ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION
Section 1: UNEXCUSED ABSENCE (Officer): An officer who has one (1) unexcused absence from any required meeting will automatically lose two (2) points of participation. An officer who has two (2) unexcused absences from any required meetings will automatically forfeit his/her office.
(NOTE: The only acceptable excuses for these events are documented illness, direct class conflict, or unavoidable family commitments (i.e. death in the family, wedding, reunions, etc.). An officer must let the Chapter President know 24 hours prior to the meeting if he/she will not be in attendance.)
Section 2: PARTICPATION/POINT SYSTEM: Points will be rewarded for participation and involvement. At every meeting/event, the Secretary will take attendance and document the points in the point book for the member to receive credit. The point system runs from the first day after national Conference to one 91) week prior to the following National Conference. The points will be tallied at certain times throughout the semester, to update members on their totals.
POINT VALUES:
-Meeting Attendance 1 point each meeting
-Dues paying member 1 point for each semester
-Fundraising activity 1 point/hour or determined by V.P. of Fundraising
-Committee Involvement (Points determined by committee chair and secretary)
-Officers 15 points (see above for deduction of officer points)
Section 3: UNEXCUSED ABENCE (Fundraising activity): Any person who signs up for an activity and does not show, loses one (1) point. A person MUST contact the V.P. of Fundraising at least 24 hours in advance to be excused.
Section 4: EXTENDED OFFICER ABSENCE: Any officer who needs to be excused from the weekly chapter meeting regularly or for an extended period of time must contact the Chapter President. Upon approval, the President will delegate the duties of the officer until they can assume full responsibility again.
Section 1: Officer Grade Requirement: All officers must be registered at the university with at least 8 credit hours and have a minimum 2.25 GPA as required by university regulations in order to hold office.
Section 2: Nominations: A candidate may be nominated for more than one position. If the candidate does not win the position, he/she may run for another position. All candidates must be dues-paying members of PRSSA. Members may nominate an eligible member from the floor with his/her permission by writing in the name of the nominee.
Section 3: Elections: Election of chapter officers and advisors shall be held before April 15, with those elected assuming office the following June 1 for one calendar year. An officer may run again for the position previously held as long as he/she can fulfill a one-year term.
Section 4: Running for Office: Members interested in running for an officer position will complete an application indicating those offices in which they would like to be considered.
Section 5: Assigning Committees: The incoming Chapter President will appoint all chapter members and participants to committees based on student profile forms and member/participant preference.
Section 6: Officer Transition: The officer transition will occur before the end of the spring semester. Outgoing officers will meet with incoming officers to confer individually. It is the responsibility of the President to see that this procedure is followed and that all officers are present. It will be the incoming President’s responsibility to schedule and finish any officer transition that has not yet been completed by a new officer’s predecessor.
Section 7: Voting: All positions will be determined by the majority vote. The president has authority to vote only when a vote is tied. Votes will be confidential if multiple people are running for a position, however, if someone is running unopposed, voting can be done openly.
Section 1: Dues: Member dues are $50. $38.00 must be received at PRSSA Headquarters no later than November 1 for members joining in the fall and March 1 for members joining midyear. Dues are for one (1) calendar year following each deadline payment. Prorating of dues is not permitted. A dues form is sent to each chapter in October and February. Specific directions for submission of dues are on the dues form. The Vice President of Membership is responsible for completion of forms.
Section 2: NSF Check Charges: A member whose check fails to clear, must pay the bank’s late charges within two (2) weeks.
Section 3: Funding for District and National Conferences: To be funded for District Conference, a member must have ten (10) participation points. To be funded for National Conference, a member must fifteen (15) participation points.
Section 4: Budget: A proposed budget must be presented to the Darrow Committee by the second Darrow Committee meeting by the Treasurer.
Section 1: Titles: The chapter shall elect annually a President, Vice President for Professional Relations, Vice President of Public Relations, Vice President of Membership, Vice President of Fundraising, Secretary, Treasurer, National Delegate, and Online Media Manager.
Section 2: Duties and Responsibilities: The duties of the positions listed above shall be such as usually pertain to the offices they hold. Specific duties and responsibilities of these and other officers elected by this chapter shall be cited accordingly within these bylaws, based on local needs and suggestions provided in the PRSSA Chapter Handbook.
A) Chapter President. The duties of the Chapter President shall include but not be limited to: all duties as sighted in the PRSSA Chapter Handbook; attend any leadership seminars or caucus that may reflect on the betterment of the chapter; prepare an annual strategic plan of objectives for the chapter to follow; participate in or designate someone to attend PRSA general meetings at least once a month for each sponsoring PRSA Chapter; preside over Darrow Committee meetings; preside over the general chapter meetings with the help of the Vice President of Professional Relations; present the chapter’s Presidential Awards at the end of each year; keep current of university regulations governing organizations on campus; participate in the induction ceremony of newly inducted members; hold an officer retreat once a semester with the help of the Darrow Committee; keep members updated about PRSSA; evaluate progress of Darrow Committee officers once a semester; attend and help the Treasurer with any financial or allocation requests; preside over officer transition; delegate responsibilities to Darrow officers if an officer resigns or forfeits the office.
B) Vice President of Professional Relations. The duties of the Vice President of professional Relations shall include, but not be limited to: attend any leadership seminar or caucus that may reflect in the betterment of the chapter; perform all duties of the Chapter President if the President is absent or unable to perform his or her duties; assist the President in coordinating and directing committee activities and chapter operations; perform such duties as may be delegated by the president; recommend to the president goals, objectives, plans, and programs for the benefit of the chapter; schedule speakers for general meetings; send letters and thank you note to professionals that have anything to do with duties assigned to his/her office; keep PRSSA informed of any PRSA activity; attend any PRSA meetings and functions.
C) Vice President of Membership. The duties of the Vice President of membership shall include, but not be limited to: attend any leadership seminar or caucus that may reflect in the betterment of the chapter; perform all duties of the Chapter President if the president or V.P. of Professional Relations are absent or unable to perform his or her duties; coordinate and carry out effort to recruit, enlist, and retain membership; create a communications plan to inform members of upcoming events; coordinate social activities for general membership publish chapter telephone director and address book each semester act as an information center for general membership; coordinate and disseminate information about PRSA Associate membership to graduating PRSSA members; complete dues forms that are sent to National Headquarters; maintain phone list and copies of student profiles; maintain a record of chapter members, including the permanent home address of and in-school address of each.
D) Vice President of Public Relations. The duties of the Vice President for Public Relations shall include, but not be limited to: attend any leadership seminar or caucus that may reflect on the betterment of the chapter; writing, editing, and distributing monthly chapter newsletter while school is in session; write press releases on accomplishments of the chapter; direct meetings or activities to local/national media; direct orders for posters, PRSSA stationary, and other printed material available to PRSSA chapters; help promote new membership with slide/tape presentation, brochures, flyers and other appropriate aids; initiate programs to improve relationships between PRSSA and its campus and community publics; maintain and keep up-to-date information on the PRSSA bulletin board.
E) Vice President of Fundraising. The duties of the vice president of Fundraising shall include, but not be limited to: attend any leadership seminar or caucus that may reflect on the betterment of the chapter; create and implement fundraising projects- preferably ones which do not require start-up money; coordinate and carry out chapter fundraising efforts, work with each officer and committee to establish financial needs; develop a budget and set goals for the year of how much money to raise with the help of the Treasurer; contact Presidents of PRSA Akron and Cleveland chapters 1- 1 ½ prior to national Conference. Contact by letters, email, and thank you to any organization that contributes money.
F) Treasurer. The duties of the Treasurer shall include, but not be limited to: attend any seminars or caucus that may reflect on the betterment of the chapter; provide monthly financial reports to the Darrow Committee; collect chapter and national dues at the times specified in the PRSSA National and Chapter bylaws and with the assistant of the Chapter President and V.P. of Membership, completely and accurately prepare the PRSSA membership form that accompanies national dues when forwarded to PRSSA headquarters; provide safekeeping for all chapter funds and keep accurate financial records of all campus and external accounts held by this chapter; attend with the Vice President of Fundraising, any required meetings by university regulations for obtaining funds from Undergraduate Senate or any relating university disbursement of funds committees; collect fees for any chapter special events and fundraisers; disburse funds with approval of the faculty Advisor and/or Darrow Committee or treasurer’s authorization determined by the Darrow Committee; work with the Chapter president and V.P. of Fundraising in preparing the annual budget; help out any committees that may need assistance.
G) Recording Secretary. The duties of the Recording Secretary shall include, but not be limited to: attend any leadership seminar or caucus that may reflect on the betterment of the chapter; record minutes of all Darrow Committee meetings and general meetings and handle the distribution of these minutes (including placing copies on the PRSSA bulletin board for members who cannot attend meetings and keeping them on a disk for posting on the Website; work with Online Media Manager to make sure all permanent documents are recorded and kept in order for files including updates of the local and national handbook; notify PRSSA headquarters and sponsoring PRSA chapter of changes in chapter officers and advisors obtain up-to-date directories from sponsoring PRSA chapters, district and national directories; handle all chapter in-house correspondence; take attendance at each general and Darrow meetings; keep track of the attendance/participation point system; distribute and make PRSSA calendar while school is in session; schedule any intramural activities.
H) Online Media manager. The duties of the Online Media Manager shall include, but not be limited to: attend any leadership seminars or caucus that may reflect on the betterment of the chapter; create and maintain an updated and accurate record of chapter minutes, photographs, anniversaries, news clippings and other information to record chapter’s history and accomplishments; serve as official chapter photographer- acquire pictures at all events and have them developed or posted on Website; create and keep an updated list of chapter history; help out any committee that nay need assistance; update the chapter site weekly while classes are in session and as needed during breaks, updates include: meeting minutes and messages for message board, calendar, member directory, biographies of alumni, photos, contact information, and meetings; conduct semiannual Website evaluations with officers and members.
I) National Delegate. The duties of the national Delegate shall include, but not be limited to: have a through knowledge of the student society and its national bylaws, assist the president in compliance of the national Bylaws; bring to the president’s attention any changes made in the National bylaws; prior to att4ending the national Assembly, confer with Darrow Committee, members, faculty, and professional advisors as to any concerns or sponsoring of the proposed changes in the National Bylaws (it must be placed on meeting agendas two (2) meetings prior to attending conference); attend the National Assembly, District and National Conference and any leadership seminars or caucus that may reflect on the betterment of the chapter; keep in contact with District, National, PRSSA Headquarters, other PRSSA chapter officers and sponsoring PRSA chapters; attend any PRSA functions for the President or V.P. of professional relations in their absence; serve as a liaison between Kent State University chapter of PRSSA and all external organizations, including but not limited to PRSA chapters, National Subcommittees, PRSSA Headquarters; share and disseminate information obtain from conferences to members and Darrow Committee; advise the president on matters of National policy and procedure; plan transportation and hotel accommodations for national and District Conferences; subscribe to FORUM; also, do not hold any other PRSSA office while holding Delegate position.
Established November 1998
Amended January 2000, May 2006