PENQUIS VALLEY ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS
Section I – NAME
The organization shall be known as the Penquis Valley Alumni Association, located in towns comprising MSAD #41. Membership eligibility will consist of any person who attended the Penquis Valley High School (to include faculty and staff).
Section II – PURPOSE
The purpose of the Penquis Valley High School Alumni Association is to provide a continuing means of communication and fellowship between alumni and to support the educational efforts of parents and present or past students.
Section III – OFFICERS
The officers of the Association shall be elected by a plurality vote of members present (see section IV) at the annual meeting. All officers are elected for one year terms and their duties shall be as follows:
| PRESIDENT: The president shall call all meetings of the officers and shall preside over all meetings of the Association that occur during the tenure of the president unless unable to do so. The President shall make such arrangements as necessary for programs, activities, banquet, annual meeting, and projects of the Association directly or through delegation of responsibilities, as approved by the officers or voted by the membership.VICE-PRESIDENT: The Vice-President shall preside at called meetings of the officers of the Association in the absence of the President, and shall perform such other duties as designated by the President. In the event of resignation, disability, or death of the President, he or she shall succeed the President for the duration of the term.
SECRETARY: The Secretary shall keep, maintain, and pass on to any successor a complete set of minutes of meetings of the officers and the membership, together with significant correspondence or other records of the Association, except for the records of the Treasurer. The Secretary shall make written and / or oral reports to the officers and members of such minutes as requested by the President at any meeting of the officers or the membership. TREASURER: The Treasurer shall receive all monies accruing to the Association, shall duly record all receipts and expenditures, shall keep and maintain the financial books of the Association, and shall disburse funds only as authorized by vote of the officers of the Association, or by the membership as a whole, as indicated (see section V), such vote to be recorded by the Secretary in the appropriate minutes, and noted by the Treasurer in the financial records. SCHOLARSHIP CHAIRPERSON: The Scholarship Chairperson shall solicit the membership for donations to the Penquis Valley High School Alumni Scholarship Fund; shall solicit any other appropriate sources of funds or accept such funds from eleemosynary donors; shall deposit all funds collected through the Treasurer of the Association; shall nominate no less than two other members of the Association to constitute, with the Chairperson a Scholarship Committee, such members to be approved by the officers of the Association, to carry out a selection process of possible scholarship recipients from the graduating class of Penquis Valley High School, or in continuing support of a student in higher education who is a graduate of Penquis Valley High School. The Scholarship Chairperson shall present the names of recipients to the officers in an order of priority for final approval, and shall announce such awards at the appropriate time and place as determined by the Scholarship Chairperson and the Principal of Penquis Valley High School. MEMBERSHIP CHAIRPERSON: The Membership Chairperson shall be in charge of acquiring new members for the Associaiton through advertisement, word of mouth, or any other approved means. PAST PRESIDENT: The Past President shall be the immediate past president of the Association and shall be an officer of the Association for the first year only after having served as President, in order to provide greater assurance that the objectives of the Association, and particularly any projects started or continued during his or her tenure as President may be given continuity, although this provision in no way limits the prerogatives of the current officers. |
Section IV – ELECTION OF OFFICERS
Nominations shall be taken at the annual meeting from the general membership. In the event of competing nominations, voting may be by secret ballot for such officers as may have two or more people as candidates. Elections shall be decided by plurality vote for any office. Duly elected officers assume their position at the close of the annual meeting.
Section V – MEETINGS
Meetings of the Association shall be called by the President at a time and place approved by at least three of the six officers of the Association. A quorum of a meeting for officers shall be three of the officers. There shall be at least a five day notice given for a regular meeting of officers. An emergency meeting of officer may be called with approval of at least three of the officers with a quorum of four necessary for any decision to made, and such meeting must have no less than a six hour notice to all officers, with the exception of any officer who cannot be notified because said officer is not at residence or place of business or reasonably available prior to six hours before the meeting.
There shall be no less than a one month notice of the Annual Meeting of the Association by email to the membership and by other means as deemed advisable by the officers of the Association of such meeting. The agenda of the business meeting of the Association shall be determined by the officers and all motions seconded shall be voted and carried by a simple majority of votes of members present. All meetings of the Association shall be conducted under provisions of Robert’s Rules of Order. Any matters which may have significant effect upon perpetuity of the Association or which may bind the Association to continuing financial obligations or which may dispose of assets of the Association shall be brought to the membership at the time of the Annual Meeting for disposition.
Section VI – MEMBERSHIP DUES
Membership dues shall be set at the annual meeting. The initial membership dues shall be $5.00 and shall be payable at the time of the first annual meeting. (Current dues are $10.00, set at the 2008 annual meeting)
Section VII – DISSOLUTION
The Penquis Valley High School Alumni Association may be dissolved by a two-thirds vote of those present at any annual business meeting, and shall be dissolved without action by the members if an annual meeting is not held for three consecutive years. In the event of dissolution, all monies held by the Association at the time of dissolution shall be turned over to that public high school which Penquis Valley High Students shall at that time be attending, to be used to purchase equipment for the school, or to be disbursed in the form of scholarships.
Section VIII – AMENDMENTS
Amendments to these BY-LAWS shall be by a majority vote at annual meetings on Proposed Amendments which will have been sent to the membership no later than the notification of the time of the annual meeting. Such Proposed Amendments may be made by the officers of the Association or by a petition of twenty members prior to notification of the annual meeting.
AMENDMENT I (Approved August 8th, 2008)
This amendment replaces Section VIII of the Association’s Bylaws.
Amendments to these BY-LAWS shall be by a majority vote at annual meetings on Proposed Amendments. Such Proposed Amendments may be made by the officers of the Association or by a petition of twenty members prior to the annual meeting.
AMENDMENT II (Approved August 7th, 2010)
This amendment modifies part of Section III of the Association’s Bylaws.
The portion of Section III that states “shall be an officer of the Association for the first year only after having served as President” is to be replaced with “shall be an officer of the Association until the position is replaced by another President stepping down“.