BYLAWS OF THE TAMPA PC USERS GROUP

 

 

PREAMBLE

 

Articles of Incorporation of TAMPA PC USERS GROUP, INC., were filed with the Secretary of State of the State of Florida on March 20, 1984, for the purpose of forming a corporation not for profit in accordance with the laws of the State of Florida. The document number of this corporation is N02048.This corporation is organized and shall be operated exclusively for charitable, scientific and educational purposes, including, among other things, educational purposes regarding personal computers, systems, software, peripheries, hardware, etc in general and personal computers in particular.

 

ARTICLE I. MEMBERSHIP:

 

 1. Membership is open to the general public provided that they are twenty-one (21) years of age or older; ownership of a personal computer is not a requirement for membership. There shall be three types of membership: Full, Family, and Special.

  

  2. A full member is a person in paid dues status and is hereinafter referred to as a member.

  

  3. A family membership shall be those persons in the same household in paid dues status. Except that only one newsletter will be sent to the household, each person in the household shall be deemed a full member.

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  4. Special memberships shall be conferred by the Board of Directors. Such memberships may include, but are not limited to, members making a significant contribution to the mission of the corporation.

  

 5.  Membership shall be for one year and shall commence from the date that dues and an application for membership is submitted to the treasurer; or from the postmarked date of dues and applications received through the mail which shall be referred to as the anniversary date of membership except that a postmark of February 29 shall be deemed to be March 1 for this purpose.

  

  6. Membership shall terminate one year after the anniversary date of membership except for resignation or expulsion.

  

  7. Renewal of membership submitted with the payment of dues shall extend the anniversary date of membership by one year provided that the renewal is made prior to the end of the membership year or within a (60) sixty day period after the membership year.

  

ARTICLE II. DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS

 

A. The affairs of this corporation shall be managed by a Board of Directors who shall be elected by the members of this corporation and by officers who shall be appointed by the Board of Directors and who shall be members of this corporation. The president of the corporation shall chair the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors shall appoint members to complete the term of any office that becomes vacant.

 

B. The elected officers shall be:

  President

  Vice President

  Secretary

  Treasurer

  Member at Large

  

C. The Board appointed officers shall be:

  Program Director

  Newsletter Editor

  Webmaster

  Librarian

 

D. The term of office of elected officers shall be from the January meeting of any year until the January meeting of the following year; the incumbents shall continue to hold office until their successors are elected.

 

E. The duties of the officers are:

 

 1. President: The president shall foster and promote direction, leadership, education, and organizational goals. The president shall act as the legal head and chief administrative officer; exercise supervision of the corporation and its activities; represent and speak for the organization; preside at meetings of the members; appoint and discharge committees; sign letters or documents necessary to carry out the mission of the organization; and preside as the Chair of the Board of Directors.

  

  2.Vice President: The vice president shall assume the duties of the president in the event the president is absent or incapacitated or at the request of the president and becomes president on the death, resignation, or permanent incapacity of the president.

  

  3. Secretary: The secretary shall serve as the chief recording and correspondence officer and the custodian of the records of the corporation. The secretary shall take such steps as necessary to prepare and certify the correctness of member and Board of Directors meeting minutes; preserve all records, reports, and official documents of the corporation except for those specifically assigned to the custody of others; sign official documents to attest to their Authenticity; and carry on the official correspondence of the corporation as directed, except for those matters assigned to other officers. The secretary shall assume the duties of the president and/or vice-president in the event the president and vice-president are absent or incapacitated and shall become president on the death, resignation or permanent incapacity of both the president and the vice-president.

 

4. Treasurer: The treasurer is responsible for the collection of funds, their safe deposit, and the expenditure of all funds for the organization; and for keeping an accurate record of the collections and expenditures. The treasurer shall submit a report at the Board of Directors meeting and prepare an annual report to the members. The treasurer shall issue payments for bills submitted to the corporation as approved by the Board of Directors or the membership, as per standing policy or special consideration by the Board of Directors.

  

5. Member at Large: The member at large shall serve in the capacity of an Ombudsman for the members of the organization; propose a slate of candidates for the offices of president, vice president, secretary, treasurer; and member at large and perform such other duties as requested by the president and/or the Board of Directors. The member at large shall, to the best of one's ability, be accessible to the members and to bring to the attention of the Board of Directors those matters that the members, for whatever reason, wish to be brought to the Board of Directors rather than have those matters brought to the floor of the regular meeting.

 

6. Editor: The editor shall be responsible for the publication and distribution of the organization's newsletter to members and other organizations as directed by the president. The newsletter shall include, to the extent possible, the date and time of the meeting of members, the agenda, the minutes of the prior meeting, the roster of officers, and any information deemed informative and necessary for the corporation.

 

7. Webmaster: The Webmaster shall be responsible for the maintenance and government of a website for the benefit of the members. The Webmaster shall, to the extent possible, ensure that: the website is governed in such fashion in a manner of good taste and of good moral character, and that notices of meetings, roster of officers and other items of interest shall be posted: anyone accessing the website or discussion group must adhere to the posted rules and regulations governing such access; and shall make recommendations for improvement of any and all services pertinent to the Board of Directors.

 

8. Librarian: The Librarian shall be responsible for providing information of various public domain and shareware files. The Librarian may cause information to be placed on the website as is deemed appropriate.

 

9. Program Director: The Program Director shall have the responsibility, in coordination with the President and/or Board of Directors, of procuring program presentations, door prizes and generally assisting in SIGs and other activities of the Corporation.

 

10. Membership Chairperson: The Membership Chairperson shall promote the welfare of the members, assist in the maintenance of an up-to-date membership roster, keep in contact with the membership as to their wishes, desires, etc.; greet new and existing members at each meeting; maintain current name tags; correspond with members on matters of general interest of the members, and will contact expiring and expired members to maintain membership, and will welcome, greet and introduce new members to the meeting, and will promote publicity and notices of the Tampa PC Users Group. 

 

 ARTICLE III. MEETINGS:

 

1. Regular meetings of the corporation shall be held monthly at such time and place as decided by the Board of Directors who shall notify members through a notice printed on the Website.

 

2. The meetings of the Board of Directors shall be at the discretion of the chair who shall specify the time and place of such meetings and the manner of notice to the directors.

  

3. With the approval of the Board of Directors, meetings of committees and special interest groups shall be at the discretion of the presiding member of each committee and group, who shall specify the time and place of such meetings and the manner of notice to the members of those gatherings.

  

ARTICLE IV. VOTING:

 

1. Voting on normal matters during a meeting of the members shall be by a majority of the members present.

  

2. Voting on candidates for election; the amendment of the bylaws; the discipline, suspension, expulsion or removal of any officer or member; shall be by a two-thirds majority of the members present provided that at least one-tenth of the membership is present for the vote.

  

ARTICLE V. NOMINATION AND ELECTION OF OFFICERS:

 

1. The Member at Large officer, with the advice and consent of the Board of Directors shall propose a slate of candidates for the offices of: President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and Member at Large. The slate of Candidates shall be presented at the October meeting and shall be published in the newsletter

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2. Any member may nominate any other member for office.

  

3. Nominations from the members present shall be taken at the October and November meetings.

 

4. The election of officers shall be held during the annual meeting in December.

  

ARTICLE VI. DUES:

 

1. The Board of Directors shall determine dues for the various types of membership and shall be based on anticipated expenses.

  

  2. Dues shall be paid in advance on a yearly basis except dues shall not apply to Special Memberships as per Article I. 4.

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ARTICLE VII. DISCIPLINE, REMOVAL, OR RESIGNATIONS:

 

  1. Any matter relating to the discipline, suspension, expulsion or removal of any officer or member shall be reviewed by the Board of Directors. It shall then present its findings at the earliest possible meeting of the members who shall decide the issue by vote.

  

  2. The resignation of an officer may be made at any meeting of the corporation.

  

ARTICLE VIII. NEWSLETTER:

 

1.  The Board of Directors shall determine the name of the newsletter.

 

2.  The newsletter shall be the official organ of the corporation

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3. The newsletter to the extent possible shall be published monthly and shall be distributed to each member.

 

4. The newsletter shall contain meeting minutes, notices of meetings and events, a list of officers, and other articles deemed to be of interest to the members.

 

ARTICLE IX.WEBSITE:

 

  1.  The domain name of the website shall be determined by the Board of Directors.

 

  2.  The website shall actively encourage and promote the free exchange and discussion of information, ideas and opinions, except when the content would compromise the national security of the United States; violate proprietary rights, personal privacy, or applicable state, federal, or local laws and regulations affecting telecommunications; or constitute a crime or libel.

 

  3.  The website shall be open to public access and shall be monitored by the Webmaster who shall have the authority and power to exclude access to anyone who violates the rules, good manners and ethics of the Corporation.

  

  4.  Anyone accessing the website shall be responsible for adherence to the rules and regulations of the website as promulgated by the Board and as posted by the Webmaster.

  

  5.  Anyone who violates the website rules and regulations shall be given notice of such infractions by the Webmaster; continued and/or repeated violations shall be just and sufficient cause for suspension or termination of access at the discretion of the Webmaster.

 

  6.  Every user of the website shall explicitly acknowledge that all information obtained is provided as is without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose and that the entire risk of acting on information obtained from this website including the costs of all necessary remedies, if with those who choose to act on such information and not the Webmaster nor the Corporation.

 

ARTICLE X. BYLAWS AND THEIR AMENDMENT:

 

  1. The president shall: maintain the bylaws; provide for their dissemination to the members; provide for their currency of issue; and shall ensure that they are in conformance with the articles of incorporation and the mission of the Corporation.

  

  2. Any member at a meeting may offer an amendment to the bylaws by stating the proposed amendment and giving a copy of it to the secretary. The Board of Directors shall review the proposed amendment and at the earliest practical meeting shall offer its recommendations. The proposed amendment shall be decided by a vote of the members.

 

  3. The most recent addition of Roberts Rules of Order shall be the deciding authority in all matters pertaining thereto except as otherwise stated in the Bylaws.

 

 

Last Edited 10/23/2006

By:  Doug Mullis, Secretary TPCUG