Proposed Changes to the Pennsylvania Economic Association Bylaws

[Proposed changes are underlined and bolded.  A vote to approve these proposed changes will take place at the Annual General Membership Meeting on Saturday, June 3, 2006, at 10:00am at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.  Please consult the conference web page for details on the meeting location.]

Article I – Name
The name of this organization shall be The Pennsylvania Economic Association.

Article II – Purpose
The purpose of the Association is to: (1) foster economic scholarship and fellowship among persons interested in economics and who reside or work in Pennsylvania; (2) publish the proceedings of the annual meetings; (3) publish a biannual refereed journal (Pennsylvania Economic Review); and (4) encourage freedom of economic decision. The Association as such will not take any partisan attitude, nor will it commit its members to any position on practical economic questions.

Article III – Membership
Any person interested in economic inquiry may be enrolled in the Association upon the payment of the annual dues for the appropriate class of membership. Colleges, Universities, businesses, and other organizations may become Institutional Members of the Association upon payment of the annual dues for that class of membership.

Article IV – Government and Officers

Section 1
The government of the Association shall be vested in a Board of Directors consisting of nine elected directors plus seven officers, the editor of the Pennsylvania Economic Review, PEA Webmaster, and the immediate past president, who are ex officio member. In addition, all other past officers and all past directors may be ex officio members of the Board if they desire to serve.

Section 2
The Board shall meet at least twice a year.

Section 3
Any director or officer may resign at any time by sending a written notice of such resignation to the Secretary of the Association. Unless otherwise specified therein, such resignation shall take effect upon its receipt by the Secretary. More than three consecutive absences from meetings of the Board of Directors, unless excused by resolution of the Board of Directors, shall automatically constitute a resignation, effective when the resignation is accepted by the Board of Directors.

Section 4
A quorum of the Board for the transaction of any business shall be 9 members of the Board of Directors.

Section 5
The Board may fill any vacancy regardless of how such vacancy occurs.

Section 6
The President shall appoint all committees and his/her appointments shall be approved by the Board. The Board shall delegate such authority as it sees fit to such committees, and shall specify their duties.

Section 7
The Board of Directors shall have general charge of, and authority over, the affairs and funds of the Association and set dues and other fees. It shall be the duty of the Board to carry out the purposes of the Association to take any action in fulfillment of that duty, and to set the date of the annual meeting and its location.

Section 8
The officers shall be a President, President-Designate, Vice President-Programs, Vice President-Publicity, Vice President-Membership, Secretary, and Treasurer, and they shall be members of the Board.

Section 9
The term for a Director shall be three years, with three directors being elected each year at the annual meeting. The term for officers shall be one year, except that the terms of the Secretary, Treasurer, and the Editor of the Pennsylvania Economic Review, and PEA Webmaster shall be three years. No person may serve more than three consecutive terms in the same position except the Secretary, and Treasurer, and PEA  Webmaster who may be re-elected for five consecutive terms. Newly elected directors and officers will start their terms and assume their duties at the adjournment of the annual meeting.

Section 10
The Pennsylvania Economic Review will be managed by a 6 person editorial board which includes the editor, the President of the Association, the immediate past-President of the Association and 3 others chosen by the editor in consultation with the President.

Section 11

Pennsylvania Economic Association web services shall be managed by the PEA Webmaster as guided by the policies and directives of the Association’s officers and Board of Directors.  The webmaster shall be responsible for the planning, development, maintenance, and expansion of the Association’s web services.  These services shall be used to promote the purpose of the Association and provide timely and accurate information regarding the Association’s government and officers, publications, and conferences.

Article V – Nominations

Section 1
A nominating committee appointed by the Board, and chaired by the immediate past president, shall present a slate of proposed Directors and officers to the Board sufficient in number to replace those who terms have expired plus any vacancies which may have occurred since the time of the last election and which have not been filled by the Board. The Board shall present the slate, after making any changes it deems necessary, to the annual business meeting. Nominations may also be made from the floor provided the persons so nominated have been contacted and expressed a willingness to serve if elected.

Section 2
At any election, when there are more nominees than there are positions to be filled, a secret ballot will be conducted. Those nominees receiving the greatest number of votes will be declared elected. In the event of any ties, a run-off election will be held among the tied nominees.

Article VI – Duties of Officers

Section 1
The president shall call meetings of the Board, preside at all meetings and carry out the purposes of the Association.

Section 2
The President-Designate shall have the responsibility of seeing that the Proceedings of the meeting when he or she was Vice President-Programs are printed and distributed as soon as possible after the annual meeting. Unless this is accomplished before the meeting of the Board of Directors at the following annual meeting, the President-Designate will not be eligible to be nominated to the office of President of the Association. The President-Designate shall preside at meetings in the absence of the President

Section 3
The Vice-President-Programs shall preside at meetings in the absence of the President and the President-Designate, shall organize the program and be responsible for other details connected with the annual meeting, and shall be willing to serve as president if so elected.

Section 4
The Vice-President-Publicity shall preside at meetings in the absence of the President, President-Delegate and Vice-President-Programs, and shall organize the publicity with respect to the Association and its annual meeting.

Section 5
The Vice President-Membership shall preside at meetings in the absence of the President, the President-Delegate and the other two Vice Presidents, and shall develop and carry out programs to increase the membership of the Association.

Section 6
The Secretary shall attend to correspondence as authorized by the president, keep a true and accurate record of all meetings, and carry out such other duties as may from time to time be delegated to this office.

Section 7
The Treasurer shall keep a true and accurate record of the income and expenses of the Association, shall pay all bills properly submitted, collect dues and other fees, and report at the annual meeting. He or she shall have authority to put the Association’s funds into a federally insured N.O.W. checking account, a savings account or certificate of deposit.

Article VII – Amendments

Section 1
These By-Laws may be amended by a majority vote of the members present at the annual meeting provided that due notice, setting for the substance of such supplement or amendment of the meeting shall be given to all members at least 30 days prior to the annual meeting. Proposed amendments must be signed by at least ten members of the Association and be sent to the President in time for inclusion with one of the announcements of the annual meeting.

Approved by the Board of Directors, June 2, 1982.

Adopted by the membership at the 1982 annual business meeting.

Change of name to the "Pennsylvania Economic Association" from the "Pennsylvania Conference of Economists" approved by the membership at the 1985 annual business meeting.

Addition of "President-Designate" and "Institutional membership" agreed by the membership at the 1989 annual business meeting.

Separation of positions of Secretary and Treasurer agreed by the membership at the 2005 annual business meeting.