Engineers Society of Pennsylvania
Constitution
Click here for the ESP By-LawsArticle I : Name, Location and Objective
Section 1
The name of the organization shall be Engineers' Society of Pennsylvania.
Section 2
The headquarters of the Society shall be in the greater Harrisburg area of Pennsylvania.
Section 3
The objective of the Society is the advancement of the science of engineering. Among the means to be employed to attain this end shall be mettings for the presentation and discussion of pertinent subjects, visits to places of interests, activities in the community, and social events.
Article II : Membership
Section 1
The classes of membership shall be Regular, Life and Associate.
Section 2
A Regular Member shall be a person not less than 21 years of age who is engaged in the engineering profession, or who holds a degree in engineering of the allied sciences from an accredited college or university, or who has had at least five years practical experience in engineering work.
Section 3
An Associate Member shall be a person not less than 21 years of age who is engaged in supplying materials and/or services to the engineering profession or the allied sciences.
Section 4
A Life Member shall be a Regular or Associate Member who has reached 65 years of age, who has retired from active employment, and who has been a member for at least 15 consecutive years preceding application for Life Membership. A Life Member shall not be charged dues, and shall remain a member in good standing for life.
Section 5
Regular and Life Members may vote in all Society proceedings and may hold any office in the Society. Associate Members may vote in all Society proceedings and may hold any office in the Society except President, First Vice President and Second Vice President. Associate Members shall not serve as President Pro Tempore at any meeting.
Article III : Admission, Transfer and Resignation of Members
Section 1
Application for membership in the Society shall be on a form prescribed by the Board, summarizing the applicant's education and experience. The entrance free, together with full year or partial year dues, all as set forth in Article I of the By-Laws, shall be submitted with the application.
The application shall be signed by the applicant, and by at least two references. An acceptable reference shall be a Society member, or a non-member engineer of recognized standing. In the event of unfavorable replies from references, or failure to receive replies, the applicant will be called upon to give further references.
The Membership Committe shall investigate each application and report its findings to the Board, whereupon the Board shall vote on the application. Written notice of the Board's action shall be sent to the applicant within one week thereafter.
Section 2
As Associate Members wishing to transfer to Regular Members shall file a standard membership application, listing qualifications to support the request. References shall not be required, but will be considered if they are provided. After investigation by the Membership Committee, the Board shall vote on the application. There shall be no free for this transfer.
Section 3
A Regular or Associate Member shall apply in writing for transfer to Life Membership. The Membership Committee shall verify that the requirements for Life Membership have been met, whereupon the transfer shall become effective without Board action. There shall be no free for this transfer.
Section 4
Notice of resignation by a member shall be reported to the Board, whereupon the resignation shall be accepted without Board action.
Article IV : Members in Good Standing, Removal of Members
Section 1
A member in good standing shall be defined as one whose due payments are up to date. A member whose dues are not paid by the due date specified in Article I of the By-Laws shall be considered not in good standing until dues are paid. Upon payment of all dues in arrears, the member shall be returned automatically to good standing.
Members who are not in good standing shall not be eligible to hold office, serve on committees, sign petitions from nominees, vote by letter ballot, or assist with counting ballots.
Section 2
Any member who remains not in good standing at the end of the fiscal year shall, on order of the Board, be dropped from the Society. One month prior to the end of the fiscal year, all members not in good standing shall be notified by letter that they will be dropped unless their dues are paid by the end of the fiscal year.
If approved by the Board, a former member will be reinstated to good standing upon payment of all dues in arrears and any other indebtedness to the Society. In lieu of reinstatement, a former member may re-apply as a new member, subject to all requirements of Article III, Section 1 of this Constitution.
Article V : Officers and Board of Directors
Section 1
Elected officers of the Society shall be a President, First Vice President, Second Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Financial Secretary, and six Directors. The Board of Directors shall consist of the aforementioned 12 elected officers and the last two living Past Presidents.
Section 2
The term of office shall be one year for all offices except Director, and three years for Director. Two of the six Directors shall be elected each year.
Section 3
No more than three Associate Members shall be on the Board at any one time.
Section 4
The President, Vice Presidents and Treasurer shall not be eligible for re-election to succeeding terms in the same office.
In unusual circumstances, the Board may override the requirements of this Section if at least 2/3 of all Board members vote in favor or doing so.
Article VI : Nomination and Election of Officers
Section 1
Officers shall be elected by the membership by means of a letter or email ballot, as set forth in the remainder of this Article, and according to the timeline contained in the Officers and Directors Handbook.
Section 2
The Nominating Committee shall propose a slate of nominees, one for each office, for consideration by the Board. The Committee shall verify that each candidate is a member in good standing, will accept the nomination, and will accept the office if elected.
The Board may add nominees if the Committee's proposed slate is incomplete, and may also select other nominees to replace those proposed by the Committee. Upon Board approval, the finalized slate shall become the Board's official slate of nominees, and this official slate shall be mailed to the membership.
Section 3
Write-in nominations from the membership shall be accepted, provided that none of the Board's nominees shall be nominated by petition for any other office at the same election. Write-in nominations shall be accepted for a period of at least two weeks after the Board's slate has been mailed out.
Write-in nominations shall be accepted by the Board with no special action. The Nominating Committee shall verify that each write-in nominee is a member in good standing, will accept the nomination, and will accept the office if elected.
Section 4
The final ballot shall consist of the Board’s slate of nominees, plus all approved write-in nominees.
The Secretary shall conduct the balloting according to Article III of the By-Laws. After ballots have been mailed out, at least two weeks shall be allowed for their return.
Section 5
Write-in votes shall be accepted, but only for offices having no approved Board nominee. Before including write-in votes in the vote count, the Secretary shall verify that each person whose name is written in is a member in good standing.
Section 6
In case of contested elections, the President shall appoint two tellers who are not current Board members to participate with the Secretary in validating the ballots and counting votes for the contested offices.
Section 7
Upon receiving the vote count from the Secretary, the Board shall, for each office, declare that the nominee with the most votes is elected. The Board shall break any tie votes by secret ballot.
Results of the election shall be included with the mailing that announces the Annual Meeting.
Section 8
Newly elected officers shall be introduced and take office at the Annual Meeting. Terms of office shall run until the next Annual Meeting.
Article VII : Nomination and Election of Officers
Section 1
Should any vacancy occur among nominees after ballots have been sent out, or among elected officers before taking office, the vacancy may be filled by a member of the Society, elected by the Board with at least 2/3 of all Board members voting in favor.
The Board may instead leave the vacancy unfilled, to be addressed by the new Board according to Section 3 of this Article.
Section 2
In case of an election for which the final ballot was incomplete, and remains so after including valid write-in votes, the vacant positions shall be left unfilled until the new Board takes office, and shall then be addressed by the new Board according to Section 3 of this Article.
Section 3
Any vacancy among sitting Board members, regardless of the reason, shall be filled according to this Section. However, in unusual circumstances, the Board may override the requirements of this Section if at least 2/3 of all Board members vote in favor of doing so.
Vacancy in the office of President shall be filled by the Vice President.
A vacancy in the office of Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer or Financial Secretary shall be filled by a Director, elected by the Board with at least 2/3 of all Board members voting in favor.
A vacancy among the six Directors may be left unfilled, or may be filled by a member of the Society, elected by the Board with at least 2/3 of all Board members voting in favor.
Section 4
Any elected officer may be removed from the Board for cause, but only if 2/3 of all Board members vote for removal. Valid causes for removal include, but are not limited to, the following:
a) Repeated failure to carry out assigned duties, or duties that have been voluntarily accepted.
b) Repeated absence from Board meetings without acceptable excuse.
c) Non-payment of dues after the second month of the fiscal year.
Article VIII : Amendments
Section 1
Proposed amendments to this Constitution shall be signed by 2/3 of the entire Board, and shall then be passed by the membership by means of a letter ballot. An affirmative vote of 2/3 of all valid ballots shall be required for adoption of an amendment.
Section 2
The Secretary shall conduct the balloting according to Article III of the By-laws. Ballots shall be due to be returned not less than two weeks after they have been sent out.
Section 3
An amendment shall become effective on the date the Board receives notice that the membership has voted in favor, unless otherwise provided in said amendment.