Una Tampa Bay By-laws

UNITED NATIONS ASSOCIATION of the UNITED STATES of AMERICA Tampa Bay Chapter BY-LAWS July 15, 2007

ARTICLE I - NAME AND AFFILIATION The name of the organization shall be the Tampa Bay Chapter of the United Nations Association of the United States of America Incorporated.

ARTICLE II - PURPOSE AND FUNCTION The purpose of the Association is as follows: To study and promote the fundamental basis of peace with justice and the machinery necessary for its development. The Association shall carry on educational and informational activities so that the people of the United States of America and their government may participate to the greatest extent practicable in the United Nations and other official international and regional organizations functioning in various fields of international cooperation and international law. The Association in order to implement its over-all purpose conducts programs of research, study, and information to: (a) heighten U.S. public awareness and increase public knowledge of global issues and their relation to the United Nations system; (b) encourage, where appropriate, multilateral approaches in dealing with those issues; (c) build public support for constructive U.S. policies on matters of global concern; and (d) enhance the effectiveness of the United Nations and other international organizations.

ARTICLE III - MEMBERSHIP QUALIFICATIONS: Membership is of two kinds: 1. Members (either individuals or families) a. Membership is available to any United States resident. b. Membership in the chapter carries with it membership in the National Association and in the Florida Division UNA-USA. 2. Member Organizations

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a.

Organization memberships are open to local units of national organizations in the United Nations Association Council of Organizations and to other local groups supporting the purposes of UNA-USA.

b.

Service fees and voting rights within the chapter for member organizations will be determined by the Chapter Board of Directors.

MEETINGS: 1 .An annual business meeting of chapter Members shall be held prior to the end of the fiscal year at which officers and other members of the board, and three persons for the Nominating Committee for the next calendar year are elected. This meeting shall be held in November. 2. A minimum of six meetings a year in addition to the annual meeting shall be held to carry out the educational program and business of the chapter. 3. Notice, purpose and agenda for chapter business meetings shall be circulated to each member at least seven days in advance of the meeting. This may be done by email or fax. 4. A quorum for purposes of conducting business at the Annual meeting shall be ten per cent of the chapter membership as of January 1 of that year. A quorum for board meetings shall be a simple majority of voting members present. 5. Minutes shall be kept of all business meetings, and be approved by the Board at its next meeting. Attendance at the meeting and disposition of all action items shall be recorded. Minutes shall be maintained on file for at least five years. Minutes may be taken by anyone other than the president. Copies of minutes shall be provided the President within 10 days after the meeting and to the members of the Board at least seven days before the next meeting. If provided by email, the minutes shall be provided in MSWord or similar compatible word processor in common usage.

ARTICLE IV - OFFICERS QUALIFICATIONS: Any member of the chapter upon election. POSTS:

President Vice President(s)

Secretary Treasurer

TERM: One year, with the privilege of re-election for three additional consecutive terms for the 2

same office. Officers shall take office the first day of the fiscal year following election unless stipulated otherwise by motion of the Annual Meeting. NOMINATIONS: By the nominating committee, which shall be composed of five members: two to be appointed by the president, and three chosen at the previous Annual Meeting by the membership at large. The Chairperson shall be appointed by the President from these five with Board approval. The Nominating Committee shall stipulate which of the Vice President nominees is nominated as the First Vice President. Additional nominations may be offered by a member from the floor at the annual meeting provided they are seconded by at least two other members and are agreed to by the persons being nominated. ELECTION: By a majority vote of the members present at the Annual Meeting. REMOVAL: An officer or director may be removed from the Board by two-thirds (2/3’s) vote of the board present under the following conditions: a) The board by majority vote of those present and voting has voted no confidence in the individual in question; or b) The board by majority vote of those present and voting has voted abusive or other misconduct, or abusive violations of the by-laws on the part of the individual in question; or c) Continued non-attendance (more than three consecutive unexcused as determined by the Board) at meetings. RESIGNATION: Any Officer wishing to resign shall notify the Secretary in writing and schedule a time to properly conduct any final business that involves the Chapter. The Secretary shall promptly notify the President and other members of the Board in writing of the resignation, except in case of the Secretary resignation, notice shall be submitted directly to the President and the Board in writing. The President shall request recommendations from the Nominating Committee for a replacement of the resigning officer. The President shall then present a nominee for replacement to the Board for approval to serve until the next annual election. The position of President is handled as an exception under VACANCIES below. “Sabbatical leaves” for an officer shall not be granted.

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VACANCIES: For the presidency, the Vice President (or First Vice President, if there is more than one) shall assume duties as acting President until the board of directors has the opportunity to elect a new president. Vacancies of other offices above shall be filled by the board of directors in the manner described under RESIGNATIONS above.

ARTICLE V - BOARD OF DIRECTORS FUNCTION: To conduct the affairs of the chapter QUALIFICATIONS: Any member of the Chapter in good standing, provided that the Board shall include the President of the Young Professionals for International Cooperation (YPIC) and at least one University or College student member. The UNA-USA Student Alliance Representative or their designee from each University or other Institution of Higher Learning may sit on the Board as a non-voting ex-officio. The Board of Directors may designate a non-voting ex-officio student member from any University or other Institution of Higher Learning that does not have an active UNA-USA Student Alliance. NUMBER: At least ten but not more than fifteen including officers, who are automatically members by virtue of their office, but excluding ex-officio members. NOMINATION:

Same as for officers in Article IV.

ELECTION: Same as for officers in Article IV. However, in addition to the elected members, the president may appoint members of the board with Board approval within the NUMBER listed above. TERM:

One year, and may serve an unlimited number of successive terms.

MEETINGS: Normally the board meets once a month, except during the summer. However, special meetings may be called at the discretion of the president or any four members of the Board providing that the purpose of such meeting must be clearly stated in the notice. REMOVAL: Members of the Board of Directors shall be automatically removed from the Board if their attendance at Board meetings falls below 50 % for any 12 month period. The Board may by motion dually adopted waive this for one year. In addition, the board may deal with removal of directors in the same manner as for officers. See Article IV. RESIGNATION: The same rule applies to resignation of members of the Board of Directors as for Officers, See Article IV. A “sabbatical leave” from the Board requires approval of the Board of Directors in order to be granted and must be for a specific period 4

of time and may only be approved for what the Board determines to be an emergency. . ARTICLE VI - COMMITTEES ACTIVITIES: To organize projects and activities in specified areas of the Association's program for the membership and for the community. APPOINTMENT: Committee chairpersons shall be appointed by the president as needed with the approval of the Board. Committee chairpersons, if not already members of the board, serve on the board ex-officio without a vote. Committee chairpersons shall appoint their own Committees with the approval of the Board. Committees may include but need not be limited to the following: Program: To organize educational programs for members and the community at large, including the annual celebration of United Nations Day, Oct. 24. Publicity and Media: To publicize chapter activities and the work of UNA-USA generally and to try to ensure balanced coverage of the United Nations and global affairs. Membership: To work to increase membership of the chapter. Budget and Finance: To raise and manage chapter funds, and to work with the treasurer to draft the annual budget. NGO Relations: To work with local non-governmental organizations to further the purposes of the Association. Advocacy and Governmental Relations: To inform both elected representatives and chapter members about U.S. Government activities related to the UN system and UN activities. University and College Relations: To work with local colleges and universities to promote better understanding of global problems through teaching about the U.N. and Model UN Programs. Education and Youth: To work with students and teachers in high schools and middle schools in the area and particularly with the Florida High School Model United Nations, Global Classrooms Curriculum and similar UN educational programs. Newsletter: To publish a monthly newsletter for distribution to chapter members, interested organizations and others.

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Arrangements: To arrange accommodations for meetings, and to organize and operate a telephone tree to alert members to upcoming events. (1) New or Ad Hoc Committees may be created with the approval of a simple majority of the Board of Directors. (2) Dissolution of Committees may only occur when 2/3rds of the Board of Directors in attendance at a Regular Board meeting declares a committee as (a) no longer active, (b) no longer needed, or (c) its purpose is redundant with that of another committee.

ARTICLE VII - FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATION FISCAL YEAR: The fiscal year of the chapter shall coincide with the calendar year (January 1 - December 31). RECORDS: All income and expenses shall pass through the checking account, and a check-deposit register maintained of all income and expenditures. All moneys received are to be deposited promptly. All Chapter moneys are to be accounted for using a PC computerized accounting system approved by the Board. Bank accounts are to be reconciled monthly and a Treasurer’s Report providing an Income-Expense Statement and Ledger shall be provided monthly to the Board of Directors. There shall be three authorized signatures approved by the Board and provided to the Bank. All checks shall be serialized and issued sequentially signed by the Treasurer unless the Treasurer designates either of the other two authorized signers to serve as a substitute for a single check or for a limited period of time. An annual audit of the records shall be conducted in February of each year for the previous fiscal (calendar) year by an experienced member of the Chapter appointed by the President and approved by the Board. The Chapter will maintain an Income and Expense line item in the Accounting structure for the Young Professionals for International Cooperation (YPIC). The Chapter Treasurer, or in lieu thereof, the Financial Liaison of YPIC shall do the accounting for YPIC, immediately deposit in a branch bank of the Chapter’s depository checking account all moneys received for YPIC, and forward without delay a copy of the deposit slip to the Chapter Treasurer. The person serving as Financial Liaison for YPIC will provide a written monthly report to the YPIC President. Checks for YPIC expenses will be issued by the Chapter Treasurer at the written or email request of the YPIC President. FUND RAISING: All fund raising by Chapter members in the name of the UNA shall have prior approval of the Board of Directors. This excludes YPIC activities which are subject to their own By-Laws. BUDGET: A proposed budget for the ensuing fiscal year developed in conference with the Officers shall be submitted to the Board by the Treasurer at the November meeting for approval. A copy of the adopted budget and the annual report shall be filed with the 6

National Office of the Association within 90 days after the close of the fiscal year by the President with a copy to the Board. DUES: Annual membership dues and distribution of such shall be established by the National Convention of the Association or by the National Board of Directors.

ARTICLE VIII – RULES OF ORDER and PROCEDURE The most recent edition of Roberts Rules of Order shall be controlling for all meetings. The president shall at the beginning of each calendar year appoint a Parliamentarian approved by the Board of Directors.

ARTICLE IX - OPEN ATTENDANCE POLICY Attendance at all Board and general Membership meetings shall be open to all Members and the public; however, only Board Members and Ex-officio Members of the Board will participate in Board Meetings unless requested to participate by the Board. Participation in the Annual Business Meeting and elections shall be limited to Chapter Members.

ARTICLE X - RATIFICATION AND AMENDMENT OF BY-LAWS By-laws shall be adopted by a two-thirds vote of those present at any membership meeting of the chapter, provided that they have been approved by the National Office of UNA-USA and that all members shall have been notified 14 days in advance of the meeting. By-laws may be amended through the same procedure as for adopting the By-laws by a two-thirds vote of those present at the Annual or Special Called membership meeting of the chapter. §§§ Original Adopted Nov. 23, 1996 Approved by UNA-USA Letter from Jim Olson dated July 5,1997 Amended version Approved unanimously by the Board of Directors at the Regular Meeting on Apr 28, 2007 Amended version Approved by UNA-USA National via Email from Dinesh Kumar on June 18, 2007 Approved by Membership July 15, 2007

UNA By-Laws Tampa Bay Chap Approved by Membership July 15, 2007

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