CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS
of the
LOUISIANA STATE CONFERENCE OF
THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS
(As revised by the Conference on April 19, 2008)

CONSTITUTION

ARTICLE I. NAME.

The name of this organization shall be the Louisiana State Conference of the American Association of University Professors. Hereinafter, the Louisiana State Conference shall be abbreviated as the “Conference,” and the American Association of University Professors shall be abbreviated as the “AAUP.”

ARTICLE II. PURPOSES.

The purposes of this organization shall be to facilitate cooperation among members and AAUP Chapters in Louisiana, to provide a means for increasing Association membership, to encourage the formation of new Chapters in the State, and to promote the objectives of the AAUP.

ARTICLE III. MEMBERSHIP.

Any person in Louisiana who is a member of the AAUP and who pays Conference dues shall be a member of the same class and standing of the Conference.

ARTICLE IV. OFFICERS.

1. The Officers of the Conference shall be a President, a Vice-President, a Treasurer, and a Secretary.
2. The term of office for these Officers shall be two years. The President, Vice-President, and Secretary may be re-elected for one consecutive term and may also serve unlimited non-consecutive terms. The Treasurer may be re-elected for up to four consecutive terms and an unlimited number of non-consecutive terms.
3. The Officers shall be elected at the Annual Meeting in the manner prescribed in the By-Laws.
4. Officers shall be members of the Conference in faculty membership categories as defined by the national organization and members of the Louisiana Conference and, if applicable, their institutional chapter.

ARTICLE V. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

1. There shall be an Executive Committee consisting of the President, the Treasurer, the Vice-President, the Secretary, a member-at-large elected as provided in Section 2 of this Article, and, as ex-officio members, the past President and the chairs of standing committees. No more than two members from any one college or university shall be members of the Executive Committee, excluding ex-officio members.
2. The member-at-large of the Executive Committee shall be elected at the Annual Meeting for a two-year term.
3. The Executive Committee shall conduct the business of the Conference between meetings and shall name the time and place of meetings as provided in Article VI.

ARTICLE VI. MEETINGS.
1. The Conference shall hold at least one regular meeting each academic year. The Executive Committee shall designate one such meeting as the Annual Meeting.
2. Special meetings of the Conference shall be called by the President at the direction of the Executive Committee, or at the request of any four Chapters.

At least 4 days’ notice shall be given to the membership for any such meeting. At a special meeting, no action may be taken on any item of business that was not announced in the call to the meeting.
3. All members of the Conference may attend any meeting or any other official function of the Conference. All attendees have privileges of the floor, but only current members in faculty membership categories as defined by the national organization, hereinafter designated as active members, may vote. Each active member shall have one vote.
4. The active members of the Association in each Chapter may elect not more than one delegate for each ten active members or major fraction thereof as shown by the most recent national membership roster. On the request of one-fifth of the delegates present, proportional voting shall be held on the immediately pending question only. In proportional voting, the accredited delegates from each Chapter shall be entitled to a number of votes equal to the number of active members in their Chapter, but any active member not in a Chapter thus represented shall be entitled to an individual vote. In the case that a Chapter has more than one delegate, each delegate may cast an equal proportion of the votes to which the Chapter is entitled.
5. The Executive Committee shall inform the entire membership of the purpose of any special meeting.
6. A majority of the active members initially attending the meeting shall constitute a quorum.

ARTICLE VII. POWERS OF THE CONFERENCE.

The Conference may consider and act upon professional matters that are of concern to the members and the Chapters of the State, provided that the Conference conforms in all its actions to the principles and rules of the AAUP.

ARTICLE VIII. ADOPTION AND AMENDMENT OF BY-LAWS.

By-Laws to this Constitution may be adopted or altered at any meeting of the Conference by a majority vote, provided that written notice of the proposed By-Law or alterations in existing By-Laws has been sent to the entire membership at least one month before that meeting.

ARTICLE IX. RATIFICATION AND AMENDMENTS.

This Constitution and By-Laws shall, upon their ratification by at least four Chapters, become the Constitution and By-Laws of the Conference, and all Chapters existing or subsequently organized in the state of Louisiana may participate in all activities of the Conference upon approving this Constitution and By-Laws, so long as they abide by its provisions.

This Constitution may be amended at any meeting of the Conference by a two-thirds vote, provided that written notice of the proposed amendment(s) has been sent to the entire membership at least one month before that meeting.

BY-LAWS

I. DUTIES OF THE OFFICERS.

1. The duties of the President shall be to preside at the meetings of the Conference and of the Executive Committee. The President shall call meetings of the Executive Committee and, as provided by Article V of the Constitution, special meetings of the Conference. With the advice and consent of the Executive Committee, the President shall appoint members to standing committees and shall designate their chairs. With the advice and consent of the Executive Committee, the President shall appoint a member to fill the unexpired term of office if a vacancy occurs among the Officers or members of the Executive Committee. The President shall be ex-officio a member of all committees except the Nominating Committee.
2. The duties of the Vice-President shall be to preside at meetings of the Conference or of the Executive Committee in the absence of the President. In case of a vacancy in the office of President, the Vice-President shall succeed to the office for the unexpired term.
3. The duties of the Treasurer shall be to receive the dues of the Chapters and other monies allocated to the Conference, to make the payments authorized by the Conference or the Executive Committee, to file any required financial forms, and to report on the finances of the Conference at the Annual Meeting and, upon request, to the Executive Committee.
4. The duties of the Secretary shall be to keep an accurate record of the meetings of the Conference and of the Executive Committee. The Secretary shall notify all members of meetings of the Conference and of proposed By-Laws and amendments to the Constitution. The Secretary shall keep a complete record of all activities of the Conference and shall submit these records to his or her successor.

II. ELECTIONS.

1. The President shall appoint a Nominating Committee of three members who are from different institutions and who are not officers of the Conference. This Nominating Committee shall select a slate of nominees for the offices to be filled at the Annual Meeting.
2. There may be nominations from the floor at the Annual Meeting.
3. Voting for officers and committee members shall be by secret written ballot.
4. Officers and committee members shall assume their duties at the close of the meeting at which they are elected and shall serve until their successors take office.

III. COMMITTEES.

1. Standing Committees may be established by the Conference.
2. Either the Conference or the Executive Committee may establish special committees as the need arises.

IV. FUNDS.

1. At the Annual Meeting, the Conference may establish dues payable to the Conference by individual members or by chapters in the Conference. If the Conference does not vote on dues during the Annual Meeting, the previous level of dues is automatically reauthorized.

2. The Executive Committee is empowered to solicit additional funds to cover anticipated expenses.

V. PARLIAMENTARY AUTHORITY.

Meetings of the Conference shall be governed by Robert’s Rules of Order, Newly Revised, except that the Constitution and Bylaws of the Conference shall supersede Robert’s Rules in case of conflict.

VI. NOTICE.

Posting to the Conference listserv and to the Conference website of notice of matters requiring notice to the members of the Conference shall constitute sufficient notice to the entire membership.

Notice of regular meetings of the Conference shall be given at least 15 days prior to meeting. Notice of special meetings of the Conference shall be given at least 4 days prior to the meeting; at a special meeting, no item of business may be acted upon that was not announced on the call to that meeting. Proposed amendments to the Constitution or By-Laws must be announced at least 30 days prior to the meeting at which they are acted upon.

HISTORY OF PREVIOUS VERSIONS:

Adopted October 14, 1961. Revised November 10, 1990; April 21, 2007; April 19, 2008; and January 29, 2022.

CERTIFIED AS CORRECT BY

Leslie Bary
President
Louisiana State Conference
January 29, 2022