Petition and Bylaws for an ACM Student SIGCHI Chapter

To: The ACM Chief Operating Officer
From: The Proposed Student Chapter of the ACM SIGCHI
Date:
Re: Petition for recognition of our Chapter to be known as

We request recognition as an official Student Chapter of the ACM SIGCHI, and approval of the bylaws, which are attached. Below are the names of at least three officers that are at this time members or are including a membership application herewith.

Bylaws of the (your school name)
Student Chapter of the ACM SIGCHI

Article I
Name
1. This organization shall be called the (school name) Student Chapter of the ACM Special Interest Group on Computer Human Interactions. In these Bylaws it is referred to as the Chapter; the Association for Computing Machinery is referred to as the "ACM".

Article II
Purpose
1. The Chapter is organized and will be operated exclusively for educational and scientific purposes to promote the following:
[You may change the items below or add to them as long as the general spirit is maintained. See the Constitution, Article 2--http://www.acm.org/constitution--for other ideas you may include.]
a An increased knowledge of and greater interest in the science, design, development, construction, languages, management and applications of modern computing.
b Greater interest in computing and its applications.
c A means of communication between persons having an interest in computing.
2. The Chapter will serve students at (your school name) and other interested persons in the (city/province) community.
3. The Chapter is chartered by the ACM.

Article III
Membership
The provisions of this section must conform to the membership provisions specified in ACM's Bylaws (Bylaw 6, Section 5; ACM Constitution Article 3).
1. Membership in the Student Chapter shall be open to all ACM members, SIGCHI members, and nonmembers. [If you do not want non-ACM members and/or SIGCHI members to vote, you can create an Affiliate membership category.]
2. Voting membership in the Student Chapter shall be granted to chapter members who are also ACM members and/or SIGCHI members.*

Article IV
Officers
1. The officers of this Chapter shall be: Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary, and Treasurer. These officers constitute the Council. A minimum of three officers to establish a Chapter; some Chapters combine the offices of Secretary and Treasurer. Other offices may also be established.
2. All officers of the chapters must be members of ACM and ACM SIGCHI.
3. The officers shall be elected by a plurality of the votes cast at the annual election meeting. They shall take office on (date) and serve for one year.
[It is highly recommended that the Chapter's election be held at the last meeting in the fall with the new officers taking office in January. This provides for a period of transition from the outgoing Council to the incoming Council as well as providing continuity of management and planning over the summer. If your school operates on a quarter or trimester system, choose a timing that serves the same objectives.
4. No member may serve in the office of Chair or Vice Chair for more than two consecutive years.
[Provisions for filling vacancies left by resignations should be included in this article. Provisions for limiting the number of terms that a person can serve in a position also may be included in this article.]

Article V
Duties of Officers
1. The Chair is the principal officer and is responsible for leading the Chapter and managing its activities in accordance with the policies and procedures of the ACM and these bylaws. The Chair shall preside at all meetings of the chapter and of its Executive Council. The Executive Council shall consist of the Chapter officers, the Student Chapter Sponsor, and chairs of the Chapter's standing committees.
2. The Vice Chair shall preside at meetings in the absence of the Chair, assist the Chair in the management of the Chapter, and perform other duties that may be assigned by the Chair.
3. The Secretary shall keep the minutes of all Chapter and Executive Council meetings. Other duties of the Secretary include:
a. Maintaining the records of the Chapter.
b. Preparation of the Chapter's activity report and officer contact information, and submission of these to ACM Headquarters.
c. Submission of any proposed amendment to these bylaws to the ACM Chief Operating Officer. Proposed amendments must be approved before they can be submitted to the Chapter's membership for a vote.
d. Perform other duties as assigned by the Chair.
4. The Treasurer shall collect dues, pay all bills, and maintain the Chapter's financial records. Duties of the Treasurer also shall include:
a. Preparation of the Chapter's Annual Financial Report for presentation to the Chapter at the Annual Election meeting.
b. Completion and submission of the Annual Financial Report to ACM Headquarters.
c. Performance of other duties as assigned by the Chair.

Article VI
Chapter Sponsor
The Sponsor shall be a faculty member or full-time staff member of your school. Each Student Chapter has one Sponsor.
1. The Student Chapter Sponsor shall be a voting member of ACM and SIGCHI, and either a member of the faculty or full-time staff of (your school)
2. The Student Chapter Sponsor shall be selected by the Executive Council immediately following the Election Meeting. The school shall confirm the selection.
3. The Student Chapter Sponsor shall be generally responsible for the activities of the Chapter. Specifically, the Sponsor:
a. helps provide continuity from year to year as student leadership and personnel change;
b. promotes good student-faculty relationships;
c. helps maintain university standards in all activities of the Chapter;
d. exercises financial supervision, if necessary, by:
i promoting prompt payment of bills and collection of dues, and
ii overseeing the settlement of all accounts in the event of dissolution of the Chapter; and
e. represents the Chapter interests to the faculty and administration.
f. for high school chapters and underage students, the chapter sponsor must be in attendance at every meeting that is held in the evening. In the event that the appointed sponsor is not available, another faculty member may chaperone the meeting. If both are not available, a local area professional, previously investigated and approved by the school, can be assigned to chaperone evening meetings.

Article VII
Executive Council
There is no requirement that there be an Executive Council, but if there is one, the Chair would be the presiding officer. If there is no specific Executive Council, the set of officers is the Executive Council.
1. The Executive Council shall consist of the Chapter officers, the Student Chapter Sponsor, and chairs of the Chapter's standing committees.
2. The Term of the members of the Executive Council shall be coincident with the terms of the officers. They shall take office on (date) and serve for one year.

Article VIII
Standing Committees
1. The standing committees of the Chapter shall be Program, Arrangements, Education, Membership, Publicity, etc.
[The number and functions of committees is determined by your Chapter activities and goals. Think about what you want to do this year and in the foreseeable future and establish standing committees that correspond to those activities and the corresponding assignment of duties. Then define the general duties of the committees.]
a. The Program Committee shall plan and make arrangements for the technical programs of the Chapter's meetings in accordance with the membership's interests and the aims of the Chapter as set forth in Article II.
b. The Publicity Committee shall maintain a mailing list and publish and distribute all notices and publicity for and to the members of the Chapter. [Include the descriptions of the other standing committees here.]

Article IX
Temporary Committees
With the advice of the Chapter's Executive Council, the Chair may appoint such temporary committees as appropriate.
1. A Nominating Committee, consisting of at least three voting members of the Chapter, at least two of whom shall not be members of the Executive Council, shall be appointed by the Chapter Chair at least two months prior to the Election Meeting.
[Some Chapters assign this function to the Past Chair, if available, as the person with no other required duties who knows what all the jobs require. The Committee can also be responsible for identifying people who may serve on the various committees.]
2. An Audit Committee shall be appointed by the Chapter Chair at the close of the fiscal year to assure the accuracy of the accounting of the Chapters funds for the year. This Committee should also verify the accuracy of the Financial Report prepared by the Treasurer for submission to ACM headquarters. [Descriptions of other Temporary Committees should be included in this Article.]

Article X
Meetings
1. Meetings shall be held as planned by the Program Committee. The Chapter shall hold meetings only in places that are open and accessible to all members of the Association.* You may have additional local government requirements about openness to the public and accessibility for the handicapped.
2. The Annual Election meeting should be held at the last meeting of the semester. At this meeting, the Secretary and Treasurer each shall present the required reports. Also, the election of officers shall be held. Written notices of all meetings shall be distributed to all members at least one week prior to any meeting.

Article XI
Disbursements and Dues
1. Disbursements from the Treasury for Chapter expenditures shall be made by the Treasurer with authorization of the Executive Council and shall be included in the minutes of its meetings.
2. Dues shall be fixed annually by the Executive Council.

Article XII
Amendment and Voting Procedures
1. All proposed changes to these Chapter Bylaws shall be approved by the ACM Chief Operating Officer.*
2. No official business of the Chapter shall be conducted unless a quorum is present. A quorum of the Chapter shall be defined as ______percent of the voting membership of the Chapter or at least _______members, whichever is greater.
3. A simple majority of the voting members present shall be required to carry a motion.
4. Officers will be elected by a plurality of votes cast.

Article XIII
Dissolution of the Chapter
1. Dissolution of this Chapter by consent of the members shall consist of unanimous agreement of all its officers together with a majority vote at a meeting which has been publicized in advance to all members of the Chapter for the purpose of taking this vote.
2. Should this Chapter be dissolved, its assets and liabilities shall be transferred to ACM and shall be supervised by the ACM Director of Finance.*

*Mandatory Statement

Please mail petition, bylaws and applications (if necessary) to:

ACM/Local Activities
2 Penn Plaza, Suite 701
New York, NY 10121-0701
or FAX at: 1-212-944-1318