NORTH-CENTRAL SECTION BYLAWS
Established by Council on April 30, 1966

ARTICLE I Name and Organization

1. The name of the section is the North-Central Section of The Geological Society of America, Inc.
2. This section of The Geological Society of America, Inc., is organized in accordance with Article VIII of the Bylaws of that Society and is governed by the provisions of that article.

ARTICLE II Geographical Limits

1. For purposes of scientific fellowship and discussion, the limits of the section shall correspond with the limits of the general Society. Meetings shall be open to all Members, Fellows, Honorary Fellows, Student Members, and Associates of the Society and their guests for attendance and participation, the presentation of papers, and conduct of field conferences.
2. For the purposes of administration, the section shall include those Members, Fellows, Honorary Fellows, Student Members, and Associates residing in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Wisconsin, the Province of Manitoba, and the western portion of the Province of Ontario (west of the 89th meridian).

ARTICLE III Membership

1. Members, Fellows, Honorary Fellows, Student Members, and Associates of the Geological Society of America residing within the geographical limits of the section shall normally be members of the section.
2. Members, Fellows, Honorary Fellows, Student Members and Associates of the Society who reside outside the geographical limits of the North-Central Section may become members of the section, with all the rights and privileges pertaining thereto, upon written request to the Society. In so doing, they relinquish their rights and privileges in the section wherein they reside unless they desire to continue non-voting affiliation therein. Those who reside within the geographical limits of the North-Central Section but who wish to be voting members of another section may likewise do so and will thereby relinquish their rights and privileges as members of the North-Central Section. Student Members or Associates may serve on committees as conferees and shall have all the rights and privileges afforded Members, Fellows, and Honorary Fellows, except to vote and to hold office in the section. [The society is changing the status of students to Members with voting privileges.]

ARTICLE IV Officers and Management Board

1. Officers. The officers of the section shall be a chair, a vice-chair, and an executive secretary. The secretary shall also act as accounting officer of the section. All officers shall be voting members of the section.
2. Management Board. The management board shall be composed of the officers of the section, the immediate past chair, the immediate past vice-chair, the past secretary for the first year after his/her term(s) of office end(s), and three voting members of the section elected at large.
3. Terms of Office. The chair and vice-chair shall each be elected for one-year terms and shall not be eligible for re-election. The secretary shall be elected for a four-year term by the management board. The secretary shall not serve more than two terms consecutively. An unexpired term of any officer shall be filled by appointment by the management board. An interrupted term of office of a secretary shall be filled by a pro tempore appointment by the management board. The members-at-large of the management board shall be elected to serve overlapping three-year terms.
4. Duties of the Officers. The chair shall preside at meetings of the section and the management board. He shall be responsible for arrangements at the annual meeting. The vice-chair shall assume the powers and duties of the chair in the event of the absence or disability of the chair. The vice-chair shall also serve as program chair [for the annual meeting]. The secretary shall collect and disburse all funds of the section and shall keep records of all receipts and disbursements. The secretary shall keep records of the proceedings of the section and shall act as secretary of the management board. S/He shall notify the officers and membership of election results and shall arrange for issuance of notices of all meetings of the section. The secretary shall act as the executive officer for the section, and represent the section to the Society and to the Council.

ARTICLE V Committees

1. Local Committee. The local committee shall be appointed by the section chair, with the advice of the management board, at least twelve months before the annual meeting. The chair of the section shall be chair of this committee.
2. Nominating Committee. At the time of the annual meeting, the management board shall appoint a nominating committee of five voting members, at least one of whom shall be a present or past officer of the section, and one of these five shall be designated as chair.
3. Ad Hoc Committees. The chair, with the approval of the management board, may appoint additional committees when the need arises.

ARTICLE VI Election of Officers and Management Board
[Article VII replaced the former rules for mail-out ballots.]

1. The Chair and vice-chair will be appointed by the host institution for the annual meeting, with the approval of the management board.] The nominating committee will submit, at least ninety days before the next annual meeting, the names of candidates for other offices to be filled for the year beginning with the close of the next annual meeting, with their written acceptance of the nomination. Upon approval of the board, these nominations shall constitute the regular ticket and shall be submitted to the membership for election by the voting members at the annual business meeting. Election is by simple majority vote. The new officers' terms will begin at the end of the current section meeting.

ARTICLE VII Meetings

1. Annual Meeting. The place and time of the annual meeting, and such special meetings as desired, shall be determined by the management board of the section and shall be reported to the executive director of the Society. Announcements and programs of these meetings shall be sent to the members of the section.
2. Annual Business Meeting. The annual business meeting shall be held during the annual meeting of the section.
3. Management Board Meeting. The management board shall meet at the time of the annual meeting, and at such other times as deemed necessary by the chair or by a majority of the board. All members of the management board shall be given adequate advance notice in writing of such meetings.
4. Quorums for Meetings. (a) A quorum for the annual business meeting shall consist of the voting members present and voting. (b) A quorum for the management board meetings shall consist of the chair or vice-chair and at least three other members of the management board.

ARTICLE VIII Finances

1. The expenses of the section, so far as they shall be paid from the general funds of the Society, shall be limited to the ordinary economical expenses of the section meetings and balloting expenses relating to the election of officers. The management board may approve and incur other expenses within the limits of the finances of the section.
2. In accordance with Article VIII, Section 4, of the Bylaws of the Society, funds for the support of the section shall normally be derived from registration fees collected for meetings. The registration fee shall be set by the local committee within the upper limits set by the Council of the Society, with the concurrence of the secretary for the management board. [The sections now receive a partial subsidy from dues to the Society.]
3. Expenses of the section shall include necessary travel by the secretary at rates consonant with those established for the Council.
4. The fiscal year shall begin July 1. [Change in policy of the Society-2000.] At the end of each fiscal year, the secretary shall render to the Council of the Society an account of the section's finances.

ARTICLE IX Annual Report

1. The duly elected officers of the section shall be responsible to the Council of the Society for the conduct of the section. Each year, the secretary shall submit to the Council of the Society an annual report from the section. This report shall include the activities and accomplishments for the previous year and future plans.
2. After each annual meeting of the section, the secretary shall submit a report of the proceedings of the meeting (with the concurrence of the chair and the past-chair) to the executive director of the Society. [Functionally, the reporting requirements have changed: the section annual report is submitted by the fall Council meeting and usually can incorporate the proceedings of the meeting. A separate fiscal report is required at the end of the fiscal year, see Article VIII.4; a financial report on the annual meeting is also required as is a statistical recap of the meeting on attendance.]

ARTICLE X Rules and Amendments to the Bylaws

1. Rules. Rules supplementing the bylaws may be adopted, amended, or rescinded by a majority vote of the management board of the section.
2. Amendment of Bylaws. Two kinds of amendments of the bylaws of the section may occur:
   1. Mandatory amendment of bylaws reflects changes in the Constitution or Bylaws of the Society and must be incorporated into the section bylaws. Such changes will be made by the management board and announced to the members at the next annual meeting. After approval of such changes by the management board and approval by a majority vote of voting members present at the annual meeting, such changes in the bylaws will be submitted to the Council of the Society for ratification, and thereby adopted by the section.
   2. Optional changes in the bylaws of the section may be proposed by the management board or by written petition to the management board signed by at least twenty-five voting members of the section. After approval by the management board, the proposed changes shall be submitted to the voting members by mail ballot and shall be approved by a simple majority vote. The accepted changes shall then be submitted to the Council of the Society for ratification, and thereby adoption by the section. All section bylaws must be consistent with the Certificate of Incorporation and the Constitution and Bylaws of the Society.

Established by Council on April 30, 1966.

Bylaws amended on November 10, 1973, October 18, 1975, May 9, 1979, and November 8, 1989. On May 29, 2001, beginning date of fiscal year was changed to July 1 to align the bylaws with a change in GSA policy.

Executive Secretary's 2007 Report to Council (pdf)

Upcoming Meetings

North-Central Combined Meeting; Evansville, Indiana; April 24-25, 2008 (more)