Western Regional Honors Council

WRHC Constitution and By-Laws

ARTICLE 1: Name
This organization shall be known as the Western Regional Honors Council (WRHC).

ARTICLE 2: Objective
The objective of this Council shall be promotion and advancement of honors and similar programs in accredited colleges and universities located in the states of Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

ARTICLE 3: Membership
Membership in the Council shall be institutional membership only. Honors Colleges, Honors Programs, or similar academic units of accredited institutions or governing bodies of higher learning within the 13-state WRHC region listed in Article 2 are eligible to apply for membership, subject to affirmative President’s Council vote. Each institutional member in good standing shall be entitled to one vote on WRHC agenda items at business meetings or when votes are called for other purposes.

ARTICLE 4: Voting Body
One representative of each institutional member in good standing shall be entitled to vote in all transactions of the Council.

ARTICLE 5: Officers
Officers of the Council: Definitions and Duties

The officers comprising the Executive Board shall be a President, a Vice President, and an Executive Secretary/Treasurer. The additional members of the President’s Council outlined in the By-Laws shall also be voting members of the Executive Board.

The President, or in his/her absence the Vice President, shall preside at all meetings of the organization, shall appoint committees, shall maintain communication with members of the Council, shall offer advice to the WRHC conference coordinator, and shall perform other duties as pertain to the office of the President.

The Vice President is defined to be the conference coordinator of the current annual WRHC conference. The Vice President shall assume the responsibilities of coordinating the annual WRHC conference by choosing a date and location for the conference in a timely fashion, disseminating the “Call for Papers,” selecting the papers and presentations for inclusion in the conference, and performing all other duties applicable to this position.

The Executive Secretary/Treasurer (EST) is defined to be the person in charge of keeping minutes of the meetings of the Council and performing such other duties incidental to the conduct of his/her office as may be required of her/him. In particular, s/he shall collect and manage all fees and dues owing to the organization and shall be the custodian of the Council’s funds. With Executive Board approval and oversight, and affirmative membership vote, s/he may designate a third-party depository for the WRHC account under the oversight of a registered fiduciary agent. S/he shall make an annual report to the organization as secretary and submit annually a complete and verified statement of the financial condition of the organization. If institutional funds are kept in a third-party depository, a registered fiduciary agent where the WRHC account resides will also independently verify the statement of the WRHC’s financial condition yearly.

S/he shall also serve as liaison with the headquarters of the National Collegiate Honors Council. The EST shall be responsible for regularly updating the WRHC website.

Selection Process for Officers of the Council; Terms of Office

The Vice President assumes the position of President at the business meeting of the annual WRHC conference. The President shall hold office for one year or until his/her successor is installed.

The conference coordinator of the following annual WRHC conference shall assume the position of Vice President at the business meeting of the current annual WRHC meeting. He/she shall hold this title until the business meeting of the following annual WRHC conference, at which point he/she assumes the role of President. In the event of the President’s death or incapacity during his/her term in office, the Vice President shall assume the duties of the President sooner than the business meeting of the following annual WRHC conference.

The Executive Secretary/Treasurer shall be elected at an annual meeting for a three-year renewable term. The headquarters of the WRHC shall reside at the home institution of the Executive Secretary/Treasurer.

Ordinarily, new officers shall be installed at an annual business meeting. If it is not possible to elect a new Executive Secretary/Treasurer at an annual business meeting and/or to have the Vice President assume the role of President, then such an election and/or installation shall take place in a vote by mail.

The President shall hold office for one year or until his/her successor is installed. The President, or in her/his absence the Vice President, shall preside at all meetings of the organization, shall appoint committees, and shall perform such duties as pertain to the office of President.

The chair of the following annual WRHC conference will assume the position of vice-president and succeed automatically to the office of the president and shall hold office for one year or upon the death or incapacity of the President, whichever occurs first.

The Executive Secretary/Treasurer shall keep minutes of the meetings of the Council and perform such other duties incidental to the conduct of his/her office as may be required of her/him.

S/he shall collect and manage all fees and dues owing to the organization and shall be the custodian of the Council’s funds. S/he shall make an annual report to the organization as secretary and submit annually a complete and verified statement of the financial condition of the organization.

S/he shall serve as liaison with the headquarters of the National Collegiate Honors Council.

Ordinarily, new officers shall be installed at an annual meeting.

ARTICLE 6: Meetings
The Council shall hold two annual meetings: one in conjunction with the annual meeting of the National Collegiate Honors Council and one in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Western Regional Honors Council at a time and place to be determined by the membership at an annual meeting.

ARTICLE 7: Mail vote
Between meetings, any question or item of business shall be submitted by the Executive Secretary/Treasurer to a vote of the Council membership by mail.

ARTICLE 8: Amendments
Any proposal to alter or amend this constitution shall be submitted in writing to the Executive Secretary/Treasurer for suitable wording which clearly expresses the intent of the proposal and which is consistent with the other sections of the Constitution. The Executive Secretary/Treasurer shall distribute a copy of the proposed alteration or amendment to each institutional member prior to the annual meeting. Such alterations and amendments shall, upon receiving at a regular annual meeting a two-thirds majority of those institutional members in good standing present and voting, become a part of the Constitution.

BY-LAWS

ARTICLE 1: Dues and voting rights
Section 1. The annual dues for institutional membership shall be seventy-five (75) dollars.

Section 2. Only those institutional members whose dues are paid by the time of the annual conference are entitled to a vote in the business meeting of the Council.

Section 3. Any member in arrears for one year shall be dropped from the rolls.

ARTICLE 2: Annual Conference
Section 1. The conference coordinator (Vice President) will plan the budget such that the conference will not end in deficit.

Section 2. Fees for each year’s regional conference will be proposed by the conference organizers and will be approved by majority vote at the fall business meeting preceding the regional conference.

Section 3. Conference surplus revenues shall be transferred to the WRHC account as soon as all revenues have been collected and the bookkeeping for the conference completed. The WRHC will consider helping host institutions with conference costs by giving them a certain sum of money, to be both negotiated between the WRHC council and the Vice President and designed to keep conference fees as low as possible.

Section 4. Conference registration refunds for members unable to attend for a valid reason will be considered by the conference organizers after the conclusion of the conference. Refunds will depend on surplus funds available and be paid minus a 15% administrative fee to cover fixed pre-conference costs.

Section 5. The host institution will reimburse itself for conference costs incurred including administration, copy and publication costs, and travel.

Section 6. Student conference fees will be lower than faculty and administrators fees.

Section 7. The conference chair will submit a written financial report, including a final conference budget, to the executive secretary/treasurer and next conference organizers no later than two months after the conference.

Section 8. WRHC will provide seed money upon request of the current regional conference organizers for the initial costs associated with planning a WRHC conference at an amount to be set by the President’s Council. Such seed money must be returned to WRHC once all conference accounting is completed regardless of the final surplus or deficit incurred by the conference organizers.

Section 9. The host institution of the WRHC conference will pay for the Scribendi reception at the WRHC conference through conference funds. In addition, the Scribendi winners attending the WRHC conference will have their conference registration fees waived by the host institution, which will pay for these fees through conference funding. Those persons who have been published in Scribendi will be encouraged to attend the conference but will not have their conference fees or other expenses waived.

Section 10. The conference host institution may invite up to four student interns to assist at the current conference from the institution hosting the following WRHC conference. Registration fees for these student interns shall be waived. A stipend from WRHC funds shall be paid to student interns for documented travel and lodging expenses at an amount to be determined yearly by the WRHC President’s Council.

ARTICLE 3: Scribendi, WRHC forum
Section 1. The WRHC will support Scribendi financially annually for publication which is done by students in the Honors Program at the University of New Mexico.

Section 2. The WRHC will provide awards to students who win the competitions in each category.

Section 3. The WRHC will provide judges for the Scribendi contests.

ARTICLE 4: Special initiatives
Section 1. The WRHC will provide stipends for WRHC students participating in an NCHC Honors Semester.

Section 2. The WRHC will provide travel awards for regional students who are elected to an NCHC position.

ARTICLE 5: President’s Council
Section 1. The WRHC President’s Council will consist of no more than 5 WRHC members. The members will include the current WRHC President, the current WRHC Vice President, the former WRHC President, the current WRHC Executive Secretary/Treasurer, and one member to be elected at large.

Section 2. The duties of the President’s Council will be to help find a suitable location for the next WRHC conference, to discuss suitable locations with potential hosts, to provide advice to WRHC Vice President (conference coordinator) about the logistics and costs of the conference, to meet at the annual WRHC and NCHC conferences, and to discuss and help resolve unfinished WRHC issues that have been or will be raised at the biannual WRHC business meetings.

Section 3. If a serving member of the President’s Council resigns or becomes ineligible to serve according to the WRHC Constitution and By-Laws, or if an officer does not attend two consecutive business meetings, the President’s Council may name a new officer to serve the remainder of that member’s term, subject to WRHC member ratification via a vote taken at a regular business meeting or via e-mail.

Section 4. Each President’s Council position named in the WRHC Constitution and By-Laws shall be filled by a representative from a different WRHC member institution. Multiple representatives affiliated with one member institution may not serve officer terms of any length on the President’s Council simultaneously.

ARTICLE 6: Amendments
Any proposal to alter or amend this constitution shall be submitted in writing to the Executive Secretary/Treasurer for suitable wording which clearly expresses the intent of the proposal and which is consistent with the other sections of the Constitution. The Executive Secretary/Treasurer shall distribute a copy of the proposed alteration or amendment to each institutional member prior to the annual meeting. Such alterations and amendments shall, upon receiving at a regular annual meeting a two-thirds majority of those institutional members in good standing present and voting, become a part of the Constitution.