PSUMTA - UMA -

Our by-laws dictate a list of nominees for chapter-wide elections is presented at the annual membership meeting. This meeting must happen between 4/15 and 5/15 each year, and the secret ballot for these elections must be held by mid-June.

We will be losing many, if not all, of our Executive Officers this coming year. We believe that it is important that some training happen for the new Officers Elect prior to taking office, and not after they are already seated. We also believe that an Officer Elect has more incentive to shadow the incumbent than an Officer who no longer serves has to mentor or teach.

Per Article 7, Amendments to by-laws may only be made by the Membership at a duly-called meeting with notice of proposed amendment. To this end, we propose the following by-laws changes, to be voted on at the Membership Meeting to be held in Thompson Hall 106, 12-130, November 18, 2011:

Article 5 –Elections:

Current Language:

• In chapter-wide elections of Executive Officers, a list of nominees shall be presented at the annual membership meeting , and nominations will be sought from the floor.

• Chapter-wide elections shall be conducted by secret ballot by mid-June, at places and times accessible to unit members. Absentee ballots shall be made available to regular unit members upon advance written request.

Proposed Language:

Strike the First bullet;

Modify Second Bullet by replacing the word June with the word March; add sentence to replace first bullet;

Add New Bullet:

· Chapter-wide elections shall be conducted by secret ballot by mid-March, at places and times accessible to unit members. Absentee ballots shall be made available to regular unit members upon advance written request. Prior to the election, all candidates will be available to members at a general membership meeting.

· Each Officer-elect shall shadow current officers April 1 through June 30, when they are seated.

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