By Laws

Revised October 2015

BYLAW I - NAME

The name of this organization shall be the Bergen County School Nurses Association. Here in known as B.C.S.N.A.

BYLAW II - PURPOSES

The objectives of this association shall be to foster high standards of school nursing practices and to stimulate the promotion, welfare and professional development of the nurses in Bergen County. This corporation is organized and is to be operated exclusively for charitable and educational purposes, within the meaning of Section 501(c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 (or the corresponding provision of any future United States Internal Revenue Law).

BYLAW III - MEMBERSHIP

Membership in the Association shall be of four classes: Active, Associate, Retired and Honorary. All Active and Associate members shall reside in and/or be employed in Bergen County.

Section 1. Active: All registered, professional certified school nurses, teacher nurses and supervisors regularly employed by a Board of Education shall be eligible for membership.

Section 2. Associate: All registered, professional nurses engaged in school work shall be eligible for Associate membership provided they are: (a) Engaged in other than a Public School Board of Education, or, (b)Former Regular members no longer eligible for Regular membership, or, (c) Employed as a substitute school nurse. Associate members may enjoy the privileges of the Association, may vote, but not hold office.

Section 3. Retired: Members, upon retirement shall be eligible for retired membership. They shall enjoy the privileges of the Association, may serve as a committee member, but shall not hold office. However, a retired member may be appointed chairperson of a committee by two-thirds vote (2/3) of the Executive Board. A retired member appointed chairperson of a committee shall be a member of the Executive Board but shall not have any voting privileges.

Section 4. Honorary: The Executive Committee may bestow honorary membership to those deserving of membership. Honorary members may not vote, hold office, or serve on any committees.

BYLAW IV - LIMIT ON ACTIVITIES DISSOLUTION

For limit of activities and dissolution refer to Section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 (or the corresponding provision of any further U.S. Internal Revenue Law).

BYLAW V - MEETINGS AND THEIR LOCATIONS

Section 1. Four general meetings shall be held annually. These shall be evening dinner meetings, during the months of October, November, March and May, at a time and place selected by the Executive Board.

Section 2. Executive Board meetings shall be held prior to each General meeting and/or at any other designated time for a special business purpose.

Section 3. The suggested order of business for each general business meeting of the Association shall be:

Call to order
Reading of the Minutes
Reports of Officers
Reports of Standing Committees
Reports of Special/Ad Hoc Committees
Old/New Business
Election of Officers at March meeting
Annual report of the President at May meeting
Adjournment

Section 4. Special meetings of this association may be requested by the President/Executive Board. Upon written request of fifteen association members, a special meeting will be called. Only that specified business shall be considered at any special meeting.

Section 5. Notice of all meetings of this Association shall be posted to the BCSNA website.

Section 6: Electronic Meetings - With approval of the Executive Board, the Executive Board and standing and special committees may meet by electronic communication as long as a quorum is present and all members communicate and interact during the meeting. A committee quorum is defined as a majority of the committee members.

BYLAW VI - QUORUM

Section 1. Twenty-five active members shall constitute a quorum at any regular meeting of this Association.

Section 2. Twenty-five active members shall constitute a quorum at any special meeting of the Association.

Section 3. Seven members of the executive board shall constitute a quorum at any meeting of the Executive Board.

BYLAW VII - DUES

Section 1. The Executive Board shall recommend dues for Active Members annually.

Section 2. Associate Member dues shall be a percentage of Active Member dues and may be adjusted annually.

Section 3. Neither Retired nor Honorary membership requires payment of dues.

Section 4. All dues payable by December 31st. Members in arrears shall be automatically dropped as of January 1st of the upcoming year.

BYLAW VIII - FISCAL YEAR

The fiscal year of the Association shall be from June 1st to May 31st.

BYLAW IX - ROBERT'S RULES

Deliberations of all meetings of this Association and the Executive Board shall be governed by "Roberts Rules of Order, Revised."

BYLAW X - OFFICERS AND THE EXECUTIVE BOARD

The officers of this Association shall be: president, vice-president, recording secretary, corresponding secretary and treasurer. The Executive Board shall consist of the officers, chairpersons of standing, special and ad hoc committees, and the immediate past president.

BYLAW XI - DUTIES OF OFFICERS AND COMMITTEES

Officers:

President - Serve as the official representative of the association, preside at all meetings and is an ex-officio member of all committees.
Vice President - Perform the duties of the president in her absence. Responsible for planning and coordinating the program for the four evening dinner/general meetings.
Corresponding Secretary - Responsible for all official correspondence of the association and for notifying members in advance of meetings.
Recording Secretary - Record and file the minutes and reports of all meetings. Serve as the custodian of all current records of the association.
Treasurer - Serve as custodian of all funds for the association. Responsible for signing checks, presenting a proposed budget, submitting an annual report for audit.

Committees:

Auditing - Examine the treasurer's books and report results to Executive Board.
Basic Life Support - Provide members with revisions of standards and guidelines, listings of ongoing classes and instructor programs; conduct classes as needed.
BCEA Representative - Attend BCSNA executive and general meetings and report to BCSNA membership.
Bylaws - Receive all proposed amendments and make recommendations for the proposed action by the Executive Board. Review and revise bylaws as necessary or at the recommendation of the board.
Education - Act as a consultant to varied educational and health promotion agencies in sponsoring/coordinating programs of interest for the association. Produce, distribute and analyze evaluation data on general meetings. Distribute CEU certificates. Plan program for National School Nurses Day.
Hospitality - Make all arrangements for the four business/dinner meetings.
Job Placement - Maintain a list of available positions in Bergen County for NJ Certified School Nurses. Inform members and potential applicants of job openings at general meetings and post on the BCSNA website.
Membership - Responsible for processing applications and maintain a file on each member and compiling an annual membership list.
NJSSNA Representative - Attend the Executive Board and General meetings of NJSSNA. Keep BCSNA members informed of legislation and other pertinent issues.
Nominating - Prepare a slate for the annual election with members qualified and willing to fill the vacancies. Slate is to be presented at March meeting.
Parliamentarian - Assist president in conducting meeting s according to association's bylaws and Robert's Rules of Order, Revised.
Publicity - Collect printed publicity to record progress of BCSNA events and other school nursing news.
Scholarship - Distribute and review application forms. Select candidate(s) based on application, scholarship criteria and interview.
Standards and Practices - Assist president in dealing with problems of a serious concern to BCSNA members.
Website - Create and update website during the school year; post notices of upcoming meetings, forms, and links.
Welfare - Send cards, flowers or other fitting expression of concern in cases of illness or bereavement. Plan and execute retiree's ceremony for May meeting.

BYLAW XIV - ELECTIONS

Section 1: Annual elections shall be held at the March general meeting.

Section 2: In the even years the President, Vice President and corresponding Secretary shall be elected for the term of two years.

Section 3: In the odd years, the recording secretary and treasurer shall be elected for a two year term.

Section 4: After the presentation of the slate of officers (March), by the Nominating committee, additional nominations may be made from the floor.

Section 5: Voting shall be by written ballot and/or electronic ballot. However, shall there be but one candidate for each office, the Recording Secretary shall be instructed to cast one ballot for the assembly and the slate shall be declared duly elected.

Section 6: Tellers shall be appointed by the President to count the votes and report to the association.

Section 7: In the event of the vacancy in any office, except the Presidency and Vice Presidency, the executive board shall elect a successor to complete the term of office.

Section 8: Each elected officer may succeed him/herself by one term.

Section 9: The President appoints committee chairpersons.

BYLAW XV – AMENDMENTS

These bylaws may be amended at any regular meeting of the Association by two-thirds of the vote cast, provided that the amendment has been submitted by the Executive Board at a previous meeting of the Association.