RMACES Bylaws

BYLAWS OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN ASSOCIATION FOR COUNSELOR EDUCATION AND SUPERVISION

A Regional Section of the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision

(Adopted at RMACES Conference, Peaceful Valley Lodge, Lyons, CO, 10/6/70; amended at RMACES Conference, Red Lion Inn, Boise, ID 10/24/81; amended at RMACES Conference, Snow King Resort, Jackson, WY, 10/11/91; approved at RMACES Business Meeting, Baltimore, MD 3/29/92; amended at RMACES Conference, The Village Inn, Breckenridge, CO, 10/7/95)

Article I Name and Purposes

Section 1. Name: The name of this Association shall be the Rocky Mountain Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (RMACES), a Regional Section of the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (ACES).

Section 2. Affiliation: This Association is organized and governed in accordance with the Bylaws of ACES and the American Counseling Association (ACA).

Section 3. Purposes: The purposes of the Association, in accordance with the purposes of ACES and ACA, shall be to advance counselor education and supervision in order to improve, counseling, guidance, and student personnel services in all settings within the Rocky Mountain region--Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming.

Article II Membership

Section 1. Types of Membership: This Association shall consist of four types of membership: emeritus, regular, associate, and student. Special membership may be established by vote of the Association upon recommendation of the Executive Council.

Section 2. Privileges of Membership.

(a) Emeritus members shall be entitled to all privileges of regular members, but shall be exempt from payment of dues and assessments.

(b) Regular members shall have all the rights and privileges normally accorded members of a scientific, educational, and professional association including the right to vote and hold elective office.

(c) Associate and student members will have these same rights and privileges except that they many not vote, hold elective office, or initiate action in meetings of the Association.

Section 3. Requirements for Membership:

(a) To be eligible for membership, a person must be a member of ACA and ACES and reside in the Rocky Mountain Region.

(b) A regular member who has been a member of this Association for 20 years and meets the requirements for emeritus membership in ACA may be accorded emeritus membership in the Association upon vote of the Executive Council.

(i) be a recipient of the doctoral degree conferred by a graduate school of recognized standing based in part upon course work providing preparation for performing the duties in this section;

be a recipient of a master's degree awarded under the same conditions as provided above plus three years of regular employment in professional counseling and guidance activities.

and

(ii) be on the faculty of or affiliated with a college or university and be regularly engaged in the preparation of professional counselors or student personnel workers;

be regularly engaged in performing the duties of a state or national supervisor of guidance, counseling, or student personnel services, or performing the duties of professional assistance to such supervisors;

be otherwise regularly engaged in the professional direction, coordination, or supervision of qualified (in terms of state standards) counselors or other qualified professional guidance or student personnel workers.

The term "regularly engaged," as used in this section, shall mean that the preparation of personnel for counseling, guidance, and student personnel services, or the professional leadership, direction, coordination, or supervision of such personnel clearly constitutes a significant and continuing aspect of the individual's professional employment.

(d) A person who is a member of another division of ACA who does not meet the requirements of sub-section (c), but who expresses an interest in promoting the purposes and activities of this Association may be eligible for membership as an associate member.

(e) To be eligible for student membership, a person shall be actively enrolled in a graduate program leading to a master's or doctoral degree as described in this Section and not engaged in full-time employment.

(f) A regular member may retain this status as long as continuous RMACES, ACA, and ACES membership is maintained. Any regular member whose membership is severed in accordance with Section 5 of this Article and who applies for reinstatement as a regular member shall be required to meet, at the time of reinstatement, the then existing requirements.

Section 4. Membership Procedures: The Executive Council shall prescribe the forms and procedures to be used in approving applications for membership.

Section 5. Severance of Membership:

(a) Failure to pay dues as prescribed by the Association and by ACA shall be interpreted as withdrawal from membership. Reinstatement shall be by renewed application.

(b) Any member may be expelled by two-thirds vote of the membership present at a regularly scheduled business meeting of the Association for any conduct that tends to injure the Association, that affects adversely its reputation, or that is contrary to or destructive of its objectives according to the bylaws and Code of Ethics of the Association or of ACA. Before such vote can be taken, expulsion may be recommended by the Executive Council after a review of the case by the Council. Review of the case by the Council shall involve giving the person in question an opportunity to appear before the Council to answer the charges. The foregoing shall not be interpreted as an abridgement of the member's right to appeal to the general membership at the meeting at which the report of the council is under consideration.

Article III Officers

Section 1. Elective Officials: The elective officials shall be a President, a President-Elect, and an Executive Secretary. A full term of office shall be a year for the President, a year for the President-Elect, and three years for the Executive Secretary, or until their successors regularly assume office.

Section 2. The President: The President shall be the chief executive officer of the Association and chair its Executive Council. The President shall preside at all meetings of the Association and its Executive Council and shall be an ex-officio member of all committees. The President shall report annually to the membership.

Section 3. The President-Elect: The President-Elect shall act as President at all Association or Executive Council meetings in the absence of the President and shall succeed to the presidency at the expiration of the term as President-Elect.

Section 4. The Secretary: The Secretary shall be appointed by the President, upon approval of the Executive Council, to serve during the President’s term of office. The Secretary shall keep a permanent record of proceedings of all meetings of the association, the Executive Council, and its Executive Committee, and shall perform such other duties as assigned by the President and/or by the Executive Council.

Section 5. The Treasurer: The Treasurer shall be appointed by the President, upon approval of the Executive Council, to serve during the President’s term of office. The Treasurer shall receive all dues and money and shall disburse the some only on order of the Executive Council. The Treasurer shall make a financial report at the annual meeting of the Association, shall maintain a roster of the members of the Association, and shall perform such other duties as assigned by the President and/or by the Executive Council.

Section 6. The Executive-Secretary: The Executive-Secretary shall maintain the permanent records of the Association, including files of current membership, Bylaws, minutes of previous meetings, a list of policies, and the Association’s Archives. The Executive-Secretary shall make these files (except the Archives) available to meetings of the Association, Executive Council, and Executive Committee, and shall keep the officers informed of past activities bearing on current decisions and of pending events requiring action.

Section 7. Nominations and Elections:

(a) The Nominations and Elections Committee shall supervise the nominations and elections procedures for filling the elective offices of the Association.

(b) The procedures and forms to be used and the schedules to be followed in carrying out the provisions of sub-section (a) shall conform with those established by ACA and by sub-section (c).

(c) The RMACES President generally rotates through the states in the following order: Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, New Mexico, Utah, and Idaho. For President-Elect nominations, the nominating committee will solicit nominations from the state delegation, according to the existing state rotation system. If no active candidate is presented from that state, nominations will be opened to the membership-at-large (October 8, 1983 Business Meeting). In selecting nominees, the committee shall take into consideration qualifications for the office, number of nominating votes received, geographical location, field of interest, and consent of the proposed nominee.

Section 8. Vacancies in Unexpired Terms: The President-Elect shall succeed the President for any unexpired term and continue as President for the term for which elected. In the case of a vacancy in any other elective office, the Executive Council shall have power to fill the same until the next election, and persons thus appointed to office shall be eligible for election to succeed themselves for one full term, except Executive-Secretaries who may succeed themselves indefinitely.

Article IV The Executive Council and Executive Committee

Section 1. Functions of the Council: The Executive Council shall be the agency through which the general administrative and executive functions of the Association shall be carried out. It shall perform the responsibilities assigned to it by these Bylaws and shall conduct, manage, and control the business of the Association. It shall meet at least once during each annual meeting of the Association.

Section 2. Membership of the Council: The Executive Council shall be composed of the President, President-Elect, Secretary-Treasurer, immediate Past President, any elected ACES representative of the Region to the ACES Executive Council, a representative of each State Division or State of the Region (not already represented by one of the other members of the Council), and the Executive Secretary serving without vote.

Section 3. The Executive Committee:

(a) The Executive Committee of this Council shall consist of the elected officers of the Association and the Executive-Secretary serving without vote.

(b) Between meetings of the Association, the Executive Committee shall carry out the policies and decisions of the Executive Council.

Article V

Meetings of the Association

Section 1. Dues and Assessments:

(a) Annual dues shall be determined by the Executive Council subject to the approval of a majority vote of the membership at the annual business meeting.

(b) The Executive Council shall not establish any increase in Association dues unless such action is approved by the majority of the members voting in a mail ballot or at a scheduled meeting of the Association.

Section 2. Quorums:

(a) A quorum for conducting business meetings of the Association shall be the members present.

(b) A quorum for conducting business by the Executive Council or Committee shall be a majority of the members.

Section 3. Reports: The Executive Council and the Chair of each standing committee shall submit reports at the annual business meeting and at such other times as the President may direct.

Section 4. Fiscal Year: The fiscal year of the Association shall coincide with the fiscal year of ACES.

Section 5. Location of Annual Meetings: The RMACES annual meetings shall alternate between Jackson, Wyoming and a Colorado resort in the Keystone area. When a national ACES conference is held, however, the RMACES meeting schedule will be postponed for that year.

Article VI Committees

Section 1. Standing Committees: The standing committees of the Association shall be as follows:

(a) A Nominations and Elections Committee

(b) A Membership Committee

Section 2. Committee Functions: The work of the standing committees may be described as follows:

(a) The Nominations and Elections Committee shall be responsible for carrying out nominations and election procedures. The membership shall consist of the Executive Committee.

(b) The Membership Committee shall actively promote membership in the Association. The Committee shall review applications for membership and determine the acceptability of such applications. The membership shall consist of the Executive Committee.

Section 3. Special Committees: Special committees may be authorized by the Association or by the Executive Council. Such committees shall continue for not more than two years, unless otherwise specified in the motions establishing such committees.

Section 4. Appointment of Committee Members: With the exception of special committees designated by the Association, all committee members not otherwise designated shall be appointed by the President with the approval of the Executive Council.

Section 5. Terms of Chairperson: The chairperson of each committee, appointed by the President with the approval of the Executive Council, shall serve for a period of one year but may be reappointed to succeed to another term.

Article VII Amendments

Section 1. Amending Procedures: These Bylaws may be amended from time to time as follows:

(a) The Executive Council may propose amendments for approval by the Association.

(b) Proposed amendments may be submitted to the Executive Council through the Association President, or upon petition signed by at least 10 voting members of the Association. Such proposals shall be submitted at least 30 days prior to the meeting of the Association at which such amendments are to be discussed.

(c) At least 15 days prior to Association action, the proposed amendment and the Executive Council recommendation shall be made available to all members of the Association.

(d) Proposed amendments recommended by the Executive Council shall be acted upon by the Association by either of the two following methods:

(i) By the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the members present at a scheduled meeting of the Association.

(ii) By the Affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the members voting in a mail ballot, provided that the proposed amendment shall have been discussed at an Association meeting unless the Executive Council declares that emergency action is required.

(e) The Association may, by action at a scheduled meeting, provide that a proposed amendment not supported by the Executive Council be submitted for approval by mail ballot in accordance with (d) (ii) above.

Article VIII Rules of Order

Section 1. Robert's Rules of Order, Revised: (by Henry Martin Robert) shall govern the proceedings of the Association except when otherwise specified in these Bylaws or the Bylaws of ACA.