Bylaws

Friday, 04 November 2022

SOUTHWEST EDUCATION COUNCIL FOR JOURNALISM AND MASS COMMUNICATION
These Bylaws further explain and delineate operations and procedures for the Officers and Executive Committee of the Southwest Education Council for Journalism and Mass Communication. (References are to Articles and Sections in the Constitution of the Southwest Education Council for Journalism and Mass Communication.) Revised November 2001.

Bylaw I.
Article II. Purposes and Objectives
Section 2.c. The Pioneer Award, which was created in 1993, honors an individual who has made a significant contribution to journalism and mass communication education in Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Nevada, Texas, Wyoming, or Utah, or who has played a critical role in supporting and enhancing the mission and purpose of the Southwest Education Council for Journalism and Mass Communication. The Pioneer Award is not an annual award, but is given at the discretion of the Executive Committee.

 

Section 2.c. The Educator Award, which was created in 2021, honors a faculty member at a SWECJMC member institution who has demonstrated an outstanding contribution to journalism and mass communication education over the past year. Faculty members at all ranks, including adjunct instructors, full-time instructors, tenure-track professors, and tenured professors, who have demonstrated an exceptional commitment to undergraduate and/or graduate education through innovative practices, excellent student outcomes, and/or classroom-focused research are considered for this award. The Educator Award is to be given annually, with the award winner determined by the Executive Committee.

Bylaw II.
Article IV. Officers
Section 2. The president presides over the business meeting held during the Southwest Symposium. The president determines the time and place of the spring Executive Committee meeting and presides over that meeting. The president becomes immediate past president after serving a one-year term as president. The immediate past president is responsible for establishing a slate of officers and Council members for election and conducts the election among member schools. The immediate past president receives the marked ballots from the member schools, tallies them, and notifies the winners and
losers, as well as the president, of the results.
Section 3. The vice president automatically shall become president after serving a one year term as vice president.
Section 4. The vice president automatically shall become president after serving one year as vice president. The vice president is responsible for the research program of the Southwest Symposium, issuing the call for papers, finding the judges, receiving and distributing papers for refereed judging, notifying the authors, and arranging and organizing the program. The vice president works with the Symposium host school in determining program arrangement and logistics.


The secretary takes minutes during the two meetings held by the Executive Committee, in the spring and the fall (in conjunction with the Southwest Symposium). The secretary also takes minutes at the business meeting held during the Southwest Symposium.

Bylaw III.
Article V. Meetings
Section 1. The Executive Committee meets during the fall Southwest Symposium and again in the spring following the fall Symposium. The spring meeting is the planning session for the upcoming Symposium; a slate of officers and Executive Committee members is recommended; other business as needed is conducted.

Bylaw IV.
Article VI. Executive Committee
Section 2. The four directors of the Executive Committee are each elected for a two-year term, in staggered arrangement. No more than two directors are elected each year, to provide continuity on the Executive Committee. No more than two directors may be from the same state, although they may be from the same state as some of the officers; ideally, no director is from the same institution as any officer of the committee.

The business manager of the Southwest Mass Communication Journal serves as an ex-officio member of the Executive Committee.

Southwest Symposium: Responsibilities of the host school. It is the responsibility of the host school to find a suitable meeting place, provide the necessary number of meeting rooms and a suitable hotel, and to arrange for the Friday night dinner and the Saturday noon luncheon. The host school should also decide if there will be a hospitality room, and if so, should handle those arrangements. The host school is responsible for collecting registration fees from individuals or from schools and depositing those fees into an account, which the host school with either establish or will use an existing account at the school. The host school is responsible for paying symposium expenses from these fees, and sending revenues designated for the journal to the SWECJMC treasurer, who will forward the money to the journal’s business manager. Revenue in excess of the symposium expenses and journal contribution can be kept by the host school. The host school should work with the SWECJMC vice president, who is responsible for the papers competition and for putting together the program for papers presentations. If additional panels are featured, it is the responsibility of the vice president and the host school to coordinate them, although it is the sole responsibility of the host school to ensure programming is complete. The vice president also may work with the host school to provide special panels, and/or any other special outside activities, such as area tours or events, are at the discretion of the host school.