BRAZOS VALLEY PUBLIC PURCHASING ASSOCIATION

CONSTITUTION

ARTICLE I

NAME AND CHARTER 

•  The name shall be, THE BRAZOS VALLEY PUBLIC PURCHASING ASSOCIATION. The recognized acronym shall be BVPPA.

•  Chartered March, 1991.

ARTICLE II

OBJECTIVES

The objectives of the BVPPA are as follows:

•  Establish cooperative relationships among members for the development of efficient purchasing methods and practices.

•  To encourage maintenance of ethical standards in buying and selling.

•  To promote uniform public purchasing laws and simplified standards and specifications.

•  To collect and disseminate useful information to members.

•  To promote the interchange of ideas and experiences within the purchasing profession.

•  To encourage research and investigation within the purchasing profession and to sponsor such other activities as may be useful in providing members with knowledge for efficient procurement.

•  To strive to advance the purchasing profession.

•  To promote and encourage professional certification for persons in the purchasing or materials management profession.

•  To encourage individual membership in the National Purchasing Institute (NPI), Institute for Supply Management, Inc. (ISM), and other associations or organizations established to promote the purchasing and materials management profession throughout the United States and all foreign countries.

ARTICLE III 

MEMBERSHIP 

A. Regular Membership: Regular Membership shall be open to full-time

•  purchasing or materials management employees of, or

•  employees working full-time to increase and promote business opportunities for disadvantaged businesses for,

Federal, State, County, and non-profit institutions, municipalities and political subdivisions of the state, public independent school systems, colleges, and universities. Regular members have full voting rights and may serve as Officers, Committee Chairs, and committee members.

•  Student Membership : Student Membership shall be open to those enrolled for at least six (6) hours during a semester in a university, college, or junior college. Student members do not have voting rights and may not serve as Officers or Committee Chairs, but may serve on committees.

ARTICLE IV 

OFFICERS AND THEIR ELECTION

•  Officers and their duties:

•  President: The President shall generally supervise the affairs of the BVPPA, preside over all meetings, appoint Chairs of the Standing and Special Committees, and perform all duties incident to the office of the President.

•  Vice-President: The Vice-President shall perform BVPPA duties as assigned by the President, and in the temporary absence of the President, shall perform all duties of the President. The Vice-President is a de facto "President elect" and thus, in most cases, automatically progresses to the position of President without further elections.

•  Secretary: The Secretary shall maintain a written record of the proceedings of all meetings of the BVPPA and all other functions of the BVPPA as directed by the President.

•  Treasurer: The Treasurer shall be responsible for the funds of the BVPPA and will render a true and complete report relative to the fiscal affairs of this office as requested by the President and, as a minimum, at the end of the Treasurer's term in office, to the general membership. The Treasurer or President has oversight over the fiscal affairs of the BVPPA.

•  Officers shall be elected during the regular monthly business meeting held the last month of the fiscal year.

•  Candidates must be nominated by either a Nominating Committee, appointed by the President, or from the floor by an eligible BVPPA member.

•  Votes will be cast by written ballots. Provision will be made to allow absentee and proxy voting.

•  Candidates will be elected by a two-thirds vote of those voting, a quorum being present.

•  No person shall be eligible to be an Officer unless he or she has been a member in good standing for at least one (1) year immediately preceding the election. No member shall be eligible for the office of President or Vice-President unless he or she has served at least one (1) year as a BVPPA Officer.

•  The term of office for all Officers shall be for a period of one (1) year and shall commence at the close of the regular monthly business meeting at which they are elected.

•  There shall be no term limits applied to prevent a member from being elected to an office in which they have already served.

ARTICLE V 

MEETINGS

•  The BVPPA shall convene one regular business meeting each month. The date, time, and location of each meeting shall be determined by the Executive Board.

•  The Executive Board shall meet at least once each month in addition to the regular business meeting convened each month. The date, time, and location of each meeting shall be determined by the Executive Board.

ARTICLE VI 

AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION AND BYLAWS

•  Proposed amendments to the Constitution and/or Bylaws must be presented to members in writing during a regular monthly business meeting. Proposed amendments to the Constitution must be presented by either the President or Vice-President.

•  Proposed amendments to the Constitution and/or Bylaws will be adopted or rejected by membership vote during the next regular monthly business meeting immediately following the presentation of the proposed amendments. Members may vote by absentee, proxy or in person.

•  Proposed amendments to the Constitution and/or Bylaws will become adopted by a two-thirds vote of those casting ballots.

•  Members shall be allowed to place absentee or proxy votes for elections, amendments to the Constitution and/or Bylaws. Absentee votes must be received one week prior to the regular business meeting in which the vote is to take place to be valid. Proxy votes shall be submitted by the authorized individual at the time of the vote at the regular meeting. It shall be the responsibility of the Executive board to assure that the information needed and ballots are provided in a timely manner to allow for both absentee and proxy votes.

BVPPA BYLAWS

ARTICLE I

 ADMINISTRATION

•  The fiscal year shall begin the first day of June and end on May 31 of the following year.

•  The governing body shall be called the Executive Board and comprises the immediate Past President, the President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, and Committee Chairs.

•  The Executive Board shall act in an advisory capacity and shall be responsible for budgeting and general administrative tasks.

ARTICLE II 

COMMITTEES

•  There shall be four Standing Committees :

•  Membership: Identify and recruit eligible purchasing professionals into membership.

•  Professional Development: Promote professional development within the purchasing profession by planning, organizing, and conducting annual educational programs, seminars, and workshops.

•  Program: Provide monthly educational and professional development programs for members to encourage and promote local participation in the BVPPA.

•  Public Relations: Increase and promote public awareness of the BVPPA and its functions through communications and publications.

•  There shall be two Special Committees :

•  Audit: The Audit Committee shall audit all financial bookkeeping for the preceding year and shall submit its report with recommendations to the Executive Board for approval. The Audit Committee shall comprise the incumbent Treasurer, the newly elected Treasurer and a member at large, appointed by the President. The newly elected Treasurer shall serve as Committee Chair.

•  Nominating: The Nominating Committee shall receive and evaluate recommendations from the members regarding individuals suggested for candidacy. The Nominating Committee shall consist of the President, Vice-President and at least three (3) members appointed by the President.

•  The President may establish other Special Committees for purposes as he or she deems appropriate. The President shall appoint eligible members to serve on these other Special Committees.

•  The Chair of all Committees other than Audit shall be appointed by the President from among eligible members.

•  Eligible members may serve on more than one committee concurrently.

ARTICLE III 

ELECTIONS

•  The Vice-President automatically progresses to the office of President when the President's term expires in May.

•  The Nominating Committee shall develop a slate of at least one candidate each for the offices of Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer. Regular members may submit nominations to the Nominating Committee for consideration.

•  The slate of candidates shall be submitted to the President at least five days prior to the April regular monthly meeting. No additions to the slate of candidates may be made after submittal to the President.

•  The names of all candidates must be presented to the members during the preceding April's regular monthly meeting.

•  Eligible members wishing to submit a nomination from the floor must first obtain express approval to do so from the nominee. 

ARTICLE IV

DUES AND MEMBERSHIP

•  Annual Dues:

•  Regular Membership - $25.00/YR

•  Student Membership - $10.00/YR

•  Annual dues will be assessed on an individual member basis each May with payment due prior to the June regular meeting.

•  An eligible applicant becomes a regular member upon submittal of a Membership Application and payment of the annual membership dues.

•  Employers who pay membership dues for their employee member may transfer the membership to another employee. Written notice to do so must be provided to the BVPPA Secretary and the Chairperson of the Membership Committee.

•  Honorary Membership: Honorary Membership may be conferred upon individuals who have made distinguished contributions to the purchasing profession and the BVPPA. Honorary members shall not be entitled to vote or hold office but shall be exempt from payment of membership dues.

•  Individuals may be nominated for Honorary Membership by any regular member from the floor during a regular monthly business meeting.

•  Honorary Membership will be conferred or rejected by membership vote during the next regular monthly business meeting immediately following the nomination.

•  Honorary Membership is conferred by a two-thirds vote of those voting, a quorum being present.

•  Honorary Memberships are perpetual, unless rescinded by a majority vote of all members.

•  Retired Membership: Retired membership may be conferred upon members of the BVPPA upon their retirement from full-time purchasing or materials management employment or employees working full-time to increase and promote business opportunities for disadvantaged businesses. Retired members shall not be entitled to vote or hold office but shall be exempt from payment of membership dues.

•  Individuals may be nominated for Retired Membership by any regular member from the floor during a regular monthly business meeting.

•  Retired Memberships are perpetual.

ARTICLE V 

VACANCIES AND SUCCESSION

•  President: In case of the illness, resignation, or death of the President, the Vice-President becomes President for the unexpired term and may continue as President for the entire new term immediately following.

•  Vice-President: The President will select one or more candidates from among eligible members. A majority vote of the Executive Board will determine which candidate serves the remainder of the unexpired term. If the President's selected candidate(s) fails to win a majority vote, the President must select an additional candidate or candidates from among eligible members.

•  A replacement Vice-President thus selected will not automatically become President at the end of the unexpired term. Rather, candidates for President will be selected according to the Bylaws, Article III, Sections B through E.

•  The incumbent Secretary and Treasurer may be selected by the President as a candidate to fill an unexpired term of the Vice-President. If the Secretary or Treasurer thus becomes Vice-president, the Secretary or Treasurer position shall be filled according to Section D.

•  Secretary and Treasurer: The President will select one or more candidates from among eligible members. A majority vote of the Executive Board will determine which candidate serves the remainder of the unexpired term. If the President's Selected candidate(s) fails to win a majority vote, the President must select an additional candidate or candidates from among eligible members.

•  Committee Chairs: The President shall appoint an eligible member to serve the remainder of the unexpired term.

•  Expulsion of an Executive Board Member: An Executive Board Member may be expelled from the Board by the President if the member fails to attend three or more monthly Executive Board meetings without approval from the President.

•  The Executive Board Member shall be notified, in writing from the President, of his or her expulsion.

•  The expelled Executive Board Member will have thirty (30) days to appeal their expulsion. Appeals must be made in writing to the President, but shall be decided by the entire Executive Board.

•  The President shall provide copies of all expulsion-related documents to all members of the Executive Board and shall schedule a meeting of the Executive Board within two weeks of the receipt of the appeal.

•  A simple majority vote of the Executive Board shall determine whether the expulsion is sustained or rejected.

•  In the case of all Executive Board vacancies other than the Office of the President, the Executive Board shall have the discretion, by majority vote, to leave the vacancy for the remainder of the unexpired term.

•  Generally, this will apply to unexpired terms of three months or less.

•  If the Office of the Vice-President is left vacant for the remainder of the unexpired term, the Secretary will temporarily assume all duties of the President in the absence of the President. If the Secretary is absent or unable to assume the duties of the absent President, the Treasurer will do so.

ARTICLE VI 

FISCAL PROCEDURES

•  A checking or money market account with a local bank will be established in the name of the Brazos Valley Public Purchasing Association.

•  Two authorized signatures, those of the Treasurer and the President, will be associated with the account so that the signature of one or the other is required on all checks.

•  The BVPPA books and accounts shall at all times be open to inspection by any member of the BVPPA. Requests by a member to inspect the BVPPA books or accounts shall be made in writing to the President.

•  All fiscal records shall be audited annually by the Audit Committee.

ARTICLE VII 

PARLIAMENTARY PROCEDURES 

•  Robert's Rules of Order shall govern the BVPPA in all cases to which they are applicable and in which they are not inconsistent with the BVPPA By-laws.

•  Quorums:

•  A quorum at an Executive Board meeting shall consist of a majority of the Officers.

•  A quorum at any regular monthly business meeting shall consist of a minimum of twenty percent (20%) of the BVPPA membership of record.