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 CHAPTER 24, Inc., MADISON, WI |
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BY-LAWS OF CHAPTER 24
SOCIETY OF BROADCAST ENGINEERS
MADISON, WISCONSIN
(As amended Aug 2014)(As amended May 2018)
(As amended Aug 2023)
(As amended Jan 2024)
| ARTICLE I Name |
| The name of this organization shall be Chapter 24 of The Society of Broadcast Engineers, herein referred to as the Chapter. |
| ARTICLE II Object |
| The Chapter is a part of a non-profit professional society known as The Society of Broadcast Engineers, herein referred to as the Society. The Society and the Chapter are designed to serve the professional needs of those persons engaged in broadcast engineering. This includes radio, television, and related fields. |
| ARTICLE III Members |
| Section 1. The membership of the Chapter shall be limited to members in good standing with the national office of The Society of Broadcast Engineers, and may include any student and honorary life members. |
| Section 2. Term of membership shall be concurrent with that of the national organization. | Section 3. Those wishing to be included as a member of Chapter 24 must have communicated this desire to the national office of the society.
Index |
| ARTICLE IV Sustaining Membership |
| Section 1. Corporations, organizations, and individuals are eligible to be members of the Chapter's sustaining membership program. |
| Section 2. To participate in the Chapter's sustaining membership program a donation of $50.00 per year is to be paid to the Chapter. The Chapter is unable to provide any refunds. Donations will go into the Chapter's general account. There is no specific or prohibited use of funds generated through this program. |
| Section 3. Sustaining members are entitled to an equal sized advertisement on the Sustaining Member page of the Chapter web site. The advertisement will be generated from a photo copy ready, business card sized master provided by the Sustaining Member with paid application. Advertisements may be reduced equally to allow better use of space and neatness. In addition an electronic "link" to each Sustaining Member will be included in the electronic monthly meeting notice. Each new and renewing Sustaining Member will be announced at the next monthly meeting. |
| Section 4. The Elected Officers may award a Sustaining Membership, for a period of one year, to any organization or individual that provides an amount of service that is deemed equivalent to the value of the yearly Sustaining Membership fee.
Index |
| ARTICLE V Officers and Duties |
| Section 1. The membership of the Chapter shall elect the Officers, which Officers shall consist of a Chairperson, a Vice Chairperson, a Secretary, and a Treasurer for a term of one year. |
| Section 2. The Officers may be elected to consecutive terms. The Chapter Chairperson and Vice Chairperson shall not serve more than two consecutive terms in the same office, or until their successors are elected, after which he or she cannot be elected to the same office for at least two years. The Secretary and Treasurer shall not serve more than three consecutive terms in the same office, or until their successors are elected, after which he or she cannot be elected to the same office for at least one year. |
| Section 3. No officer or chairperson shall receive any compensation for services performed in his or her official capacity, but shall be reimbursed for reasonable expenses incurred in the performance of official duties upon presentation and verification of such expenses. |
| Section 4. The Executive Committee shall consist of the Elected Officers and the Immediate Past Chairperson. |
| Section 5. The terms of office for the elected officers shall run from May 1st of one year to May 1st of the next year. |
| Section 6. The Chairperson shall preside at the regular meetings of the Chapter and shall perform all other duties normally associated with that office. |
| Section 7. The Vice Chairperson shall assume the duties of the Chairperson in his or her absence or incapacity and shall otherwise assist the Chairperson. |
| Section 8. The Secretary shall be responsible for all records and books of account of the Chapter, shall record the minutes of all meetings of the Chapter and the Officers. He or she shall send meeting reports and attendance records to the Society Executive Secretary, and shall keep any other Chapter records as may become necessary. |
| Section 9. The Treasurer shall supervise and be responsible for all accounts and moneys of the Chapter and shall establish such accounts as shall be designated by cooperative agreement of the Officers. A checking account shall be established for the Chapter. All records of the Treasurer shall be open to inspection by members in good standing at reasonable times. The Treasurer shall furnish an annual financial report to the Society Executive Treasurer and keep any other Chapter financial records as may become necessary. The Treasurer shall submit an annual audit report to the Chapter Executive Committee after the election of offices. |
| Section 10. The Immediate Past Chairperson shall be a member of the Executive Committee, for a term of one year (unless the newly elected Chairperson is later elected for a second term, in which case the term of the Immediate Past Chairperson shall be for two years) beginning with the commencement of the term of a new Chairperson. |
| Section 11. A vacancy in an elected office can be filled by either appointment by the Chair or by special election following notification of the members through the meeting notice.
Index |
| ARTICLE VI Appointed Officers and Committees |
| Section 1. Committees, either as standing or special committees, shall be appointed by the Chairperson as necessary. |
| Section 2. The Chairperson of each standing or appointed committee shall be an Appointed Officer. Appointees to the committees must be members of the Chapter. |
| Section 3. The following standing committees are to be appointed by the Chairperson.
b. Certification and Education c. Frequency Coordination d. Webmaster e. Membership f. Sustaining Membership g. National Liaison |
| Section 4. The Membership Chairperson shall retain and be responsible for a Chapter membership database, and periodically collaborate it with the National SBE Office's chapter listing. The Chapter membership database may be used by sustaining members and members in good standing as a source for making job openings known. No Chapter membership database information may be released to any other party. |
| Section 5.The Webmaster shall solicit current industry news to be published on the web site. The web site shall also contain the most recent up to date listing of the Chapter meeting schedule, the monthly meeting announcements, and the minutes of the most recent Chapter meeting. In addition the web site shall contain as much archival material as is practical and available. |
| Section 6. The Frequency Coordinator shall maintain a local frequency database and provide information on request, but shall not assign specific frequencies. |
| Section 7. The Program Chair shall be responsible for procuring the program portion of each monthly meeting. In addition the Program Chair is responsible for sending the monthly meeting announcement in electronic form to all Chapter registered members and Sustaining Members. |
| Section 8. Beyond those stated in this Article, duties of standing and appointed committees shall be defined by the Elected Officers.
Index |
| ARTICLE VII Meetings and Programs |
| Section 1. The Chapter shall normally meet once each month, with the meeting dates, times, and location to be determined as early as practical by the Chapter officers, with advance notice to the Chapter membership. |
| Section 2. Special meetings may be called by the Chairperson, and shall be called upon written request of seven members of the Society. The purpose of the meeting shall be stated in the call. Except in cases of emergency, at least three days' notice shall be given. |
| Section 3. The general order of business at the meetings shall be as follows: b. Report of the Secretary c. Report of the Treasurer d. Reports of Committees e. Unfinished Business f. New Business g Anything For The Good Of The organization h. Business Meeting Adjournment i. Program (if scheduled) |
| Section 4. Ten percent of the registered membership of the Chapter shall constitute a quorum. |
| Section 5. The rules contained in the current edition of Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised shall govern the Society in all cases to which they are applicable and in which they are not inconsistent with these bylaws and any special rules of Order the Society may adopt. |
| Section 6. Monthly membership meetings of the Chapter are to be held in environments in which smoking is not allowed and, as a courtesy to others, smoking will not be allowed at meetings. |
| Section 7. While most functions and programs are open to all members and their guests, there may be times when due to expense or other considerations that the Chapter reserves the right to limit access to certain functions and programs to SBE members only.
Index |
| ARTICLE VIII Nominations and Elections |
| Section 1. A Nominations Committee shall be appointed by Chapter 24 Officers at least 60 days prior to elections for Chapter Officers. This committee shall be made up of at least three Chapter 24 members who are in good standing who are not currently Chapter Officers. The Nominations Committee is responsible for determining how to solicit nominations for Chapter Officers and should attempt, when possible, to nominate two members for each office. |
| Section 2. The Nominations Committee should make ballots along with candidates biographies available to Chapter members through the Chapter website. These items should appear in April in conjunction with the election. |
| Section 3. Elections shall take place beginning the first of April and end at the April Chapter meeting. The preferred means of voting is electronic via the Chapter web site. If any member cannot vote electronically they may download a paper ballot from the Chapter web site. Only Chapter 24 members in good standing are eligible to vote. |
| Section 4. The Nominations Committee is responsible for counting election ballots. Once the ballots have been tallied, the Nominations Committee is responsible for communicating the results to the election candidates. The Nominations Committee should then inform the Chapter Officers of the election results. These results will then be published on the Chapter web site and sent to the SBE National Office.
Index |
| ARTICLE IX Disbursement of Funds |
| Section 1. Payments, purchases, honorarium, reimbursement, of over $300 (Three Hundred Dollars) must be voted on by the general membership. Reoccurring costs to the Chapter of over $300 need only be approved one time by the general membership at the time the proposal is presented; however, any Chapter 24 member in good standing can make a request to the current Chapter Chair for the expense to be brought forth to the general membership for a re-vote. Only one request will be allowed in a given year. If there is an increase to a reoccurring cost, the new expense amount must be voted on by the general membership. |
| Section 2. Payments, purchases, honorarium, reimbursement of between $50 and $300 (between Fifty and Three Hundred Dollars) must be in unanimous agreement by all the elected officers. Reoccurring costs to the Chapter of under $300 need only be approved one time by the elected officers at the time the proposal is made. If there is an increase to a reoccurring cost, the new expense amount must be voted on by the current slate of elected officers. |
| Section 3. Payments, purchases, honorarium, reimbursement of less than $50 per occurrence not to exceed $150 total per month may be executed by any elected officer of the chapter at his or her discretion when it is in accordance with guidelines established by the current elected board of chapter 24. |
| Section 4. At any point that the treasury drops below $500 the above guidelines are no longer active and any expenditure must be voted on by the membership. |
| Section 5. The chapter funds must remain liquid in a "not for profit" account set up for chapter 24 Madison.
Index |
| ARTICLE X Member Awards |
| Section 1. The Chapter Officers, at their discretion, may present an annual Special Recognition Award to a member of the Chapter that they determine to be deserving of such an award. |
| Section 2. Criteria to be used in selection of a candidate for a Special Recognition Award should include the following: 2. Unselfish volunteer work for the chapter 3. Genuine desire for the betterment of the industry, broadcast engineering, and the place of the broadcast engineer 4. Has exhibited involvement in Chapter activities above and beyond the call of duty 5. Has been nominated or is the recipient of a National SBE Award 6. Must be a member in good standing |
| Section 3. The Special Recognition Award should be presented in the form of a plaque or other award deemed appropriate by the elected officers and is paid for with Chapter 24 funds.
Index |
| ARTICLE XI Annual Reimbursement for National Board Members |
| Section 1. Each year, account balance permitting, Chapter 24 will help cover travel expenses of any Chapter 24 member elected to the National Board up to a maximum of $1000.00 annually. The expenses must be related to travel to attend the two annual National Meetings board members are asked to attend. |
| Section 2. Only members of SBE Chapter 24 who are elected to either an Officer or Director Position on the National Board are eligible for this reimbursement. |
| Section 3. The maximum amount of reimbursement from the Chapter 24 treasury for this program will be capped at $1000.00 per year. |
| Section 4. If more than one member from Chapter 24 is voted to either an Officer or Director Position on the National Board, the $1000 maximum provided by Chapter 24 will need to be split equally among board members. |
| Section 5. There will be no reimbursements made for National Board Meetings that are held in Madison as part of the Broadcaster's Clinic. |
| Section 6. The following expenses will be reimbursed up to the limit set forth above: 2.Two nights lodging for attendance at the National Meeting. 3.Meal expenses for the day prior to, the day of and the day after the National Meeting. 4.Receipts will be required upon return from the meeting. Reimbursement will be made by check after all receipts have been reviewed by the current chapter treasurer. |
| Section 7. Reimbursement can only be sought for those expenses, or portion of expenses, not covered by an employer or other sponsoring agent. Index |
| ARTICLE XII Annual Certification Drive |
| Section 1. Each year, account balance permitting, Chapter 24 will reimburse half the application fee to any member of Chapter 24 in good standing who successfully obtains any SBE certification level not previously held by that member. |
| Section 2. Recertification of a currently held certification will not be included in this drive. Only new certification levels for a member will be permitted. |
| Section 3. Only one reimbursement per member will be allowed during a given calendar year. |
| Section 4. The Chapter will limit the number of approved applications to ten a year. |
| Section 5. Reimbursement for half the cost of a given exam will be provided to the member upon presentation of a congratulatory letter from the National Office indicating exam passage and the brief application form available here: (WORD format or PDF format). This letter and application should be forwarded to the Chapter Chair to begin the reimbursement process (if the Chapter Chair wishes to apply for this reimbursement, another officer will review the application and letter for reimbursement). Current Officers |
| Section 6. Approved reimbursements will be sent in the form of a check sent from the Treasurer of Chapter 24. |
| Section 7. SBE Chapter 24 Officers reserve the right to deny any reimbursement that doesn't meet the stated guidelines. |
| Section 8. There is no targeted termination date for this program; however, each slate of newly elected officers will likely review this program and determine whether they desire to continue this membership drive. SBE Chapter 24 Officers reserve the right to terminate or change the guidelines of this certification drive at any point they deem necessary. |
| Section 9. Reimbursement is only offered to Chapter 24 members of goodstanding, and not to any business or entity who pays for, or reimburses, the cost of a certification on the behalf of a member. Index |
| ARTICLE XIII Don Borchert Fellowship |
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In memorial and to honor the founder of the Broadcasters Clinic, Don Borchert, on an annual basis Chapter 24 will contribute towards "the Don Borchert Fellowship." The amount will be set and requested by the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association which administers the Fellowship and assesses the expenses across all four Wisconsin SBE Chapters. This recurring expense will be subject to the guidelines of Article IX (Disbursement of Funds) of these By Laws.
Index |
| ARTICLE XIV Amendment of Bylaws |
| These bylaws may be amended at any regular meeting of the Chapter by a two-thirds vote of the members present and a quorum has been established (see article7; section 4), provided that the amendment has been published on the Chapter web site prior to the vote.
Index |