School of Medicine Alumni Chapter

Stony Brook University Alumni Association

BYLAWS

ARTICLE I
Name

The name of the Chapter shall be:

School of Medicine Alumni Chapter,
 STONY BROOK UNIVERSITY ALUMNI ASSOCIATION

ARTICLE II
Mission

Section 1.  Mission
The mission of the Chapter shall be:

1. To advance the interests of the School and, through the School, the interests of professional education in medicine.


2. To foster professional and social contacts among alumni.


3. To show a personal commitment to the School of Medicine by supporting the fund-raising activities of the School and encouraging others in that effort.


4. To support its medical students directly.

ARTICLE III
Membership

Section 1.  Membership

1. Regular full membership will constitute those persons who have received an MD or Ph.D. from the School of Medicine. All graduates of Stony Brook University School of Medicine are members of the School of Medicine Alumni Chapter.


2. Graduates of residency and fellowship training programs at Stony Brook University Hospital shall be granted membership in the School Of Medicine Alumni Chapter as “house staff alumni.” House staff al


3. Honorary status shall constitute those persons who have had this designation conferred by the Alumni Board. Honorary members shall neither be voting members nor serve as elected members of the Alumni Board.

Section 2.  Enrollment to active membership: 

1. All chapter members must submit and maintain valid email addresses and contact information to be considered active members.

ARTICLE IV
Officers

Section 1. Eligibility

Active Board members who are graduates of the School of Medicine are eligible to become officers. Students, housestaff alumni and honorary members are not eligible to be officers.

Section 2. Titles

Officers of the Chapter shall be President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, Nominations Committee Chair and Alumni Faculty Representative.  These officers shall constitute the Executive Committee.

Section 3. Term of Office

1. The term for all officers shall be two years and shall be filled in succession as follows: President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary. An officer may opt out of advancing in succession. If any office remains open, it will then be filled via a nominations and election process. Nominations for office may be made by any voting member of the Board to the Nominations Committee Chairperson. All active chapter members who are graduates of the School of Medicine are eligible to vote and will be sent a ballot. Election will be determined by majority vote.


2. When an office falls vacant in the middle of a term, it shall be filled at the discretion of the executive committee by succession or election.  If the new officer assumes office by early succession to fill a vacancy, he/she will complete the remaining term and then will complete the term of office that he/she would have been expected to have served during normal succession.  Any position that remains open will be filled by the same process outlined above in Section 3a.


3. All retiring Alumni Board members will be awarded “Emeritus Status” and will be consulted for their expertise as needed following their terms of office.


4. Nonvoting Student Representatives will be invited to join the Alumni Board for one (1) year terms with the ability to serve consecutive terms.

ARTICLE V
Duties of Executive Committee Officers

Section 1.   President

It shall be the duty of the President to preside at meetings of the Chapter and the Board.  He/she shall be an ex-officio member of all committees and shall perform such other duties as customarily pertain to the office of President.   The President will be required to attend the SUNY Alumni Association Board Meetings.  The President and/or his/her delegate will be an active member of GMAAC and attend regular meetings of GMAAC.

Section 2.   Vice President

It shall be the duty of the Vice President to participate in planning with the President and staff, to represent the Chapter at meetings and functions, and to perform such other duties as requested by the President.  It shall be the responsibility of the Vice President to assume the duties of the President in his/her absence.  The Vice President will be an active member of GMAAC and attend regular meetings of GMAAC.

Section 3.   Treasurer

It shall be the duty of the Treasurer to review records of all funds/dollars of the Chapter. The Treasurer shall track and report to the Board results of fundraising efforts as well as assist with and coordinate budgeting.

Section 4.   Secretary

It shall be the duty of the Secretary to maintain a record of any decisions, votes or resolutions made by the Board and to review minutes for accuracy and to review materials drafted for general correspondence, newsletters and web-based content as requested by the President.

Section 5.   Nominations Committee Chairperson

It shall be the duty of each of the Alumni Faculty Representative to participate in Board meetings and to act as the Board liaison to the School of Medicine faculty.

Section 6.   Alumni Faculty Representative

It shall be the duty of each of the Alumni Faculty Representative to participate in Board meetings and to act as the Board liaison to the faculty of the School of Medicine and its affiliates.

ARTICLE VI
The Board

Section 1. Powers and Composition

1. Active voting members who are graduates of the School of Medicine shall elect a board so constituted as to represent the diverse profile of the alumni of the School of Medicine. Representation on the Alumni Board must consider degree held, geographic distribution, gender, race and ethnicity of candidates for Alumni Board and elected Alumni Board officers and representatives. The Board shall not consist of more than 36 members.


2. b. A student representative from each class year may join the Alumni Board as non-voting members by appointment of the officers of the School of Medicine student government.

Section 2.   Term of Office

Membership on the Board will be reviewed annually. The Chairperson of the Nominations Committee will be responsible for creating the list of candidates for renewal and for introducing new nominations to the Board for membership on the Board.

Section 3.   Voting

1. Voting on Items of Business that come before the Board:  Voting will be based upon the members present in person or by conference call at a meeting.  The act of the majority of those present in person or by conference call, shall be the act of the Board. If a member is unable to attend, he or she may submit their proxy vote by e-mail to the secretary who will cast the vote.


2. Voting for Bylaws changes or election of officers: Voting shall be by ballot to the entire voting membership. The outcome will be determined by a majority vote among respondents.

Section 4.   Attendance

All board members are expected to attend at least one meeting per calendar year in person or by telephone conferencing. All members not fulfilling this expectation will have their status as a board member reviewed by the Nominations Committee on an annual basis.

ARTICLE VII
Committees

Section 1.   Nominations Committee

1. The Chairperson of the Nominations Committee shall be a member of the Executive Committee. The other members of the Nominations Committee shall be one or more members of the Board.

2. The duties of this Committee shall be to aid the President and Board in filling vacancies occurring during the year and such other duties as may from time to time be assigned by the President.

3. Nominations can come from any member of the Alumni Board.

4. The Committee shall have ballots prepared containing the names of the nominees for the various positions and suitable instructions for voting.  Each section of the ballot shall provide adequately for write-in votes.

5. A ballot shall be sent to each active voting member of the Chapter.

Section 2.   Bylaws Committee

1. The Bylaws committee shall develop and maintain the bylaws of the chapter.

2. In the circumstances when a Bylaws committee has not been appointed, the Executive Committee shall have that role

3. The Bylaws of the chapter shall be reviewed on an annual basis and ratified by the full board.

4. In cases where revisions to the Bylaws are necessary, a full vote of the active voting membership will be necessary (see Article VI, Section 3b.)

Section 3.   Other Committees

The President may appoint such committees as are necessary to conduct the program of the Chapter.  These committees will be appointed for a limited period of time and will be reviewed at least annually by the Board. 

ARTICLE VIII
Governance

Section 1. Rules

The Chapter shall be governed by adherence to Roberts Rules of Order.

Section 2. Meetings

There will be at least four quarterly meetings a year and the proposed annual calendar will be posted in advance.

ARTICLE IX
Amendments and Implementation

These bylaws, as approved, will become fully effective on January 1, 2006.

Submitted November 6, 2004
Amended April 29, 2006
Amended February 10, 2008
Amended September 21, 2008
Effective Date: November 8, 2008