Northern Nevada Mensa Bylaws
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NORTHERN NEVADA MENSA BYLAWS

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Bylaws of Northern Nevada Mensa

  1. Name and Affiliation

    1. The name of this organization shall be Northern Nevada Mensa.
    2. Northern Nevada Mensa shall be a local group of American Mensa, Ltd., and is subject to the Constitution of Mensa, the bylaws of American Mensa, Ltd., and the resolutions adopted by the American Mensa Committee.

  2. Membership

    1. Membership in Northern Nevada Mensa shall be open to all members of Mensa in good standing in the geographic areas assigned to Northern Nevada Mensa by the American Mensa Committee, or as otherwise assigned by American Mensa, Ltd.
    2. All members of Mensa in good standing, regardless of membership in Northern Nevada Mensa, are welcome to participate in the general social activities of Northern Nevada Mensa, with such participation in private homes being at the discretion of hosts or hostesses. However, only members of Northern Nevada Mensa may vote, hold office in Northern Nevada Mensa, or participate in the business activities of the local group, unless they be the National Ombudsman or his surrogate, members of the American Mensa Committee in the discharge of their responsibilities, or at the invitation of the Executive Committee.
    3. There shall be no local dues for Northern Nevada Mensa, however, contributions may be collected to defray the expenses for voluntary activities.
    4. Members shall be entitled to receive a monthly calendar of events, paid for as part of their national dues.

  3. Officers and Elections

    1. The elective officers of Northern Nevada Mensa shall be a Local Secretary, a First Vice-Secretary, a Second Vice-Secretary, and a Treasurer. The Past Local Secretary shall also be a voting member of the Executive Committee.
    2. The Executive Committee shall appoint an Editor, who shall be a voting member of the Executive Committee.
    3. The Executive Committee shall appoint a Mediator/Arbitrator, who shall not be a voting member of the Executive Committee.
    4. The Executive Committee shall appoint other officers and committees as deemed necessary. At a minimum the Executive Committee shall appoint a Program Chair, a Membership Chair, and a Historian. These additional appointed officers shall not be voting members of the Executive Committee.
    5. During August of odd-numbered years, the Executive Committee shall appoint a Nominating Committee consisting of three members, which shall, within sixty days of appointment, nominate at least one candidate for each elective office.
    6. Additional candidates may be nominated by petition of 5% of the members of Northern Nevada Mensa (based on the most recently available membership roster). Such petitions must be submitted to the Nominating Committee for action prior to November 15.
    7. Before ballots are distributed, nominees shall confirm their willingness to serve as officers.
    8. Between November 20 and December 10, ballots shall be mailed to all members of Northern Nevada Mensa for whom membership records are currently available; ballots shall be returned or postmarked by January 1 of the following year.
    9. The distribution, collection, and tabulation of the ballots shall be under the supervision of a special Election Committee of disinterested persons, appointed by the Executive Committee.
    10. Neither members of the Executive Committee nor candidates for elective office in the election can be on the Nominating or Election Committees.
    11. The elective officers shall be elected by plurality.
    12. All officers, elected or appointed, shall turn over all files, office equipment, and materials pertaining to their offices to either their successors or to another member of the Executive Committee no later than four weeks after leaving office.
    13. The elective officers shall serve for two years or until their successors are elected, and their term of office shall begin upon at the first business meeting following certification of the election results.
    14. Each appointed officer or committee shall serve co-terminously with the Executive Committee currently in office, or until a successor is chosen, except that the term of office of an appointed officer or committee shall begin upon adjournment of the first meeting of the new Executive Committee. The Editor's and the Mediator/Arbitrator's terms may continue past the end of the term of a Executive Committee, but may be terminated at any time by vote of the Executive Committee. An appointive officer may be removed from office by either a majority vote of the entire Executive Committee, or by the provisions of Article III.
    15. Failure to maintain membership in Mensa and Northern Nevada Mensa during a term of office, or absences not excused by vote of the Executive Committee from any three regular sessions of the Executive Committee during any twelve-month period, shall constitute forfeiture of office. For other misconduct or other neglect of duty in office, a person may be deposed from office by a procedure including, but not limited to, the filing of charges (with specifications) by at least 5% of the members of Northern Nevada Mensa (based on the most recently available membership roster), the written notification to the officer, a hearing before the Executive Committee or a committee appointed by the Executive Committee, and a ballot vote by the hearing body (voting separately on the charges and the matter of punishment, all matters being determined by a majority). Alternatively, a recall election by the general membership of Northern Nevada Mensa may be invoked, ballots for which must be either a part of the local newsletter or mailed separately to all members of the local group. A recall election may be called by a petition signed by at least ten percent of the membership, citing the reason(s) for such action. Ballots are to be distributed to the members within sixty days of the recall initiation, and are to be returned to an impartial agent of the Executive Committee within thirty days of their distribution. The officer in question shall have an opportunity to make a reasonable response to the charges. If the Local Secretary is removed from office under this provision they shall not serve on the Executive Committee in the position of Past Local Secretary.
    16. A vacancy in office shall be filled by appointment by the Executive Committee.
    17. An independent party appointed by the Executive Committee shall conduct an annual financial review each January. The person appointed to this task shall be someone who was not involved in the issuing or collecting of group funds during the period being reviewed, and shall be provided with the actual statements from the financial institution for this review.

  4. Duties of Officers

    5.

    The Local Secretary shall serve as a liaison with American Mensa, shall act as President and Chief Executive Officer of Northern Nevada Mensa, shall administer the business of Northern Nevada Mensa, and shall preside at meetings of Northern Nevada Mensa and the Executive Committee. The Local Secretary shall be the primary contact between American Mensa and Northern Nevada Mensa, and will pass information between the two in a timely fashion. The Local Secretary shall notify American Mensa within two weeks of the results of elections and changes in local group officers. Should the office of Local Secretary become vacant, the First Vice-Secretary shall assume the duties of Local Secretary until a new Local Secretary is appointed or elected.

    The First Vice-Secretary shall assist the Local Secretary, shall preside at meetings in the absence of the Local Secretary, and shall be responsible for the arrangements for the annual meeting. The First Vice-Secretary shall take minutes of all meetings of Northern Nevada Mensa and the Executive Committee.

    The Second Vice-Secretary shall be coordinator for all Special Interest Groups within Northern Nevada Mensa.

    The Treasurer shall serve as custodian of Northern Nevada Mensa funds, shall maintain financial records, shall disburse funds with the approval of the Executive Committee, and shall provide quarterly financial reports for Northern Nevada Mensa.

    The Editor shall supervise the publication of the local-group newsletter and the publishing of the official business of the Executive Committee.

    The Program Chair shall arrange for the subject and location of the general meetings.

    The Membership Chair shall maintain the membership records of Northern Nevada Mensa.

    The Historian shall record the history and maintain the official archives of Northern Nevada Mensa.

    The Past Local Secretary shall provide advice and counsel to the Executive Committee, and be available for assignments by the Local Secretary. Only the immediate Past Local Secretary shall serve in the position of Past Local Secretary.

    The Mediator/Arbitrator shall pursue local resolution of disputes and shall work to resolve disputes with other groups.

  5. Sessions

    6.

    Regular sessions of the Executive Committee shall convene monthly before the General Meeting of each month, unless the Board orders otherwise.

    Special sessions of the Executive Committee shall convene upon call of the Local Secretary, any three Executive Committee members, or by a minimum of five percent of the current general membership, provided that at least five days notice is given. The agenda for such a session may include only that business for which the session is called.

    The general membership shall convene upon call of the Executive Committee, provided that the annual meeting shall convene at least once each year.

    Meeting notices shall be published in the newsletter

  6. Executive Committee

    7.

    The Executive Committee shall consist of the elective officers, the Past Local Secretary, and the Editor. Each member of the Executive Committee is entitled to vote on all business of the Board.

    All members of the Executive Committee shall be current members, in good standing, of American Mensa, Ltd., and of Northern Nevada Mensa.

    The Executive Committee shall conduct the business of the organization, shall choose the appointive officers, shall determine the date and place of the annual meeting of the general membership, and shall authorize and appoint special committees.

    A quorum for a meeting of the Executive Committee shall consist of three officers.

    The Executive Committee shall publish a financial report in the local-group newsletter not less than twice a year (at approximate six-month intervals); such reports shall contain schedules of income, expenses, and balances for all funds under the control of the local group, including gatherings, scholarship, and other special funds.

    A person may not be elected or appointed to more than one concurrent position on the Executive Committee.

  7. Use of Mark and Logo

    8.

    American Mensa, Ltd., (AML) has granted a royalty-free, nonexclusive license to Northern Nevada Mensa for use of the mark "Mensa" and a logo, consisting of a globe over a stylized "M" within a border, in connection with the services and purposes of Northern Nevada Mensa. AML retains full ownership of the mark and logo and all statutory and common-law rights in the mark and logo.

  8. Parliamentary Authority

    9.

    The rules contained in the current edition of Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised shall govern Northern Nevada Mensa in all cases to which they are applicable and in which they are not inconsistent with these bylaws or any special rules of order that Northern Nevada Mensa may adopt.

  9. Amendment of Bylaws

These bylaws can be amended by instruction of American Mensa, Ltd., or (upon petition of five percent of the current membership of Northern Nevada Mensa) by a two-thirds affirmative vote of those voting; voting shall be by ballot. If the voting is in conjunction with the election of officers, the ballots will be distributed and collected as prescribed in Article III, Section 6 and Section 7. In any case, the ballots shall be mailed to all current members as inserts in, or as part of, the local newsletter or as a separate mailing. Ballots shall be returned to the Executive Committee by a date no less than ninety days after their first publication to the general membership. Tabulation shall be under the supervision of the Executive Committee.

Proposed amendments to these bylaws must be submitted to, and approved by, the American Mensa Committee before the balloting by the local-group membership.

Amendments to these bylaws are not effective until approved by both the American Mensa Committee and the local-group membership, and filing of revised bylaws with the Bylaws Committee and American Mensa.