences must recognize eligible candidates as a third or fourth year.

Section 2. Undergraduate and Graduate candidates must be majoring or obtaining a graduate degree in the curricula offered by the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. This curricula includes and is limited to:

  1. Aerospace Engineering
  2. Biomedical Engineering
  3. Chemical Engineering
  4. Civil Engineering
  5. Computer Engineering
  6. Electrical Engineering
  7. Engineering Physics
  8. Engineering Science
  9. Materials Science & Engineering
  10. Mechanical Engineering
  11. Systems & Information Engineering

Section 3. Candidates must be eligible under the guidelines set down by the National Chapter of Tau Beta Pi under Article VIII of The Constitution and Bylaws and eligibility code.

Article VIII: Election of Members

Section 1. Election of new members shall be held in the fall and spring semesters a soon as possible after grades for the previous term become available.

Section 2. All provisions of Article VIII of the Constitution and Bylaw VI of the Association shall be strictly followed.

Section 3. The Advisory Board shall determine the cases of students whose scholastic eligibility is in doubt because of irregularities in standing or curriculum.

Section 4. Exemplary Character Evaluation:

  1. A get-acquainted meeting shall be held at which the chapter members will meet the candidates. The candidates shall be introduced to the purpose and activities of Tau Beta Pi.
  2. The executive board will identify which candidates are truly interested by interviewing each candidate. These interviews shall provide an opportunity for the executive board to hear what the candidates are interested in doing with the chapter.
  3. At the Chapter’s election meeting, each candidate’s name shall be read and the members shall be asked to make recommendations on the candidates they met during the get-acquainted meeting and activities.

Section 5. Election

  1. At the time of election, the Eligibility Code shall first be read.
  2. The election of senior candidates shall precede the election of junior candidates. Each name shall be presented in the order of decreasing class rank for discussion and shall be voted on before the following name is considered.
  3. After all names have been considered and voted upon, there shall be a second individual ballot, to be taken in the same order, for each student who failed election on the first ballot.
  4. No student who fails election on the second ballot shall be considered further one-fourth (1/4) of the members present so request.
  5. No student who fails the election of the third ballot shall be considered again at this election. He or she may be considered again at the next election if he or she is then eligible.

Section 6. All members shall keep the election results in absolute confidence so that no candidate shall learn of his or her election except by means of the official letter; likewise, no candidate shall be informed of the details of the vote, especially concerning the personal matters discussed at the time of voting.

Section 7. The chapter may assign duties to electees, subject to the provisions of Bylaw VII, Section 7.02 of the Association.

Article IX: Practices

Section 1. Present active members shall be given a copy of the chapter bylaws after each revision. Each candidate for membership shall be required to read the chapter bylaws before his initiation.

Section 2. The vice- president shall see that the initiation equipment is in good condition before passing it on to his successor in office.

Article X: Amendments

Section 1. These bylaws may be amended by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the total active membership of the chapter plus a five-sevenths (5/7) vote of the Advisory Board.

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Date of revision: March 31, 2004

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