ARTICLE I  ORGANIZATION NAME  

Section 1) The name of this organization shall be “Lenawee PC Users Group”, also know by its acronym “LPCUG”.

Section 2) The organization is sponsored by the Lenawee County Library and conducts its business at the library, or in such other areas within Lenawee County as may be determined by the Board of Directors.  

ARTICLE II  PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES 

Section 1) The purposes and objectives of this organization shall be:

a) To serve as an open educational forum for all persons who have an interest in learning more about the personal computer. All types of personal computers may be included, according to the interests of its members.

b) To assist members in keeping abreast of information regarding new computer hardware and software, and upgrades thereto.

c) To conduct general and special interest educational meetings and classes.

d) To communicate accomplishments of the Group to news media and specialty magazines serving the field.

e) To serve the community by cooperating with schools, public or private, to facilitate the advancement of knowledge and skills of the general public, relating to computer usage.  

f) To foster computer related activities with Special Interest Groups (SIGS), such as Digital Photography, Genealogy, Linux, Etc.

g) To provide a forum to discuss member's hardware or software problems.

h) To maintain a public domain software and shareware library of programs for use by its members.

ARTICLE III  MEMBERSHIP

 Section 1) Any interested person who wishes to attend meetings and or provide name and email address,  may belong to the club. All meetings are open to the public.

Section 2)  The  membership shall be open to anyone interested in personal
      computers and membership shall not be denied on the basis of race, color,
      creed, national origin, age, or sexual orientation.  

ARTICLE IV  OFFICERS

            Section 1)  NUMBER OF OFFICERS

      a) The elective officers of the organization shall be:  President, Vice President, Secretary/ Treasurer.

            Section 2) QUALIFICATIONS, ELECTION & TERM OF OFFICE

      a) The term of office shall be the Club Year. (From January 1, through December 31).                         

b) All nominees for an office shall have been a member in good standing for at least six months prior to assuming office. "Good standing" is defined by regular attendance at meetings.

c) If necessary, any of the Club Officers may hold a combination of any two offices, excepting the President, who shall not hold two offices concurrently.

Section 3) OFFICERS VACANCIES .

a)  In the event an elective office is vacated in mid-term, the Directors shall appoint a replacement to serve for the remainder of the term

Section 4) DUTIES OF THE PRESIDENT

      a) The President shall be the Chief Executive Officer of the organization.  He/She shall supervise and control the affairs of the organization and the activities of the officers; an ex-officio member of all committees; and the signing official for all the Group business.  He/She shall perform all duties incident to the office.

      b) Shall preside at meetings of the board of Directors and the General Membership.

      c) Shall, for his/her term of office, appoint and dismiss the Chairpersons of all committees,      with Board approval.

      d) Shall work with the Nominating Committee as a non-voting member.

      e) Shall have the responsibility for regular executive contact with the Advisory Committees.

  Section 5)  DUTIES OF THE VICE-PRESIDENT

a) In the absence of the President, the Vice President shall perform all the duties of the President, and when so acting shall have all the powers of, and be subject to all the restrictions on the president.

b) He/she shall be the Chairperson of the Nominating Committee.

c) The Vice President shall also perform such other duties as may be prescribed by the Board of Directors,  or by these By-Laws.  

Section 6) DUTIES OF THE SECRETARY/TREASURER

a) Take custody of the original copy of  these By-Laws as amended/revised or otherwise altered to date.

b) Maintain a record of minutes of all meetings of the regular membership, Board and special membership meetings and provide these minutes to the Webmaster for publication on the LPCUG web site.

c) See that all notices are duly given in accordance with the provisions of these By-Laws.

d) Be custodian of the records and of the seal and logo, if any, of the Organization.

e) Upon request, exhibit at a reasonable time, to any Officer, or member of the Organization, the By-Laws, and/or the minutes of the proceedings of the Organization.

f) Perform all duties incident to the office of Secretary/Treasurer and such other duties as may be required by the Board of Directors  or these By-Laws.

g) Take charge and custody of, and be responsible for, all moneys of the Organization .  

h)  Maintain a yearly calendar for the organization (i.e. monthly club meetings, board meetings, Etc.)

 Section (7)  SURRENDER OF RECORDS

a) Upon completion of the term of office or resignation, each office holder shall turn over to his/her successor or other Officer all records, correspondence, documents and other corporate property in his/her possession.  

ARTICLE V BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Section 1) DIRECTORS

a) The Board of Directors shall be the Club’s governing body and make decisions not covered by the by-laws..

b) It shall consist of the President, Vice President, Secretary/ Treasurer, Program Committee Chairperson, Membership Chairperson, SIG coordinators, Webmaster, Historian,  the immediate Past President and a representative of the Lenawee County Library.  NOTE:  Each named officer/chairperson is a voting member of the Board of Directors, and may give a proxy to a member of their own committee when unable to attend a meeting. SIG coordinators shall be chosen by their respective SIGS.

c) Meetings of the Board of Directors shall be announced to its members at least seven calendar days in advance, except in emergencies. 

d) It may develop long-range proposals, beyond its own term in office, commensurate with the Club’s purpose and future well-being.

e) A copy of the By-Laws shall be distributed to new members of the Board of Directors when they assume office.

f) In the event an elective office is vacated in midterm, the Board of Directors shall appoint a replacement to serve for the remainder of the term.  

ARTICLE VI COMMITTEES and POSITIONS

Section 1) STANDING COMMITTEES

a) The Chairpersons of the various Standing Committees may appoint their committee members as necessary to accomplish the assigned duties.

b) There shall be a PROGRAM COMMITTEE responsible for making all arrangements for conducting an informative program at each of the regular Club meetings.  It shall plan for topics to be presented at those meetings in accordance with the aforementioned Purpose of the Club.

c) There shall be a position of WEBMASTER to provide public service announcements to the local media and to develop and maintain the organization web site.

d)  There shall be a position of HISTORIAN  who's duties would include being a backup record keeper for organization records.  Copies of all records, minutes, membership lists, SIG records, and web site backup shall be provided by their respective record keepers, and would be preserved by the HISTORIAN.  The purpose of this function is to permit the club to continue functioning should there be an unplanned loss of the primary information.

Section 2)  SPECIAL COMMITTEES

a) Special committees may be appointed to perform specific tasks.

Section 3)  NOMINATING COMMITTEE

a) The Nominating Committee shall seek qualified candidates for the Club’s elective offices during the next Club year, preparing a slate of nominees for submission to the general membership.

b) It shall consist of the Vice President as Chairperson and two other members.

ARTICLE VII ELECTIONS

Section 1) ELECTION OF OFFICERS

a) A  Nominating Committee for the selection of candidates for Club officers shall be appointed by the Vice-President and shall begin functioning no later than the month of September prior to election. 

b) The slate of nominees shall list at least one person for each office to be filled.

c) The slate of nominees shall be presented to the general membership at the October meeting.  All candidates must have accepted their nomination.

d) At the October meeting, other nominations may be made from the floor, provided the proposed nominees agree to stand for office, either at that time verbally or by prior written acknowledgment.  No further nominations will be made after this meeting.

e) During the month of November the membership will be notified in the Club web site of the final list of nominees and their qualifications.

f) The Election of Officers will be held at the December meeting, after the introduction of the nominees.  The election shall take place by secret ballot.

Section 2)  REMOVAL FROM OFFICE

a) If the Board of Directors finds an officer to be seriously delinquent in the performance of his/her duties, he/she may be asked to resign or he/she may be removed from office by a vote of the Board of Directors.

b) Any officer or staff member using his/her position to promote any private enterprise shall, on the first offense, be censured by a vote of the remaining members of the Board of Directors.  On a subsequent offense, the offender shall be given the option of an immediate resignation or removal from office by a vote of the remaining members of the Board of Directors.  

ARTICLE VIII - MEETINGS

Section 1)   GENERAL

a) There shall be one general membership meeting each month.

Section 2)  BOARD

a) The Board of Directors may call  special meetings no less than ten calendar days prior to the meeting date.

b) The Board of Directors shall meet quarterly.  Reasons for deviation from this schedule shall be recorded in the Minutes.

c) The January meeting of the Board of Directors shall be a joint session of the retiring and incoming members to facilitate transfer of responsibilities.

(d) No decisions requiring a vote from the Board of Directors can be made except in a quarterly or Special Board meeting or by electronic contact with a quorum of the Board members.

Section 3)   OTHER

   a) Other committees shall meet at the call of the Chairperson.

  b) Only designated members of a committee may vote at its meetings.

  c)  While meetings are to be held in an informal format, the Chair may revert to Robert's Rules in the event of a conflict situation.

Section 4)  QUORUM

a) Any number of Club members-in-good-standing attending regular or special membership meetings shall constitute a quorum.

b) A quorum at the Board of Directors meetings shall consist of four voting members, including at least two elective officers.  

ARTICLE I X DUES

Section 1) DUES

a) The organization currently has no dues.  However, voluntary contributions by individual members to the sponsoring organization,  the Lenawee County Library, would be appreciated to help defray the expenses associated with their sponsorship.

ARTICLE X AMENDMENTS

                Section 1)

a) Amendments to the By-Laws shall be prepared, discussed and voted on by the Board of Directors.

b) Upon approval of the Board of Directors, these By-Laws shall be published on the club web site with email notification to the members at least five days prior to the voting meeting

c) They shall be open for discussion and changes at the voting meeting of the membership.

d) Each amendment shall be voted on independently.

e) Ratification of amendments shall be by a simple majority of those voting.

f) Amendments shall be effective immediately following ratification by the membership.