Chapter Bylaws

The name or this organization is the McGill University Student Chapter of the American Society for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T).

The purpose of the Student Chapter is to provide an organization through which student members within the McGill University School of Information Studies community may participate in and carry forward the programs and purposes of ASIS&T. The Student Chapter shall promote the interests of the Society and its programs, including every reasonable effort to involve students of information science who are located within its community.

Section 1. All student members of ASIS&T whose academic affiliations are within the community established by these Bylaws shall automatically be members of the Student Chapter.

Section 2. In addition to Student Members, the Student Chapter must include one Regular Member of ASIS&T who shall serve as Advisor, but who shall not hold a vote in the Student Chapter.

Section 3. All members of the Student Chapter shall receive Student Chapter publications and official notice of Student Chapter meetings.

Section 4. Only Student Members may vote on any question submitted to the Student Chapter at a meeting (or by mail/email) and only they may serve as officers.

Section 5. A Student Chapter Member whose membership in ASIS&T has been terminated shall no longer be a Student Chapter Member.

Section 1. The Officers of a Student Chapter shall include, inter alia, a presiding Officer to be known as the Student Chapter Chair, a Chair-elect, and a Secretary-Treasurer, and a Webmaster. Chapter Officers shall serve for one Administrative Year. The Student Chapter Officers shall constitute the Executive Committee.

Section 2. The Student Chapter Chair shall see that an annual financial report of the Student Chapter, as part of the annual report, is filed with the Headquarters within thirty days of the close of the ASIS&T fiscal year.

Section 3. The Student Chapter Chair shall preside over all meetings of the Executive Committee. The Chair shall appoint the Chairs and Officers of all committees, subject to the provisions of these Bylaws, and subject also to the consent of the Executive Committee.

Section 4. The Chair-Elect shall actively assist the Chair, shall preside at Executive Committee or Student Chapter meetings in the absence of the Chair, and shall automatically succeed to the Office of Chair upon completion of the Chair's term, or upon the death or resignation of the Chair.

Section 5. The Secretary-Treasurer shall carry out the customary functions of these offices and shall execute the decisions and policies of the Executive Committee.

Section 6. The webmaster shall carry out the functions of designing, creating and implementing a Student Chapter website.

Section 7. The Officers of the Student Chapter must be Student Members. They shall be elected by a plurality of members present and voting at a Student Meeting or by mail/email ballot. The report and recommendations of the Nominating Committee shall be distributed to all voting members of the Student Chapter with a ballot or with a notice of the Student Chapter meeting at which a vote is taken. Additional nominations may be submitted in writing or via email or made from the floor.

Section 8. In the event of the death or resignation of an elected Student Chapter Officer other than the Chair, the Executive Committee shall appoint a member to serve until the next election.

The Executive Committee shall provide for an Annual Business Meeting. The Annual Business Meeting shall not occur within fifteen days of the ASIS&T Annual Meeting. Written notice of the Annual Business Meeting shall be distributed to all members of the Chapter not fewer than 30 days before the date of the meeting. Special business meetings of the Chapter may be held at such times and places as the Executive Committee may determine, upon 15 days prior notice to the members.

Section 1. All Student Chapter dues and assessments shall be set by two-thirds of the members present and voting at an annual meeting or voting by mail/email ballot, becoming effective the next succeeding January 1. Student Chapter dues may be assessed against any ASIS&T member who is a Student Chapter Member, but non-payment of such dues shall not deny such member the privileges of Student Chapter membership, except that the Student Chapter shall withhold the privilege of voting and holding office for nonpayment of such dues.

Section 2. The Student Chapter may collect monies from persons and institutions who are not members of the Society to place them on a mailing list for meeting notices and other mailings, but such persons and institutions shall have no vote in Student Chapter meetings or in mail/email balloting.

Section 3. The fiscal year for the Chapter shall be in conformity with the fiscal year of ASIS&T.

Section 4. The Executive Director of ASIS&T must be a signatory on all Chapter accounts.

Section 1. The Executive Committee of the Student Chapter shall consist of the Chapter Officers. The Executive Committee shall conduct and manage the affairs of the Student Chapter, subject to these Bylaws, and shall possess all powers necessary or incidental to that purpose, including the right to appropriate and expend Student Chapter funds.

Section 2. The standing committees of Student Chapters shall include a Nominating Committee and such other standing committees as the Executive Committee or the membership may determine.

Section 3. The Nominating Committee shall consist of a Chair and two Student Chapter members, designated by the Student Chapter Chair. This Committee shall present a list of nominees to the members of the Chapter, as provided in Article IV, Section 7. The Nominating Committee, at its discretion, may present more than one candidate for any one office.

The Student Chapter retains its charter at the discretion of the ASIS&T Board of Directors. In the event of dissolution of the Student Chapter, the assets of the Student Chapter shall, after satisfaction of all just liabilities and obligations thereof, be paid into the general treasury of ASIS&T.

For matters not covered under these bylaws, the ASIS&T Bylaws will be followed.

These Bylaws may be amended by an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members of the Student Chapter voting on the proposed amendment. Such amendment may be proposed by petition of a minimum of ten percent of the Student Chapter members filed with the Chair, or by proposal of the Executive Committee of the Student Chapter or the ASIS&T Board of Directors. Such amendment shall be voted upon by mail/email ballot within 60 days after receipt by the Chair. The Student Chapter Secretary-Treasurer, shall prepare and distribute via mail/email a copy of the proposed amendment together with an invitation to vote via mail/email ballot to each voting member of the Student Chapter setting forth a date not less than 20 nor more than 30 days from the date of the mailing of the ballot, by which date all valid ballots which are returned are counted. No amendment to these Bylaws may take effect unless and until it has been certified by the ASIS&T Board of Directors as being in harmony with the Charter, Constitution, and Bylaws of ASIS&T. If so certified, the amendment shall be effective as of the date of the next regularly scheduled meeting of the Student Chapter.