The BYLAWS of ETVC
- NAME. The name of the
organization shall be the Educational TV Channel (hereinafter,
ETVC).
- MISSION STATEMENT. ETVC
is a non-profit corporation dedicated to serving the
educational, social, and recreational needs of the
transgendered community. ETVC is also dedicated
to educating the general public about transgenderism and
promoting a positive image of transgendered persons among
the general public. The transgendered community includes
all transgendered persons, their family and friends, and
anyone with a sincere interest in the transgendered.
- MEMBERSHIP.
- Eligibility. Any person eighteen (18)
years or older who has a personal or professional
interest in transgenderism is eligible for
membership in ETVC.
- Membership Year. The membership year
runs from May 1 to April 30.
- Dues Requirement. Any person meeting the
requirements of Section A above may become a
member by paying annual membership dues set by
the Executive Committee of ETVC. The
Executive Committee of ETVC shall
hereinafter be fererred to as the ExCom.
- Term of Membership. Membership
and its privileges will be effective from
the beginning until the end of each year
for which dues are paid in full.
- Continued Membership. Renewal of
membership for a full year will be
required to continue membership into the
next membership year.
- Joining During the Membership Year.
New members who join during the
membership year will pay a one-time only,
pro-rated portion of the annual dues for
the remainder of the membership year.
Membership priviliges for thes members
will be effective for the portion of the
year for which dues are paid until the
end of the membership year. Dues and
increments for the pro-rated portion will
be determined by the Ex-Com.
- Fee Waiver. Persons who are
financially unable to pay the annual dues
may petition the ExCom for a fee
waiver. The ExCom will review
each petition on a case by case basis.
Waivers will be reviewed annually and
will not be automatically renewed.
- Termination of Membership.
- Voluntary Withdrawal of Membership.
A member may voluntarily withdraw from ETVC
at any time.
- Written Request. A
member wishing to withdraw must
make the request in writing to
the ETVC Secretary.
- Refund. The ex-member is
entitled to a pro rata portion,
but not greater than one-half, of
her/his dues paid, less a
handling fee.
- Lapse. A member who does
not renew her/his membership will
automatically be terminated as a
member.
- Involuntary Termination of Membership.
- Reasons for Termination.
The ExCom shall have
sole power to revoke the
membership of any member who
purposefully breaches the
confidentiality of another member
or whose actions result in
criminal or civil liability
against ETVC or an ETVC
elected official. See Section IX Executive
Committee.
- Vote by ExCom. The ExCom
shall revoke the membership of
the above member following a
majority vote for removal.
- Appearance of Member.
The member may plead her/his case
before the ExCom.
- Refund. The ex-member is
entitled to a pro rata portion,
but not greater than one-half, of
her/his dues paid, less a
handling fee.
- Reinstatement: Petition for
Membership. After six months,
the ex-member may petition the Ex-Com
for re-instatement. The
petitioner must receive a
majority vote of the ExCom
to be reinstated.
- Members in Good Standing.
- Definition. Members who have
paid their dues and meet all of the
requirements above are considered members
in good standing.
- Privileges and Benefits.
- Voting. Members in good
standing are eligible to vote in
the Annual and Special Meetings.
See Section IV Annual Meeting
and Section V Special
Meetings.
- Discounts. Members in
good standing receive the
membership discount whenever
applicable.
- Newsletters; Notices. A
member in good standing is
eligible to receive ETVC
newsletters and notices at no
cost.
- ANNUAL MEETING.
- When. ETVC will hold its annual
membership meeting in the month of April of each
year, the time and place designated by the ExCom.
- Business. Issues for business at the
Annual Meeting shall include, but are not limited
to:
- Election of Officers;
- Treasurer's Financial Report;
- Bylaw changes;
- Any other business deemed necessary by
the ExCom; and,
- Any new business introduced by the
general membership.
- Informing the Membership. The date, time
and place of the Annual Meeting shall be
published no later than 45 days prior to the
meeting. Members may be notified of the meeting
either in the newsletter or by special mailing.
- Voting.
- One Vote Per Member. Members in
good standing shall be entitlted to one
vote at all Annual and Special Meetings.
Only those members whose dues are current
four months before the end of the
membership year shall be eligible to vote.
- Voting in Person, by Mail, or Other
Approved Means. Only those votes
cast by members in good standing in
person, by mail, or by other approved
means prior to deadline established by
the ExCom will be counted.
- Mailed-in Ballots.
- When Mailed. Ballots
will be sent to the members at
least 30 days prior to an
election.
- When Counted. Mail-in
ballots will not be opened and
counted until the voting at the
Special or Annual Meeting is
closed.
- Voting by Other Means. The ExCom
shall determine the voting procedures
regarding voting by other means.
- Proxies. No proxies will be
allowed.
- Canceling Mail-in Vote. A member
may cancel her/his mail-in vote by voting
in person at the Special or Annual
Meeting. The member wishing to cancel her/his
mail-in vote must inform the Election
Committee of her/his intention.
- Quorum. All issues submitted to
a vote of the membership at any meeting
shall be conducted by a majority of those
voting, unless these Bylaws provide
otherwise.
- Election Committee.
- Appointment. The ExCom
shall appoint an Election
Committee prior to any Special or
Annual Meeting requiring voting.
- Duties. The Election
Committee shall be responsible
for, but not limited to:
establishing the time, place,
manner of voting; the mailing of
ballots; the counting of vortes;
and the publication of results.
- Posting and Notification to
Members. The election
Committee shall announce the
details of the election in the
newsletter.
- SPECIAL MEETINGS
- Purpose. Special Meetings shall only be
held for discussion and voting on a single issue.
Issues that may be considered include, but are
not limited to:
- Bylaw changes;
- Removal of one or more officers;
- Election to fill an office vacancy;
- Extraordinary exopenditures not related
to normal ETVC organization
expenditures;
- Any other issue deemed necessary by the ExCom;
or
- An issue presented by the general
membership.
- Membership Informed. Members shall be
informed of the date, time and place in the same
manner as Annual Meeting under Section
IV, C above.
- How Called. A Special Meeting may be
called either by:
- The ExCom by majority vote, or
- Petition of 30 members or 10% of the
membership, whichever is greater.
- The petition must be signed in
writing and presented to the
Secretary who must verify the
eligibility of the members.
- The ExCom must set the
date of the Special Meeting with
30 days of receipt and
verification of the petition.
- Voting; Quorum. Voting and quorum
requirements for a Special Meeting are handled in
the same manner as discussed above under Annual
Meeting.
- OFFICERS.
- Officers of ETVC.
- ETVC shall have the following
officers: President, Vice-President,
Secretary, Treasurer, Social Committee Co-Chairs
(two maximum), Education Committee Co-Chairs
(two maximum), and Outreach Committee Co-Chairs
(two maximum).
- The above officers shall constitute the
only members of the ExCom. See
Section IX Executive Committee.
- Eligibility. Any member in good standing
may be an officer in ETVC.
- Holding One Office. Only one member may
hold one office at one time.
- Co-Chairs.
- Co-Chairpersons may fill the Social,
Education, and Outreach Offices.
- The Co-Chairs will be chosen from the
highest vote recipient and the second
highest recipient for that office.
- In the event only one person runs for
either the offices of Social, Education
or Outreach, the Co-Chair for that
particular committee shall not be filled
for that term, unless deemed necessary by
the ExCom.
- Terms of Office. Officers shall serve
one-year term beginneng May 1 of the current year
and ending April 30 of the following year.
- Elections.
- When Held. Elections will be
held at the Annual Meeting in April. See
Section IV Annual Meeting.
- Number of Votes Needed. The
person receiving the most votes and at
least 40% of the votes cast for that
office will be declared the winner of
that office.
- If no one candidate receives 40%
of the fotes cast for President,
Vice-President, Secretary, or
Treasurer a runoff election will
be held at a Special Meeting
within 45 days.
- Nominations.
- How Received; Deadline.
Nominations must be received in writing
by the Secretary or her designee (see
Duties of Officers) no later than 60 days
prior to the Annual Meeting. No
nominations will be accepted at the
Annual Meeting.
- Who May Nominate. Any member in
good standing may nominate any member for
any office. Members may nominate
themselves.
- Acceptance Required. Members
must accept the nominations prior to
publications of the agenda of the Annual
Meeting.
- Write-in Votes:
- Write-in votes for officers shall be
counted under the following conditions:
- The name of the candidate is
clearly legible;
- The write-in candidate is a
member in good standing; and,
- All other conditions and
deadlines above are met.
- No nomination requirement is required for
a write-in candidate.
- DUTIES OF OFFICERS.
- Disclosure. All officers have the duty
to disclose any conflict of interests. Officers
with a conflict on any issue shall not vote nor
participate in any discussion on that issue.
- Fiduciary. All officers have a fiduciary
duty to ETVC. Officers must account for
all expenditures of ETVC FUNDS. And no
funds will be used for personal use. All officers
must adhere to practices that comply with non-profit
corporation status.
- Loyalty. All officers must be loyal to ETVC.
The interests of ETVC are paramount to
any interest any officer might have in any other
organization.
- Specific Duties. The specific duties of
officers shall be addressed in Standing Rules
adopted by the ExCom. See Section IX.C Standing
Rules.
- VACANCIES IN OFFICES
- Resignation.
- When. An officer may resign at
any time.
- Method.
- The President resigns by
submitting a letter to the
Secretary of her/his intent to
resign.
- All other officers effect their
resignation with a letter of
intent to the President.
- When Effective. Vacancies occur
upon receipt of the resignation letter.
- Membership Maintained. An
officer does not lose her/his membership
in ETVC when she/he resigns as
an officer.
- Removal.
- Reasons. An officer may be
removed for, but not limited to, any of
the following reasons:
- Gross violation(s) of any part of
the Bylaws,
- Breach of confidentiality,
- Breach of fiduciary trust,
- Intentional misrepresentation of
official ETVC policy,
and
- Any misconduct resulting in
liability against ETVC.
- Method. Removal of an officer
shall be accomplished at a Special
Meeting called either by the ExCom
or by petitioned for by the general
membership. See Section V Special
Meetings.
- Number of Officers. More
than one officer may be removed
at any particular Special Meeting.
- Voting for Removal. An
officer shall be removed if more
than 50% of the votes cast at the
Special Meeting are in favor of
removal.
- Mail-in Ballots. Mail-in
ballots will be counted as votes
cast if they meet the deadline
specified by the ExCom.
- Vacancies.
- Filled by Appointment.
- Appointment by President.
The President, subject to
approval by the ExCom,
may appoint any member in good
standing to fill any vacant
office.
- Approval. The appointed
officer must be approved by a
majority of the ExCom at
the next ExCom meeting.
- Vacancy Filled by Election. The
President has the discretion to ask the ExCom
to call a Special Meeting to fill any
vacant office.
- EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
- Members. The President, Vice-President,
Secretary, Treasurer, Education Co-Chairs,
Outreach Co-Chairs and Social Co-Chairs shall be
the only members of the ExCom.
- Duties.
- The ExCom shall be responsible
for the daily operations of ETVC.
- The ExCom shall report its
activities back to the membership.
- Standing Rules. The ExCom is
authorized to establish Standing Rules to
accomplish its responsibilities.
- The Standing Rules shall not violate
these Bylaws.
- The Standing Rules must be adopted by a
majority of the ExCom.
- The Standing Rules may be amended by a
majority of the ExCom.
- The Standing Rules shall be published and
made available to any ETVC
member on request.
- Meetings.
- Frequency. The ExCom
shall meet at least once a month.
- Members Informed.
- The Secretary or her designate is
responsible for informing the
members of the date, time and
place of the ExCom
meetings.
- Publication of the meeting will
be timely to allow attendance by
general members.
- Special ExCom Meetings. The
President is the only officer who may
call special ExCom meetings.
- Attendance by Others. ExCom meetings are
open to all ETVC members in good
standing.
- General members in good standing of ETVC
may participate in the meetings at the
discretion of the presiding officer.
- Non-members invited by the ExCom
may participate in presentations and
discussions with the permission of the
presiding officer.
- Voting. Only ExCom members are
allowed to vote at ExCom meetings. All
Officers are entitled to one vote, except for the
President who shall only vote in the event of a
tie.
- Quorum. More than 50% of the ExCom
Members constitute a quorum, one of which must be
the President, or in her/his excused absence, the
Vice-President.
- CONFIDENTIALITY. The Membership
and Mailing lists are confidential. Access is limited to
official ETVC use; no member may make a copy of
any portion of the list; members may request special
mailing instructions to insure confidentiality; and the
membership and mailing lists shall not be sold or
transferred to any organization for any purpose whatever.
- BYLAWS ADOPTION AND AMENDMENTS ADOPTION.
- Acceptance by Membership. Amendment to
these Bylaws may be adopted by an affirmative
vote of 60% of the members voting.
- Amendments. Proposed amendments shall be
presented to the members in writing 60 days prior
to being voted upon at the Annual or Special
Meeting. The ExCom may recommend Bylaw
amendments, or the general membership may
petition for Bylaw amendments. The requirements
for a membership Bylaw change are the same as
requesting a Special Meeting. More than one Bylaw
change may be considered at a Special Meeting.
- FISCAL YEAR. The Fiscal Year
for ETVC runs from May 1st to April 30th.
Treasurer reports, budget proposals must be submitted
prior to April 30th of the current year. Extensions will
be granted only upon approval of the ExCom.
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