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MESA Annual Business Meeting

The next scheduled MESA Business Meeting will be held on Monday, November 24, 2008, from 1-2:30pm during the MESA 2008 annual meeting in Washington, DC. (room TBA).

All MESA members are encouraged to attend. Voting eligibility is restricted to full and student MESA members.

The typical business meeting agenda looks something like the following:

I. Call to Order
The President will call the meeting to order.
II. Report of the Executive Director
III. In Memoriam
The President reads the names of persons in the field who have passed since the previous business meeting and calls for a moment of silence.
IV. Election Results
The President announces the results of the most recent election of officers.
V. Nominating Committee
The President 1) reads the list of persons whom the Board of Directors recommends be invited to run for the Nominating Committee, 2) calls for nominations from the floor, and 3) calls for a vote to approve the list.
VI. IJMES
Report by the editor.
VII. MESA Bulletin
Report by the editor.
VIII. Committee on Academic Freedom
Report by the committee chair.
IX. Unfinished Business
If there were any items from the previous annual business meeting that were tabled until the current business meeting, those items are considered here.
X. New Business
The President will announce that new business is in order and will ask if any member has such business to present. Depending upon the amount of time left in the meeting, the new business may be tabled and taken up as unfinished business at the next annual business meeting.
XI. Adjournment
The President calls for a motion to adjourn the meeting, the motion is seconded and a vote is taken to adjourn the meeting.

MESA Bylaws and the Annual Business Meeting

ARTICLE III. ANNUAL MEETING OF THE ASSOCIATION

Section 2. An Annual Business Meeting open to members and guests of the Association shall be held at the time and place of the Annual Meeting.

a. The President or, in that officer's absence, the Past President, shall preside. In the event that neither of these individuals is available, the Board of Directors shall select one of its members to preside.

b. Procedure shall be governed by the latest edi¬tion of Robert's Rules of Order, and there shall be a parliamentarian whose decisions shall be authoritative.

c. There shall be a quorum for the Annual Business Meeting of 35 voting members of the Association in good standing. In the absence of a quorum, the Meeting may be held, but no votes may be taken.

d. Only Fellows and Student Members in good standing may vote at the meeting.

e. Voting at the Annual Business Meeting shall be of two kinds.

1). Voting which seeks only to determine the "sense of the meeting."

2). Voting which seeks only to submit the question to the membership at a future time in the form of mail ballots. Any vote to submit a matter to the general membership must be passed by a majority of those present and voting, providing there is a quorum at the time the vote is taken. Matters which are passed by the required majority shall be submitted to the membership under procedures described in Article III, Section 5.

Section 4. Resolutions

a. The Board of Directors may present resolutions to the Annual Business Meeting.

b. Any member of the Association in good standing with voting rights may, subject to the following rules, present resolutions at the Annual Business Meeting.

1). Resolutions must be received in writing by the office of the Executive Director of the Association not later than two weeks prior to the annual meeting; must be signed by at least twenty five members of the Association in good standing with voting rights; must not be more than 300 words in length including background material; and must deal with a matter of concern to the Association or to the academic profession. Deadline for resolutions to be presented at the 2008 Annual Business Meeting: Friday, November 7, 2008 by 5:00pm Mountain Standard Time.

c. Resolutions may be voted upon at the Annual Business Meeting to determine "the sense of the meeting" or;

d. Resolutions designed to determine Association policy, to instruct the Board, or to amend the Bylaws, must be voted upon at the Annual Business Meeting to determine whether they should be submitted to the membership at a future time in the form of a mail ballot. A majority of those members present and entitled to vote, and constituting a quorum, shall be required to pass such a resolution. Resolutions passed by the required majority shall be submit¬ted to the membership under procedures described in Article III, Section 5.

Section 5. Referenda

a. Referenda are defined as the casting of votes by the membership in good standing and with voting rights on issues other than elections, providing each member has been furnished with a mail ballot. Referenda may be initiated by the Board of Directors or by vote at the Annual Business Meeting as specified in Article III, Sections 2 and 4.

b. The Board of Directors may present its opinion on a referendum issue in writing at the time the mail ballot is sent to the membership.

c. Ballots must be returned within sixty (60) days to be counted.

d. The result of the vote by members in good standing with voting rights shall be decided by a majority of those voting, or two thirds of those voting for amend¬ments (Article VIII).

The full text of MESA's Bylaws is available at: http://mesa.wns.ccit.arizona.edu/about/bylaws.htm