|
|
|
|
THE
BY-LAWS OF THE WEST MICHIGAN OFFICIALS ASSOCIATION PREAMBLE In order
to promote and maintain high professional standards of sports officiating, and to engender
a spirit of mutual respect and cooperation between coaches, athletic directors, other
interested parties and the sports officials of this area, the West Michigan Officials'
Association is organized and established. ARTICLE
I NAME This
organization shall be called THE WEST MICHIGAN OFFICIALS ASSOCIATION, INC. It is a
nonprofit, charitable organization. OFFICERS The
administrative authority of the Association shall be vested in the following elected
officers: 1.
President 2.
President-Elect 3.
Vice-President 4.
Secretary 5.
Treasurer 6.
Football Registrar 7.
Basketball Registrar 8.
Football Program Chairperson 9.
Basketball Program Chairperson 10.
Counselor These
elected officers shall comprise the BOARD OF DIRECTORS of the Association. VACANCIES If
a vacancy occurs in any of these offices during the year, such vacancy shall be filled by
appointment by the President, with the approval of a majority of the members of the Board
of Directors. ARTICLE
II DUTIES OF
OFFICERS The office
of PRESIDENT is the third year of a four (4) year term. The PRESIDENT shall preside at all
meetings of the Association and shall appoint all standing and special committees,
except as otherwise stated in Article VIII (Standing and Special Committees). He/She shall
be Chairperson of the Board of Directors and preside at their meetings. He/She shall also
be Chairperson of the Grievance Committee if one is established. All correspondence from
members and schools shall be directed to the President or Secretary for any action, as
needed. The office
of PRESIDENT-ELECT is the second year of a four (4) year term. The PRESIDENT-ELECT shall,
in the absence of the President, perform all duties of the President. He/She shall act as
liaison between the members, the Board of Directors and the various working committees,
and shall assist the committee chairperson whenever possible. He/She shall be
co-chairperson of the annual banquet committee. For all Association and Board of Directors
meetings, he/she shall also monitor the meetings to ensure that they are consistent with
Robert’s Rules of Order. The office
of VICE-PRESIDENT is the first year of a four (4) year term, to be followed by subsequent
years as President-Elect, President and Counselor, respectively. He/She will become
President-Elect his/her second year and President his/her third year. The Vice-President
shall be co-chairperson of the annual banquet committee. THE
SECRETARY shall arrange for a place of meetings and shall notify all the members of all
regular or emergency meetings called by the President. This notice
shall be made by newspaper publication and/or the most expeditious means. He/She shall be
responsible for the recording of the minutes of the
executive and membership meetings.
All correspondence from members and schools shall be directed to the President or
Secretary for any action, as needed. The Secretary
shall receive a
fee to be recommended by the Board and approved by the membership. Along with the
Treasurer, the Secretary shall have the authority to draw or deposit funds of the
Association. He/She
shall assist the Treasurer in making provisions for the collection of dues. He/She shall
assist the Registrars in the recruitment of new members. The Secretary shall be elected
for a term of two years. The
TREASURER shall be responsible for and have control and custody of all the funds belonging
to the Association and shall make disbursements for the prompt payment of any Association
obligations incurred. Along with the Secretary, the Treasurer shall have the authority to
draw or deposit funds of the Association. He/She shall make provisions for the collection
of dues; he/she shall keep records of the current status of the Association's treasury;
and he/she shall render a financial report at the request of the President or a majority
of the members present at any scheduled meeting. The
Treasurer shall also make arrangements for a third-party audit of the Association’s
financial records, which shall occur at least once a year and prior to the MHSAA deadline
for approved associations. The Treasurer shall be elected for a term of two years. The
FOOTBALL PROGRAM CHAIRPERSON will be responsible for the program planning for each
regular meeting during the football season. He/She shall, with the Secretary and
Treasurer, arrange for all equipment needed for any program and shall conduct the program
sessions. As chairperson, he/she shall appoint committee members as he/she deems
necessary. The football program chairperson shall be elected for a term of one year. The
BASKETBALL PROGRAM CHAIRPERSON will be responsible for the program planning for each
regular meeting during the basketball season. He/She shall, in conjunction with the
Secretary and Treasurer, arrange for all equipment needed for any program and shall
conduct the program sessions. As chairperson, he/she shall appoint committee members as
he/she deems necessary. The basketball program chairperson shall be elected for a
term of one year. The
FOOTBALL AND BASKETBALL REGISTRARS will be responsible for the recruitment of members, and
will conduct an orientation program during both the football and basketball seasons for
new officials with the appropriate Program Chairperson. In addition, each Registrar will be in charge of the master
schedule for his/her sport and shall receive a fee to be recommended by the Board
and approved by the membership. Each registrar shall be elected for a
term of two years. The
COUNSELOR is automatically filled
by the immediate outgoing or retiring President and is the fourth
year of a four (4) year term.
The Counselor shall act as an advisor to the Board of Directors, assist the President, and
act as a liaison to all standing committees and any new or ongoing project/program as
deemed appropriate. ARTICLE
III MEMBERSHIP There
shall be two classes of membership in the organization: ACTIVE MEMBERSHIP and ASSOCIATE
MEMBERSHIP. ACTIVE
MEMBERSHIP shall be open to each duly registered, MHSAA athletic official of the West
Michigan area. Members shall have the opportunity to attain the status of member in good standing. To attain the status of member in
good standing, a WMOA member must attend a minimum of 50% of
regularly scheduled rules and mechanics meetings from the previous
year for the
specific sport (football,
basketball) registered with the MHSAA. All
members shall enjoy all the rights and privileges of membership upon fulfillment of the
membership requirements contained by these bylaws, and shall be eligible for election as
an officer, assignment in committees, and to cast one vote in connection with the formal
business conducted by the association. ASSOCIATE
MEMBERSHIP shall be open to all past members not presently participating in high school
athletics who desire mailings and banquet tickets. ARTICLE
IV MEETINGS The annual
MEMBERSHIP MEETING shall be held each spring at the close of the State Boys' Basketball
Tournaments. At this meeting, the election of officers and any other business pertinent to
another year's activity will be conducted. All members shall be given notice of the time
and place of this meeting at least ten (10) days before that date. ALL
REGULAR MEETINGS of each season shall be held at such time and place as the Board of
Directors shall designate. The dates of such regular meetings will be published in the
Association Directory. Any special meeting may be called by the President, with the
approval of a majority of the Board of Directors. ARTICLE
V DUES Dues for
membership shall be recommended by the Board and approved by the membership. Active and Associate memberships include WMOA
mailings and a banquet ticket. WMOA Board
member dues are waived. Dues shall be payable on or before June
1st. A penalty of five ($5.00)
will be assessed for payments after June 1st, unless the official joining is a new
member. A member's name will be excluded from the annual Association Directory if dues are
not received by the Treasurer by June 15. Each new member will receive two WMOA patches upon payment of
dues. Renewing members will receive
replacement patches as needed and requested. A special assessment may be levied
by a three-fourth (3/4) vote of the members present at any regularly scheduled meeting, provided that the total number of the
majority votes constitutes not less than one-third (1/3) of the total membership of
Association. ARTICLE
VI ELECTION
OF OFFICERS Officers
shall be elected at the annual Membership Meeting each spring. The officers who are
elected shall assume their duties at the close of this meeting, with their terms to extend
through the night of the annual Membership Meeting the following year, with the exception
of the Secretary and Treasurer who are elected for a two (2) year term. After
one year, the President-Elect shall become President. After one year, the Vice-President
shall become President-Elect. There shall not be any restrictions against the reelection
of any officer to any position, other than in this Article VI. NOMINATIONS The
NOMINATIONS COMMITTEE shall
inform the membership of the nominations process, and solicit names of potential
candidates prior to the annual Membership Meeting. The
Committee shall then present a list of candidates for the consideration of
the members. These candidates shall have been screened by the committee to confirm their
availability for election to office. VOTING Voting
shall be conducted by electronic (i.e., internet-based) means or mailed absentee ballot,
which shall be prepared by appointees of the President. Voting shall close one hour after
the start of the annual Membership Meeting, and results announced prior to the end of that
meeting. Those nominees who receive a majority of votes shall be declared elected.
Absentee votes received after the Membership Meeting will be declared void. With
respect to the offices of Football and Basketball Registrars, and Football and Basketball
Program Chairpersons: Only members registered
with the WMOA as football officials shall vote for the Football Registrar and the Football
Program Chairperson positions; only members registered as basketball officials shall vote
for the Basketball Registrar and the Basketball Program Chairperson positions. ARTICLE
VII AMENDMENTS The
By-Laws of the West Michigan Officials Association may be amended by a majority vote of
the members present at any regularly scheduled membership meeting, by electronic (i.e.,
internet-based) means, and/or by mailed absentee ballot, providing
the total number of votes cast constitutes one-third (1/3) of the total membership of the
Association. ARTICLE
VIII STANDING
AND SPECIAL COMMITTEES PROGRAM
COMMITTEES These
committees are to be appointed by the Football Program Chairperson and/or the Basketball
Program Chairperson at their discretion. MEMBERSHIP
COMMITTEE The
co-chairpersons of this committee are the Football and Basketball Registrars. Duties of
the committee members will be assigned at the discretion of the committee chairpersons. NOMINATIONS
COMMITTEE This
committee shall consider a list of candidates for each office, clear with those candidates
their availability for service, and present the resulting slate of candidates (for each
office) to the membership prior to the voting process taking place. DIRECTORY
COMMITTEE This
committee shall handle the responsibility of preparing and publishing the annual
Association Directory. Committee members will be appointed by the President, and will work
with the Secretary to ensure an updated and accurate membership listing. SPECIAL
COMMITTEES Special
committees shall be appointed by the President when he/she deems necessary. COMMUNITY
RELATIONS COMMITTEE Active
association members shall be appointed by the President
to serve on this committee. The committee will
have three members: one football representative, one basketball representative, and one
Board member liaison. The committee will ensure the association maintains a visible
and positive presence in the local community, and is charged with addressing worthwhile
functions, donation requests or suggestions, etc., and coordinating any appropriate
response or involvement on behalf of the association. ARTICLE
IX The
recipients of the Dan Nameth Award will
be a girl's basketball, boy's basketball and football athlete chosen by electronic (i.e.,
internet-based) means or mailed absentee ballot each spring, and announced at the annual
Membership Meeting. Each recipient will receive a scholarship in an amount to be
determined by the Board on an annual basis. Rev.
2011
|