Association for Science Teacher Education – Northwest Region Bylaws
Article I. The Organization
Section 1. The name of this Association shall be: Northwest Region of the Association for Science Teacher Education (NW-ASTE; hereinafter the Association)
Section 2. The mission of the Association is to promote leadership in, and support for those involved in, the professional development of teachers of science.
Section 3. This Association shall be a region of ASTE and shall be governed in accordance with the national bylaws and by these bylaws.
Article II. Officers
Section 1. The only elected offices for the Association will be the Director and the Elections Officer.
Section 2. The Director and Elections Officer will serve at the discretion of the Association for a term of three years, both commencing in June. The terms of office will be staggered such that the Director is elected the first year and the Elections Officer is elected the third year of the Director’s term.
Section 3. The same person cannot fill the positions of Director and Elections Officer simultaneously.
Section 4. The Director may serve for a maximum of two consecutive terms.
Section 5. The Elections Officer may serve for an unlimited number of consecutive terms.
Article III. Powers and Duties
Section 1. The Director shall:
(a) Promote the purpose of the Association within the limits of these bylaws
(b) Be the legal representative of the Association
(c) Preside at the annual meeting
(d) Call for and preside at other Association meetings as deemed appropriate and necessary
(e) Maintain a list-serve of the membership
(f) Represent the region on the Committee of Regional Units
(g) Organize the nominating/voting for Elections Officer, as outlined in Article VI.
Section 2. The Elections Officer shall be responsible for:
(a) Soliciting nominations for Director
(b) Submitting a slate of all interested parties to the members for an email vote
(c) Collecting and tabulating the votes for Director.
Article IV. Membership
Section 1. The Membership in the Association shall be open to all persons concerned with science education, particularly those residing in the Northwest region of the United States and neighboring Canadian provinces.
Section 2. Anyone wishing to become a member of the Association should send a note to the Director requesting membership. The Director will see that the person’s email address gets added to the list-serve.
Section 3. Anyone wishing to terminate their membership with the Association should send a note to the Director requesting same and the Director will have their name removed from the list-serve.
Article V. Election of the Director*
Section 1. Nominations for Director will be solicited by the Elections Officer from the Association membership via email in March.
Section 2. The Elections Officer will submit a slate of all interested parties to the membership for an email vote. Voting will commence in April, with a deadline of voting no less than 2 weeks after sending out the slate.
Section 3. The Elections Officer will be responsible for collecting and tabulating the votes. The new Director will be chosen by a simple majority vote.
Section 4. The membership will be notified of the results of the voting via email as soon as possible after tabulation.
Section 5. The current Director will work with the in-coming Director until the new Director assumes full responsibility June 1.
Article VI. Election of the Elections Officer**
Section 1. Nominations for Elections Officer will be solicited by the Director from the Association membership via email in March of the second year of the Director’s term.
Section 2. The Director will submit a slate of all interested parties to the membership for an email vote.
Voting will commence in April, with a deadline of voting no less than 2 weeks after sending out the slate.
Section 3. The Director will be responsible for collecting and tabulating the votes. The new Elections Officer will be chosen by a simple majority vote.
Section 4. The Director will notify the membership of the results of the voting via email as soon as possible after tabulation.
Article VII. Annual Meeting
Section 1. The Association will hold an annual meeting during the AETS annual meeting.
Section 2. Additional meetings can be held on an as-needed basis as suggested by either the Director or the membership.
Article VIII. Communication
Section 1. The main method of communication among members will be via the list-serve.
Section 2. Any member of the Association is welcome to contact the Association membership via the list-serve. Postings must be limited to matters pertinent to the mission of the Association.
Article IX. Amendments to the Bylaws
Section 1. Any member may propose amendments to these bylaws by posting same on the list-serve.
Section 2. The Director will facilitate a discussion of the proposal, either via e-mail or by placing it as an agenda item for a special or annual meeting.
Section 3. The member proposing the amendment may chose to remove the proposal any time before the amendment is brought to a vote.
Section 4. The amendment will be sent via e-mail to the membership by the Director, noting a deadline for returning a vote.
Section 5. The Director will collect and tabulate the votes as soon as possible after the close of voting.
Section 6. Simple majority rule will be used to determine the fate of an amendment.
Section 7. The membership will be notified of the results of the voting via email as soon as possible after tabulation.