Bylaws and Signatories of the Radio-Television Journalism Division of AEJMC

RTVJ Constitution

Article 1: Membership

Section 1. Classification of membership: Regular members shall be staff members of institutions engaged in radio-television journalism education at the college undergraduate or graduate level, or persons in related professional activities who have an interest in radio-television journalism teaching and/or research.

Section 2. Funds of the Division shall be deposited with the AEJMC Treasurer (Article 2, Section 7, AEJMC Bylaws), who will provide the facilities of his or her offices for their accounting. Other funds will be deposited in appropriate separate accounts by the AEJMC treasurer.

Section 3. A regular member is one whose dues are paid in advance of the annual meeting.

Section 4. Only regular members are entitled to voting rights.

Section 5. Membership in the Division does not carry with it membership in AEJMC (Article 2, Section 3, AEJMC Bylaws).

Article 2: Meetings

Section 1. The annual meeting of the Division shall be held concurrently with that of AEJMC (Article 5, Section 7, AEJMC Bylaws). The meeting shall be held on the first or second evening of the convention in the convention hotel or at a nearby site selected by the head.

Section 2. Special meetings of the Division may be called and held in connection with any plan or activity designed to carry out the stated functions of the Division, upon concurrence of a quorum of the Executive Committee.

Section 3. Decisions of the Division and of its Executive Committee shall be by majority vote of members present and voting.

Section 4. Robert's Rules of Order shall be the manual for parliamentary procedure in meetings of the Division.

Section 5. Each regular member of the Division shall be entitled to one vote in elections, and to one vote on all issues or proposals presented at an annual or special meeting or special meeting of the Division.

Section 6. The Executive Committee shall meet at least once annually during the annual AEJMC Convention and at such other times as its membership shall determine. For purposes of conducting business of the Division, the head may present propositions to the Executive Committee and poll its membership by postal, electronic mail, fax, or telephone. Meetings held via telephone conference call or other interactive means shall be deemed official meetings. Such balloting shall constitute performance of the advisory function of the Executive Committee between annual meetings.

Article 3: Nominations and Elections

Section 1. The current vice head/program chair, who is the incoming head of the Division, shall, with consultation of a two-member nominating committee, present a list of nominees to the head of the Division no later than 90 days prior to the annual meeting. One member of the committee shall be elected at the previous annual meeting and one shall be appointed by the head.

Section 2. It shall be the duty of the nominating committee to invite nominations and develop a slate of nominees from the Division's regular membership prior to the annual meeting, to present the slate at that meeting, inviting further nominations from the floor, and then to conduct the election of the officers and Executive Committee members. Upon completion of the election, the nominating committee chair shall inform members of the names of the winning candidates.

Section 3. Elections shall be held at the annual meeting. Only members of the Division shall be entitled to vote in the election. Special elections may be held by mail. In the event such elections are necessary, the secretary shall obtain from the AEJMC membership director a list of all current members of the Division, and assure that ballots are mailed to each such member.

Section 4. A candidate for office shall be deemed elected if he or she receives more votes than those cast for any other contender for the office.

Section 5. Upon successful completion of an elected term of office as vice head/program chair, the holder of that office shall automatically succeed to, and possess all the rights and responsibilities of, the Division head. His or her term as head will begin the day immediately following the election of a new vice head.

Section 6. No member of the nominating committee may become a candidate for vice head/program chair or for the Executive Committee. If a person on the nominating committee is interested in running for office, he or she shall withdraw from the committee, and the head shall appoint a replacement.

Article 4: Terms and Duties of Officers

Section 1. The head and vice head/program chair of the Division shall serve for one year from the day after the election at the annual meeting until the election at the next annual meeting. They shall not be eligible to succeed themselves in office, although they may be reelected to the office after a period of one year, and may serve in other offices of the Division. They shall be responsible for planning and carrying out a program designed to accomplish the purposes of the Division.

Section 2. The Division's secretary/newsletter editor, research committee chair, teaching standards committee chair, PF&R committee chair and membership committee chair shall serve for one year from the day after election at the annual meeting until the election at the next annual meeting. They shall be eligible to succeed themselves in office. Appointed officers shall serve from the date of their appointment until the next annual meeting. They may be immediately re-appointed.

Section 3. The head of the Division shall be the Executive Officer of the Division and shall administer its affairs and funding, with the advice of the Executive Committee, including the appointment of any necessary committees. The head shall preside at all meetings of the Division and the Executive Committee, when present. He or she shall also preserve order, enforce the Constitution and Bylaws, and perform all duties of a presiding officer. The Division head must prepare the annual report of the Division to be mailed to AEJMC headquarters on June 15 of the year of his or her term. After his or her term of office expires, the outgoing head must update that report immediately after the end of AEJMC's fiscal year, September 30. The Division head shall be a member of the Advisory Board of AEJMC (Article 3, Section 3, AEJMC Constitution).

Section 4. It shall be the duty of the vice head/program chair to carry out whatever tasks may be assigned to him or her by the head for the purpose of accomplishing the stated objectives of the Division. In the event of a vacancy in the office of head, for any reason, the vice head/program chair shall assume the title and duties of that office until a new head is chosen at the next regular election. The vice head/program chair shall preside in the absence of the head, at meetings of the Division and/or the Executive Committee. In the event the vice head/program chair is unable to complete the term of that office, or succeeds to the position of head during an unexpired term, the secretary/newsletter editor shall assume the title and duties of vice head/program chair until the next regular election. The head will then name a new secretary/newsletter editor with the advice and consent of the Executive Committee. In the event both the head and vice head/program chair are unable to complete their terms, any member of the Executive Committee may convene a meeting of that body and elect Division members to serve as head and vice head/program chair until the next annual meeting.

Section 5. The secretary/newsletter editor shall take and keep the minutes of the Division annual meeting, all Executive Committee meetings and any other Division records. As newsletter editor, this officer will be responsible for the publication of the Division newsletter and perform any other duties requested by the Division head in accordance with the stated objectives of the Division.

Section 6. The research committee chair, in accordance with AEJMC bylaws, seeks to enhance the scholarly activities of radio-television journalism, confer academic honors on behalf of AEJMC for meritorious scholarly achievements in radio-television journalism at the annual convention and confer with other associations and organizations concerned with communications research (Article VII, Sec. 5). The duties include the promotion and administration of all Division research activities, including those to be held at the annual convention. It shall be the duty of the research committee chair to work in conjunction with the head and vice head/program chair for the purpose of accomplishing program objectives for the annual convention. This officer will submit an annual report of all research activities to the secretary/newsletter editor and to the Division head for his or her annual report.

Section 7. The teaching standards committee chair will appoint and direct a committee in accordance with AEJMC bylaws that is concerned with: standards of academic and professional preparation for teachers in the field; appointment, tenure, promotion, compensation, research, and retirement issues; minimum standards of equipment facilities for instruction and research; faculty administration relationships; and matters of accreditation (Article VII, Sec. 3). This officer will submit an annual report of all teaching standard activities to the secretary/newsletter editor and to the head for his or her annual report.

Section 8. The PF&R committee chair in accordance with AEJMC bylaws is concerned with freedom of expression, legally and intellectually ethical issues among media educators and practitioners, media criticism and accountability, minority affairs, and liaison between educators and professionals (Article VII, Sec. 4). However, this provision is not deemed to preclude the Division head, in accordance with Article 3, Section 6 of the Division's Constitution, to appoint a separate RTNDA liaison officer.

Section 9.. The membership committee chair will appoint and direct a committee in accordance with AEJMC bylaws (Article II, Sec. 1) to promote membership in the division by individuals and/or organizations involved with educational or professional radio-television journalism. Eligible individuals and organizations are those concerned principally with teaching, research, or public service in radio-television journalism and those concerned principally with practicing in the various fields of radio-television journalism.

Section 10. The RTNDA liaison officer shall be the Division's official link to the Radio Television News Directors Association, and, in accordance with RTNDA bylaws, becomes an ex officio member of the RTNDA board of directors. The head, on appointment of the RTNDA liaison officer, shall provide the president of RTNDA with the name, address, university affiliation, telephone, fax and e-mail address of the RTNDA liaison officer. The RTNDA liaison officer shall provide an annual report of all his or her activities to the Division's PF&R chair, to the secretary/newsletter editor and to the head of the Division for his or her annual report.

Section 11. The DBJE chair shall be responsible for the selection, planning and presentation of the award to a distinguished broadcast journalism educator at the annual meeting of the Division. He or she shall appoint a committee of no fewer than three members, including himself or herself, to make the selection and so notify the winner.

Section 12. All officers delineated in Sections 1 through 11 represent the Executive Committee for the Division and shall make brief reports on their activities for presentation at the annual meeting.

Section 13. In the event any of the committee chairs (research, teaching standards, PF&R, membership) resigns or is unable to fulfill the functions of the office, the Executive Committee shall fill the vacancy until the next annual meeting at which time a Division member shall be elected to serve in that office.

Section 14. A quorum at a meeting at which all members of the Executive Committee have been invited to attend in person or by electronic means shall be four. For the purposes of conducting the Division's business, the head may present propositions to the Executive Committee and poll all its members by postal, electronic mail, fax, or by telephone. Such balloting shall constitute performance of the advisory function of the Executive Committee between annual meetings.

Section 15. Any member of the Executive Committee who does not attend the Association's annual convention may be removed from office upon a recommendation by the Division head and a majority vote of the members attending the annual meeting. Once a position is declared vacant, the members shall elect another Division member to fill that unexpired term.

Section 16. The treasurer of the Division shall be the Treasurer of AEJMC (Article 5, Section 6, AEJMC Bylaws). Responsibility for non-routine expenditure of funds shall rest with the Division head, with approval from the vice head and a majority of members of the executive committee. Routine expenditures of funds shall include but not be limited to mailing labels for the newsletter, food and facilities for the annual meeting, and co-sponsorship of other divisions' mid-year conferences. Non-routine expenditures of funds shall include but not be limited to travel on Division business, particularly but not limited to travel involving the Division's liaison with RTNDA. The head, in consultation with the vice head and the executive committee, also may authorize limited expenses for non-AEJMC-member convention speakers in accordance with AEJMC's convention expenses policy. If a question arises as to the propriety of a proposed expenditure, it shall be submitted to AEJMC's Executive Director or Executive Committee for resolution.

(Amended at the annual meeting of the RTVJ Division of AEJMC, August, 2000: Bylaws Article 3, Sec. 2: Deleted the following: "The nominating committee shall present at least two persons for the position of vice head/program chair. Nominations to the position of vice head/program chair and to the Executive Committee may be made from the floor of the annual meeting.")

This constitution and these bylaws were adopted and placed into force according to Article 6, Section 1 above at the annual meeting of the RTVJ Division of AEJMC, on August 11, 1996.

Signed:

Bill Knowles
1995-96 Division Head

William Davie
1995-96 Vice Head/Program Chair

Dale Cressman
1995-96 Secretary/Newsletter Editor

John Herbert
1995-96 PF&R Committee Chair

Don Heider
1995-96 Research Committee Chair

Bill Silcock
1995-96 Teaching Standards Committee Chair

RTVJ Constitution