Article I. NAME
This organization shall be known as the Florida Collegiate Honors Council, afterwards referred to as FCHC.
Article II. MISSION
The mission of FCHC shall be: To provide a forum for sharing information about and improving the quality of Honors programs; To provide students with greater opportunities for intercollegiate honors program activities; To collaborate with the regional and national organizations which have similar goals; To encourage articulation and collaborative programming between honors programs a associate and baccalaureate institutions; To increase the public and private awareness of and fiscal commitment to honors programs and projects.
Article III. MEMBERSHIP
Membership shall be open to institutions of higher learning as well as to educationally related foundations and government agencies.
Section 1.
The word “member” shall refer to institutions with an active institutional membership.
Section 2.
Institutional members have voting rights at the Annual Business Meeting.
Article IV. OFFICERS AND THEIR DUTIES
The officers shall be a President, a President-Elect, a Vice President, a Secretary and a Treasurer. Each officer shall be a member of the faculty or administration of any institutional member of the FCHC. Officers shall be elected at the Annual Business Meeting of FCHC.
Section 1.
The President-Elect becomes President at the conclusion of the annual business meeting and shall hold office for one year until a successor is installed. The President shall preside at the meetings of the FCHC, appoint committees, propose policies and projects which fulfill the obligations and purposes of the organization, preside over the meetings of the Executive Board, and serve as a liaison with other honors regional or state organizations.
Section 2.
The Vice President becomes President-Elect at the conclusion of the annual business meeting and shall hold office for one year or until a successor is installed. The President-Elect shall succeed automatically to the office of President upon the election and installation of a new President-Elect. The President-Elect shall preside in the President’s absence, shall ordinarily serve as Program Chair of the Annual Conference, and shall succeed to the office of President should that office become vacant.
Section 3.
The Vice President shall be elected for a one-year term. The Vice President shall ordinarily serve as program chair of the annual conference that will be held the second year following his or her election as Vice President.
Section 4.
The Treasurer shall be elected for a term of at least two years. The Treasurer shall collect and manage all organizational funds.
Section 5.
The Secretary shall be elected for a term of at least two years. The Secretary shall maintain and publish a current membership list including names and addresses of institutional representatives; shall take, maintain and distribute minutes of the annual meeting; shall take and maintain minutes of the Executive Board meetings and distribute to the Board members.
Section 6.
Should a vacancy occur during a term of one of the officers, the Executive Board will appoint a replacement for the remainder of the term.
Article V. EXECUTIVE BOARD
The Executive Board shall consist of the President, Immediate Past President, President-Elect, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, three at-large faculty/professional members, the Scholarship Coordinator(S), the Writing Contest Coordinator(s), and three students. The at-large 2 faculty/professional members and the student members shall be selected respectively from the two-year four-year state, and four-year private institutions. The Executive Board shall formulate policies and projects that fulfill the obligations and purposes of the FCHC.
Article VI. MEETINGS AND ANNUAL CONFERENCE
Section 1.
The FCHC shall normally sponsor an Annual Conference.
Section 2.
The President shall call an Annual Business Meeting, open to all members of the organization, which shall ordinarily coincide with the Annual Conference. The purpose of the Annual Business Meeting shall be to act on motions dealing with organizational matters, to receive reports of the offices and committee, and to the elect officers.
Section 3.
The Executive Board shall meet at least twice each year, once in conjunction with the Annual Conference.
Article VII. AMENDMENTS
Amendments to the Constitution may be proposed, in writing, to the Executive Board. On the recommendation of the Board, such amendments shall be distributed to the membership at least one month before the next business meeting and shall be placed on the agenda of that meeting for discussion and possible minor revisions. Acceptance or rejection of any amendment shall be determined by ballot of membership at the annual business meeting. A majority of those present and voting shall be required to adopt a constitutional amendment.
Article VIII. BYLAWS
Section 1.
Bylaws shall be established as necessary for the transaction of the business of the FCHC.
Section 2.
Changes in the bylaws shall be approved at the Annual Meeting. A majority of those present and voting is necessary to adopt a change.
Bylaws of the Florida Collegiate Honors Council
Article I. TENURE AND FISCAL YEAR
Section 1.
The term of office for all members of the Executive Board shall begin at the completion of the Annual Meeting and continue until the completion of the next Annual Meeting.
Section 2.
The fiscal year shall begin June 30 and end on July 31.
Article II. ANNUAL CONFERENCE
The Annual Conference shall ordinarily take place during early February. The Conference Chair will be responsible for making local arrangements at the site selected for annual conference.
Article III. NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS
Section 1.
The President shall present to the Annual Meeting for the purpose of electing three students for the membership of the Executive Board.
Section 3.
The President shall conduct the election of the non-student members of the Executive Board at the Annual Business Meeting. Election shall be by majority of votes cast. If no candidate achieves a clear majority, the two candidates receiving the most votes will be placed in a run-off election. The results of the election shall be announced to those present.
Section 4.
No officer, having served a complete term, may be re-elected to the same office successively with the exception of the Treasurer and Secretary.
Article IV RULES OF ORDER
FCHC shall be governed by the current Robert’s Rules of Order unless they conflict with the Constitution or the Bylaws. The presiding officer at the Annual Business Meeting shall appoint a parliamentarian for that meeting.
Article V QUORUM
Section 1.
A quorum of the Executive Board shall be five members.
Section 2.
Twenty percent of the membership shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business at any obviously announced meeting.
Article VII INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT
The members of the Executive Board will require outlays of time and money. Before accepting these nominations, candidates for these offices will be required to give verbal assurance of their institutions’ willingness to provide appropriate financial and technical support.
Article VII TWO-TEAR INSTITUTIONS
For all matters before the FCHC, the phrase “two-year institutions” will refer to those institutions that primarily grant Associate degrees.
Article VII OFFICER ROTATION
Normally, the office of the Vice President will rotate annually between individuals from two-year institutions and those from four-year institutions (public and private).