MIDTESOL By-Laws

ARTICLE I: Membership and Dues

1. A MIDTESOL member shall be any person who has paid dues for the current membership year. All members who are full-time students in graduate or undergraduate university or college study shall be designated student members and shall have all the privileges of individual membership. Membership privileges and benefits categories shall be determined by the Executive Board.
2. The annual dues for each membership category shall be specified by the Executive Board, provided that the increase for any year is no more than 20% for each category.
3. The Membership Year shall be for 12 months beginning with the month a person joins MIDTESOL. The Fiscal Year for MIDTESOL shall be from November 1 of one calendar year to October 31 of the following calendar year, beginning in the year adopted (2002).

ARTICLE II: Terms of Office and Vacancies

1. The Vice President shall be elected annually by the general membership and shall hold office for a term of one year. The Vice President shall succeed to the presidency. The President shall automatically become the Immediate Past President.
2. The Secretary, Treasurer, and Members at Large shall be elected by the general membership and shall hold office for a term of two years. They shall not be elected to more than two consecutive terms of office.  The Members at Large shall represent the geographic areas of MIDTESOL: Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska. The Treasurer and the Member at Large from Iowa and Nebraska shall be elected in even-numbered years. The Secretary and Member at Large from Kansas and Missouri shall be elected in odd-numbered years.
3. The Editors, Exhibitor Coordinator, and Communications Director shall be appointed by the Executive Board and shall serve for terms of three years. They may be reappointed to one consecutive term.
4. The Chairs of Standing Committees, except the Nominating Committee, shall be appointed by the President with the approval of a majority of the Executive Board and shall serve for terms of three years. They may be reappointed to no more than one consecutive term.
5. The Nominating Committee serves only one year. The Conference Committee chairs will serve two-year terms.
6. The term of office of all Officers, Executive Board Members, and other appointments is from 30 days following the close of the Annual Business Meeting to 30 days following the close of the next Annual Business Meeting according to the length of office, that is, 1 to 3 years.
7. A vacancy in any position on the Executive Board shall be filled by an appointment of the President with a two-thirds approval of the Executive Board. Vacancies in the members of the Standing Committees shall be filled by the President. If the office of President becomes vacant, the Vice President shall assume the duties, but not the office, of the President for the remainder of the unexpired terms. The Executive Board shall decide whether to appoint a person for the unexpired term of the Vice President, according to the best interests of the Association.
8. Board member appointments may be terminated for cause at any point during the designated term.  Termination shall be determined by two-thirds approval of the Executive Board and will be effective immediately following vote of termination.  Notice of proposed termination will be provided in writing by the Board President at least 30 days prior to the scheduled vote of termination.  The board member shall have the opportunity to present in writing or in person any relevant information to the Executive Board before final action is taken, but shall not take part in any deliberation on his or her status.

ARTICLE III: Duties of Officers and Executive Board Members

1. President: The President shall preside at the Annual Business Meeting, at all additional meetings of the Association, and at all meetings of the Executive Board. He/She shall serve as the Liaison Officer and other ESOL and educational organizations. She/He shall be the official spokesperson for the Association. He/She must be a member of TESOL. She/He shall appoint all Committee Chairs and committee members, except the Nominating Committee. He/She shall be an ex officio, voting member of all committees, except the Nominating Committee. She/He shall automatically become the immediate Past President.
2. Vice President: The Vice President shall assume all the duties and responsibilities of the President in the absence or disability of the President. She/He shall be an ex officio, voting member of all committees, except the Nominating Committee. She/He shall succeed to the Presidency. He/She shall assist the President as Liaison officer and attend the affiliate meeting at the national TESOL meeting. She/He must be a member of TESOL.
3. Secretary: The Secretary shall record the minutes of the Annual Business Meeting, all meetings of the general membership, and all Executive Board meetings, and shall mail such minutes to all Executive Board members on a timely basis. Minutes shall be provided to any MIDTESOL member, upon request in writing. She/He shall conduct the correspondence of the Association, as requested by the President.
4. Treasurer: The Treasurer shall collect and dispense the funds of MIDTESOL at the direction of the Executive Board. He/She shall deposit all monies received in an accredited financial institution, make all disbursements by check, and maintain proper financial records. She/He shall have all financial records audited annually, as specified by the Executive Board. He/She shall present a written financial report at the Annual Business Meeting and at all other regular meetings of the general membership and Executive Board.
5. Immediate Past President: The Immediate Past President shall advise and assist the President and serve as a resource to the Executive Board and all Standing Committees. She/He shall serve as Chair of the Nominating Committee. He/She must be a member of TESOL.
6. Communications Director: The Communications Director shall act as General Editor of the Communications Committee, overseeing all MIDTESOL publications. She/He shall appoint all Committee Editors with approval by the Board, and approve committee members appointed by the Editors. She/He must be a member of TESOL and attend the Editor’s workshop at the international TESOL annual convention.
7. Members at Large: The Members at Large shall represent the geographic areas of MIDTESOL: Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska. They shall be responsible for promoting membership and helping to ensure membership involvement in the Association. They will assist the Executive Board, as requested, in planning and facilitating MIDTESOL events in their geographic areas, such as mini-conferences or workshops, either as separate events or in cooperation with other organizations. They shall serve as members of the Nominating Committee.
8. Exhibitor Coordinator: The Exhibitor Coordinator shall be responsible for the exhibits and displays of materials at the annual conference and for soliciting advertisements from publishers for the Newsletter and other MIDTESOL publications. He/She shall provide information regarding publishers at the request of the Members at Large to assist them in planning MIDTESOL events in their geographic areas. She/He shall select people to assist in these duties, as needed.

ARTICLE IV: Standing Committees

1. Awards Committee: The Awards Committee shall be composed of a Chair and 3-6 members, who are appointed by the President, and the ex officio members. It shall be responsible for soliciting and screening awards nominations from the membership and making awards recommendations to the Executive Board. It shall secure all awards approved by the Executive Board, notify all award recipients, arrange for their attendance at the Annual Business Meeting, and publicize the awards conferred by the Association.
2. Communications Committee: The Communications Committee shall be composed of the Communications Director serving as Chair and four (4) types of Editors, who are appointed by the Communications Director with approval by the Board. The committee shall be responsible for publicity and communication with the membership and public. The Editors shall include the Website Editor and Marketing, Newsletter, and Proceedings Editors.
   

   • The Website Editor will serve as webmaster of the MIDTESOL website and shall be responsible for timely and accurate content as specified by the Executive Board.

   • The Marketing Editors will be responsible for developing strategies and materials to attract, inform and retain members as well as communicate about MIDTESOL to the public. They will create and maintain membership and annual conference publicity as well as any social media sites. They shall maintain the official membership files and shall provide current address information for official MIDTESOL business at the direction of the Executive Board.

   • The Newsletter Editors shall be responsible for publication of the MIDTESOL Newsletter four times a year. They shall select other people to assist with the Newsletter and other projects, as needed.

   • The Proceedings Editors will oversee the creation of the publication of proceedings from the annual conference, including managing submissions, review, publishing, and dissemination. The Editors may attend Executive Board meetings as nonvoting members.

3. Conference Committee: The Conference Committee shall be composed of a Conference Chair, Program Chair, Registration Coordinator, Volunteer Coordinator, Awards Committee Chair and Exhibitor Coordinator. The Conference Committee shall be responsible for planning and developing the program for the annual MIDTESOL conference and organizing the following year’s conference. Conference and program chairs will be appointed by the Executive Board for a two-year term, with each ending on alternating years. The first year of each term will be a Future Chair position, and second year a Chair position. The Awards Chair and Exhibitor Coordinator shall be appointed by the Executive Board and serve a three-year term, while the Registration and Volunteer Coordinator shall be appointed by the Conference Chair with executive board approval and serve a one-year term.
4. Nominating Committee: The Nominating Committee shall be composed of a Chair who is the Immediate Past President and the Members at Large of the Executive Board. It shall actively solicit from the MIDTESOL membership nominations for all positions on the Executive Board to be filled. It shall prepare a slate of nominees, endeavoring to provide geographic, institutional, and professional balance based on a résumé and at least one reference from a current or former employer to be checked by the nominating committee. It shall secure the Executive Board’s approval of the slate. It shall be responsible for preparing and distributing the ballot to all members along with biographical information of all candidates. The Chair will be responsible for managing the ballots and communicating the results. The Committee shall comply with all other election procedures in the Constitution & Bylaws.
5. Rules and Resolutions Committee: The Rules and Resolutions Committee shall be composed of a Chair and 3-6 members, who are appointed by the President, and the ex officio members. It shall process all content resolutions and shall prepare such resolutions that the membership passes for distribution to the appropriate parties. It shall prepare all courtesy resolutions and plan for appropriate presentation of such resolutions. It shall be responsible for handling all matters, including proposed amendments, related to MIDTESOL’s Constitution and Bylaws. It shall be responsible for securing a Parliamentarian for the Annual Business Meeting at the request of the President.
6. Sociopolitical Concerns and Professional Standards Committee: The Sociopolitical Concerns and Professional Standards Committee shall be composed of a Chair and 3-6 members, who are appointed by the President, and the ex officio members. It shall take responsibility for being aware of and informing the membership of, with the approval of the Executive Board, all matters of public policy of interest to the organization. It shall be responsible for bringing to the attention of the membership information about sociopolitical and professional standards issues.

ARTICLE V: Elections

1. The election of Officers and Members at Large of the Executive Board shall be by a secret ballot prior to the Annual Business Meeting each fall.
2. The Nominating Committee shall prepare and submit to the Executive Board for their approval the proposed slate of nominees. Nominees for Vice President must be members of both MIDTESOL and TESOL, or they shall agree to join both organizations. All nominees must be members of MIDTESOL or shall agree to become a member. All nominees shall be apprised of the duties of their proposed office.
3. The Nominating Committee shall nominate a minimum of two persons, if at all possible, for each office for which there is to be an election. The ballot shall also contain a place for casting write-in votes for each position to be filled.
4. Ballots of the approved slate and a short biographical sketch of each nominee shall be prepared by the Nominating Committee and made available in printed and/or online form to every member at least 21 days prior to the Annual Business Meeting. Ballots in order to be counted must be postmarked no later than two weeks prior to the Annual Business Meeting, while votes cast via online polling must be submitted within the allotted online voting period.
5. The Nominating Committee Chair shall be responsible for counting the votes and shall send the ballots to the President for verification. The election results will be officially announced at the Annual Business Meeting: however, all nominees shall be informed of the election results as soon as possible after the ballots have been counted.
6. In case of a tie for any of the positions to be filled, a runoff election shall be held at the Annual Business Meeting prior to announcing the complete election results. Only members in attendance at this meeting may vote in runoff elections.
7. A simple majority vote shall be sufficient for an election. In all elections, each MIDTESOL member shall be entitled to one vote. There shall be no proxy votes permitted.

Article VI: Interest Sections

1. Interest Sections, according to the members’ professional interests (e.g. elementary, secondary, adult education, higher education, teacher preparation, intensive English programs, refugee concerns, bilingual education, etc.) may be formed and operate within MIDTESOL.
2. Interest Sections will elect their own officers (i.e., chairs, associate chairs), who will direct the activities of the Sections. The Interest Section officers may assist the Conference Co-Chairs in planning the annual convention by providing input as to conference speakers and topics and encouraging the submission of presentation proposals from their Sections. They may assist the Members at Large in planning events in the various geographic areas. They may attend Executive Board meetings as nonvoting members.
3. Interest Sections may promote their interests through conference sessions, a column in the Newsletter, and by any other means approved by the Executive Board.

Article VII: Quorum

1. A quorum shall consist of all members in attendance at the Annual Business Meeting and at any other meeting of the Association.
2. For Executive Board and Standing Committee meetings, a quorum shall consist of a majority of members of the respective group.

Article VIII: Amendments

These Bylaws shall be amended as follows:

1. Amendments may be proposed by: (a) a majority vote of the Executive Board, or (b) a petition signed by any five (5) members of MIDTESOL.
2. Any proposed amendment shall be distributed to all MIDTESOL members at least 21 days prior to the vote on the amendment.
3. A proposed amendment, to become effective, must be ratified by a majority vote of the MIDTESOL members who vote at a business meeting by electronic or mail ballot.