Policy & Procedure Manual

1st Edition

This Policy & Procedure Manual, amended from time to time by the Board of Directors shall be used in conjunction with the Bylaws of the Association.

Sec. 1. Elections

Sec. 1.1 At elections for officers and directors, 3 tellers shall be appointed by the Presiding officer.

Sec. 1.2 The following procedure shall be followed at elections.

  1. Voting for officers shall be by majority vote and voting for directors shall be by plurality.
  2. Nominations will be open for President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and Directors during such time in advance of the meeting. The mail in cutoff date shall be nine days prior to the start of the annual meeting. The President should ensure that the nomination window and the time set for elections are widely publicized. The end of the nomination window should be separated from the start of the elections to allow ample opportunity for members to learn about the nominees.
  3. Voting will take place for President first. Any candidate for President who does not win will automatically be on the ballot for Vice President unless they decline.
  4. Voting will take place in order for Vice President, Secretary & Treasurer in the same manner as outlined in 1.2(c).
  5. Voting for Directors will take place after the Election of Officers is complete.
  6. Nominees must be present in person to accept nomination or accept a nomination in writing and submit it to the Election Committee Chairman prior to the end of the nomination window.
  7. The winners shall be announced to the membership but the total number of votes for all individuals running for office will not be read out loud to the membership. Any individual that ran for office may come up and ask the President for their total votes if they choose to. The totals written down will be given to the Secretary.

Sec. 1.3 The Presiding Officer shall ask the assembly if there is a request for a re-count of the ballots and if there is no such request made, the ballots shall be destroyed.

Sec. 1.4 The Officers and Directors elected at the annual meeting shall hold their office until the successor has been elected.

Sec. 1.5 Officers and Directors so elected shall be sworn in and assume their respective positions at the banquet.

Sec. 2. Membership

Sec. 2.1 A member who has had their membership revoked must then re-apply for membership as a new member if at some time after revocation, they wish to re-affiliate themselves. In this circumstance, that individual would not be eligible to hold any office for a period of one year from the date of their re-application approval.

  1. When a bad check is received for dues the Treasurer will email and telephone the member and advise them that they have 2 weeks to send a new check, cashier’s check, or money order. The Treasurer will also advise them if the money is not received within that time they will be temporarily removed from the website. The Treasurer will then do a follow-up email advising the member that they have been temporarily removed from the website and that they have 5 days to send the money or their membership will be revoked and they will have to reapply. (Amended Board Meeting June 9, 2007)

Sec. 2.2 Applicants who apply for membership on or After June 1, the dues will be 50% of the annual dues amount. Applicants who apply on or after Sept 1 will pay the full dues amount, however this will cover their membership dues for the following year. (Amended at the Board Meeting August 14, 2010)

Sec. 2.3 The Board of Directors, in executive session, shall review any requested hardship exemption with regard to payment of dues.

Sec. 2.4 The Association shall publish a directory of its membership which shall be distributed to all members. Directory listings shall be as follows.

  1. Active member: Listed by county, including name of member, firm name, address, phone, fax, e-mail, web. Additional county listings will be available at a charge approved by the Board of Directors.
  2. Associate member: Listed by State, including name of member, firm name, address, phone, fax, e-mail and web.
  3. Honorary member: Listed in separate section in the front of the membership directory, before the member listing, including name, city, state and year of induction for perpetuity. In addition, an announcement will be made in the next addition of the Paper Chase after induction. (Adopted at November 8, 2008 Board Meeting)
  4. When we do not receive all monies due for additional listings we will not list their additional listing on the website until the Treasurer has written an email advising the member of the shortage and letting them know that they will not have their additional listing posted on the website until such time as we receive the additional funds. (Amended Board Meeting June 9, 2007)

Sec. 2.5 Member Emergency/Crisis

Sec. 2.5.1 Once notified of a situation the President will appoint a “Member Emergency/Crisis Liaison” (MECL) The MECL will then accomplish the following:

  1. Determine the nature of the emergency/crisis.
  2. Evaluate what help/assistance MAPPS might provide.
  3. Make recommendations to the BOD for action.

Sec. 2.5.2 The BOD will then evaluate the information provided and determine what action might be appropriate for MAPPS, as an organization to take or not take.

Sec. 2.5.3 The BOD might also direct the MECL to head an independent effort to collect funds, etc. from the membership to assist the member in emergency/crisis.

Sec. 3. Association Property, Financial Obligation & Committees

Sec. 3.1 No Officer, Director or member shall obligate the Association in any way whatsoever without the prior approval of the Board of Directors.

Sec. 3.2 No Officer, Director or member shall expend any funds over $100 without the prior approval of the Board of Directors.

Sec. 3.3 All committee’s shall cease to function at the time that the person appointing them shall leave office, and it shall be understood that at that time, all chairpersons and members of committees terms shall cease.

Sec. 3.4 All Officers, Directors, committee chairman and members shall turn over all material in their possession, at the annual meeting, that is the property of the Association, to the newly elected President. Including but not limited to, check books, statements, records, minutes, lists, computer disks, correspondence, etc. The immediate past Treasurer will be responsible and have 30 days to prepare the convention report. The immediate past Treasurer will be allowed to retain such material as needed to facilitate such preparation and will then turn over said material and report to the new Treasurer to present to the board for review and approval.

Sec. 4 Administrator

Sec 4.1 In the event that the Association employs the services of an Administrator, such person may perform some of the duties specifically stated in the Bylaws as the responsibility of the Secretary or Treasurer. In such case, the Treasurer would have the responsibility to audit and oversee such person with regard to financial matters and Secretary would be required to make sure that minutes are taken at all meetings.

Sec. 4.2 The Administrator shall report to and take direction from the Board of Directors.

  1. The Administrator shall be required to attend all scheduled meetings of the Association.

Sec. 4.3 In the event a lobbyist is employed by the Association, such lobbyist shall have the President as his primary contact with the Vice President as back up contact. The Treasurer shall ensure the lobbyist is paid during the first quarter of each year

Sec. 4.4 The Secretary or Administrator shall notify members monthly of applications for membership that have been received.

Sec. 4.4.1 Applicants will be posted the first day of the each month on the Association website www.mappsonline.org and automatically become a member at the end of the month, pending no objection received.
Additionally, the administrator will send an email to all members listing the new applicants.

Sec. 4.4.2 When an objection is filed to an application for membership, the Secretary will do the following:

  1. Send a form letter to the applicant telling them an objection has been filed. Copy them in on the objection from the member. Copy the member filing the complaint. The applicant is given two (2) weeks to respond to the objection.
  2. The applicant has the choice of either responding in writing or appearing before the Board of Directors during an executive session. If the applicant chooses to submit a written response, the Board will either call for an executive session which may be held via email with the applicant’s permission and at the Presidents discretion or wait until the next regularly scheduled Board meeting. If the applicant chooses to appear before the Board he/she is required to submit this request in writing and will be notified of the date his/her appearance is required.
  3. The Administrator is notified of the objection so the application for membership can be put on hold until the Board of Directors review the objection.
  4. If the applicant does not file a response during the allotted time frame (2 weeks), a letter is written to the Administrator asking him/her to take the applicant’s name off the pending member list.
  5. If the applicant does not file a response during the allotted time frame (2 weeks), the Secretary sends a form letter to the applicant telling him/her that his/her membership has been denied. This letter is copied to the President.
  6. In the event that a membership application is denied or withdrawn, the application fee will be reimbursed minus a $25.00 administrative fee.

Sec. 4.5 The Secretary or Administrator shall notify members as soon as practical after elections of the newly elected officers, directors and committees.

Sec. 4.6 The Treasurer shall provide a copy of the Quarterly Financial Report to all board members at least 7 days prior to the scheduled Quarterly meeting.

Sec. 4.7 The President shall appoint a committee to recommend future annual meeting locations. Such recommendation will be brought to the Board of Directors for a final vote.

Sec. 4.8 The master copy of the current Bylaws, Policy & Procedure Manual & the Code of Ethics will be held by the Secretary. The Secretary will be responsible for updating any changes.

Sec. 6. Mailings

All mailings including the newsletter and the Directory will be sent electronically instead of in printed form to international members.

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