CUPP
BY-LAWS
Article
I: Name
The
name of this organization shall be called the Council of Undergraduate
Psychology Programs, hereafter referred to in this document as "the Council."
Article
II: Purpose
1.
To promote the development of undergraduate psychology by providing a forum for
discussion of matters of interest and concern to undergraduate programs in
psychology,
2.
To promote effective leadership of undergraduate psychology programs by
providing a forum for undergraduate psychology chairpersons and program
directors to exchange ideas, and
3.
To interact with and to make recommendations to appropriate officers, boards,
and committees of national and regional professional psychological associations,
representatives of government agencies, foundations, and other organizations and
persons on topics relevant to the interest and activities of undergraduate
programs in psychology.
Article
III: Membership
1.
Departments with undergraduate baccalaureate programs in psychology, in
institutions, accredited for such purpose by their regional accrediting
association, are eligible for membership in the organization. Acceptance as a
member of the Council requires a written application, payment of dues, and
notification by the Secretary-Treasurer.
2.
The representative of the member department or its equivalent is normally the
chairperson of the department or the director of the undergraduate program. The
representative of the department who is unable to be present at a meeting of the
Council may appoint a designee to represent the department. Each department
shall have a single vote, regardless of the number of programs therein.
3.
Members of the Council may resign at any time by sending written notice to the
Secretary-Treasurer.
Article
IV: Dues
1.
The annual dues for each fiscal year shall be determined by the members at the
immediately preceding Annual Meeting. Such dues will be recommended to the
members by the Steering Committee. If members take no action on this matter at
the Annual Meeting, the dues shall be the same as they were for the previous
year.
2.
Dues for each fiscal year are payable upon receipt of notice thereof from the
Secretary-Treasurer. Dues statements should be mailed by the Secretary-Treasurer
as soon as is practicable after January 1.
3.
The Secretary-Treasurer shall notify in writing members who are in arrears in
the payment of dues approximately one month after the deadline for the payment
of dues. Any member who is in arrears for two successive years will be dropped
automatically from the membership roster and will be sent notice of action by
the Secretary-Treasurer. Any member so removed may be reinstated by re-applying
for membership and paying the dues for the current year.
Article
V: Officers
1.
The officers of the Council shall be Chair, a Past-Chair, a Secretary-Treasurer,
and six Regional Coordinators, one for each geographical region specified by the
American Psychological Association.
2.
The chair shall be elected from the Council membership by the members of the
Council.
The
Chair's term of office shall be two years. Normally, the Chair will have served
two years on the Steering Committee and will serve as Past-Chair for the
following two years. Chairs are eligible for re-election, but at least one year
must intervene between the completion of the term of Past-Chair and the
beginning of a term as Chair.
The
Chair shall schedule and preside at all meetings of the Council and Steering
Committee; direct and oversee the activities of the Council and Steering
Committee; schedule programs at the annual conventions of the national
psychological associations, as agreed upon by the Steering Committee; make
appointments to all national committees with the approval of the Steering
Committee; and perform such other duties as are ordinarily assigned to the
office. The Chair shall present a report at the annual business meeting that
summarizes the activities of the organization during the Chair's term of office.
3.
The office of Past-Chair shall automatically fall to the Chair at the end of
his/her term of office.
The
Past-Chair's term of office shall be for two years.
The
Past-Chair shall be available to assist the incoming Chair with the transition
and shall serve as the Chair of the Nominations and Election
Committee.
4.
The Secretary-Treasurer shall be elected from the Council membership by the
members of the Council.
The
Secretary-Treasurer term of office shall be two years. The out-going Secretary-
Treasurer shall be available in the year following the term of office to assist
the incoming Secretary-Treasurer with the transition. The Secretary-Treasurer
shall be eligible for re- election, but may not serve more than two successive
terms of office.
The
Secretary-Treasurer shall take minutes of all meetings of the Steering Committee
and the Council; coordinate the membership operations of the Council, include
collecting dues and application for Council membership, notifying applicants of
Council membership, maintaining a roster of current members, and publishing a
Membership Directory; have custody of the funds of the Council; make such
expenditures as may be authorized by the Council and/or Steering Committee; keep
a record of the financial operations of the Council; and prepare an annual
financial statement for the annual business meeting.
5.
The terms of office for the Regional Coordinators shall be two years, except
that in the first election following the adoption of these by-laws changes,
three Regional Coordinators shall be elected for one- year terms. Regional
Coordinators shall be eligible for re-election, but may not remain in office for
more than two consecutive terms.
The
Regional Coordinator shall be elected by the CUPP members in their regions and
shall begin their terms of office on September 1 following their election. To
stagger their terms one half of the Regional Coordinators shall be elected in
alternate years.
Regional
Coordinators shall serve as the principal administrative officers in their
respective regions. They shall arrange for and preside at the annual meeting in
their regions; schedule programs as needed at the annual meetings in their
regions; be responsible for keeping CUPP members in their regions informed about
CUPP-sponsored regional activities; recruit new members for CUPP from their
regions; and submit to the Chair by July 1 an annual report of the activities in
their regions.
As
voting members of the Steering Committee, the Regional Coordinators also
participate in the deliberations and decisions of that group.
If
a Regional Coordinator moves out of his/her region for 30 days or more, or is
unable or unwilling to continue to perform the duties of office, the vacancy so
created shall be filled by a member of CUPP appointed by the Chair and approved
by the remaining members of the Steering Committee. The officer so appointed
shall continue in office during the remainder of the unexpired term. Serving in
this capacity shall be regarded as a term of office in determining eligibility
for re-election at a future time only in case the period of service is more than
half a term.
Article
VI: Steering Committee
1.
The Steering Committee shall consist of the national officers elected by the
Council (Chair, Past- Chair, and Secretary-Treasurer) and six Regional
Coordinators.
2.
The term of office shall be for two years, beginning on September 1.
3.
Membership on the Steering Committee is terminated if a member is no longer the
representative of the member department.
4.
Vacancies on the Steering Committee will be filed by the Chair and approved by
the Steering Committee for the remainder of the vacant
term.
Article
VII: Committees and Other Operations
1.
There shall be a Nominations and Elections Committee consisting of three members
of the Steering Committee, one of whom will be the Past-Chair, who serves as
Chair of the Committee.
2.
There shall be a Newsletter, normally published in October and March.
An
Editor of the Newsletter shall be appointed by the Chair with the approval of
the Steering Committee. The Newsletter's term of appointment shall be for one
year, and he/she may be re-appointed for an unlimited number of terms.
3.
There shall be a Clearinghouse to assist members in obtaining information about
issues of interest to department chairs and program coordinators. The resources
of the Clearinghouse will consist of written materials and individuals
knowledgeable about relevant issues.
There
shall be a Clearinghouse Coordinator appointed by the Chair with the approval of
the Steering Committee. The Clearinghouse Coordinator's term of appointment
shall be for one year, and he/she may be re-appointed for an unlimited number of
terms.
The
Clearinghouse Coordinator shall be responsible for developing written materials
and establishing a group of resource people. In addition, the Coordinator shall
specify and publish the procedures by which the Clearinghouse
operates.
Article
VIII: Nominations and Elections
1.
The Nominations and Elections Committee shall issue a Call for Nominations for
the national offices of Chair and Secretary-Treasurer and for the regional
offices of Regional Coordinator in those years when a term of office expires.
The Call for Nominations shall be issued not later than March 1 of each year,
except in 1991 because of the transition between by-laws.
The
Nominations and Elections Committee shall develop a slate of at least two
nominees for each position. In drawing up the slate of candidates, the Committee
will be guided by the nominations by mail from the membership and by relevant
policies of the organization. The Committee shall ascertain the willingness of
nominees to serve if elected prior to placing any names on the ballot.
Ballots
shall be mailed to all CUPP members by May 1 by the Nomination and Elections
Committee, except in 1992 because of the transition between by-laws. All members
shall receive ballots for the election of national officers. Only members in
those regions for which a Regional Coordinator is being elected will receive
ballots for the regional officer.
The
election of the Chair and Secretary-Treasurer shall be determined by majority
vote of all members voting in the election.
The
election of Regional Coordinators shall be determined by majority vote of all
members voting in the respective regions.
Completed
ballots shall be mailed to the Chair of the Nominations and Elections Committee.
The Chair shall count the ballots in the presence of at least on other person,
shall report the names of those elected to the Chair, and shall notify the
candidates of the outcome of the election. Election results will be announced at
the annual meeting, except in 1991 due to the transition between
by-laws.
Article
IX: Meetings
1.
The Council shall hold one annual meeting at which time appropriate items of
business will be presented, discussed, and voted upon.
2.
Notices of the annual meeting and other business meeting shall be sent by the
Secretary-Treasurer to the Council members at least three weeks before the date
of the meeting.
3.
A majority vote of the Council members voting is required to pass motions.
4.
The Council may schedule a second meeting at a time and place to be decided by
the Chair with the advice of the Steering Committee. The time, place, and agenda
of the meeting shall be announced by the Secretary-Treasurer. Appropriate issues
may be presented and discussed, but not voted upon at this meeting.
5.
The Steering Committee may conduct a mail ballot of the membership with
circulation of adequate information on the issue involved. The issue will be
decided by majority vote of the mailed ballots received by the established
deadline, which shall be not less than four weeks after mailing of the
ballots.
Article
X: Fiscal Year
The
fiscal year of the corporation shall be the calendar year, unless otherwise
determined by the Steering Committee.
Article
XI: Amendments
1.
These by-laws may be altered, amended, or repealed at any annual meeting of the
Council, at any special meeting of the members called for that purpose, or by
mail ballot, the notice of which shall specify the subject matter of the
proposed alteration, amendment or repeal of the articles to be affected thereby.
2.
A vote of not less than two-thirds of the Council members voting is required to
make such changes in the by-laws.
Adopted:
July, 1991
East Stroudsburg, PA