By-Laws

CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS OF THE MARYLAND SECTION AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS

(Organized May 6, 1914) 

Approved by the Board of Directors of the Society on February 25, 1966, and approved by letter ballot of the Section on September 15, 1966. 

Amendment to Article III of the Constitution approved by letter ballot of the Section on April 19, 1979, and approved by the Board of Directors of the Section on September 12, 1979. 

Article I of the By-Laws amended by the Board of Directors of the Section on September 12, 1979. 

Amendment to Article I of the addition of Article III to the Constitution approved by letter ballot of the Section on September 19, 1985. 

Amendment to Article I, Article IV, Article VI, Article VII, Article VIII, Article IX of the Constitution approved by letter ballot of the Section on September 30, 1987, and approved by the Board of Directors of the Section on May 13, 1987. 

Article I, Article II, Article III, Article IV and Article V of the By-Laws amended by the Board of Directors on May 13, 1987. 

Article I and Article II of the By-Laws amended by the Board of Directors on September 14, 2005. 

Article I of the By-Laws amended by the Board of Directors on May 10, 2006. Amendment to Article III, Article IV, Article VII, Article VIII, and Article IX of the Constitution approved by letter ballot of the Section on May 5, 2006, and approved by the Board of Directors of the Section on May 10, 2006. 

Article IV of the Constitution approved by letter ballot of the Section on June 30, 2015, and approved by the Board of Directors of the Section on August 27, 2015. 

CONSTITUTION

ARTICLE I – NAME, OBJECT AND LOCATION

Section 1. The name of this organization shall be the Maryland Section, American Society of Civil Engineers. 

Section 2. The objective of the Maryland Section shall be the advancement of the science and profession of engineering, in a manner consistent with the objective of the American Society of Civil Engineers. 

Section 3. The offices of the Section shall be located in the City of Baltimore. 

ARTICLE II- MEMBERSHIP

Section 1. All members of the American Society of Civil Engineers of all grades, subscribing to the Constitution and By-Laws of the Maryland Section, as evidenced by the payment of current dues of the Section, shall be Subscribing Members of the Section. All members of the American Society of Civil Engineers of all grades, whose addresses are within the boundaries of the Section, as defined by the Society, shall be Assigned Members of the Section. 

Section 2. Only Subscribing Members shall have the right to vote, to hold office, to serve on committees, or to represent the Section officially. 

ARTICLE III – DUES

Section 1. There shall be no entrance fee. 

Section 2. Annual dues shall be established by the By-Laws of the Section. 

Section 3. Members exempt from payment of dues in the Society, shall be exempt from payment of dues in the Section. 

ARTICLE IV – OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS 

Section 1. The officers of the Section shall be a President, a Vice President, a Secretary, and a Treasurer. The officers, together with the two latest available past presidents residing within the Section geographic boundaries, and two elected directors and one appointed Director who is a Younger Member shall constitute a Board of Directors in which the government of the Section shall be vested; said officers and directors to be elected by a majority vote of the members voting. Eligibility for the offices of President and Vice President shall be previous service of at least two years on the Board of Directors. At least one of the officers or directors shall be a Younger or Associate Member of the Society at the time of his or her election/appointment. 

Section 2. The terms of office of the President and Vice President shall be one year. The terms of office of the Secretary and the Treasurer shall be two years. The Secretary and the Treasurer shall be elected in alternate years. The terms of office of the elected directors shall be two years. One director shall be elected each year. The terms of each officer and director shall begin at the close of the Annual Meeting, and shall continue for the period above-named or until otherwise duly succeeded. 

Section 3. The President at the beginning of their term shall appoint the Younger Member Committee Chair or another Younger Member designee as a director on the Board of Directors. 

ARTICLE V – MEETINGS

Section 1. The Annual Meeting of the Section shall be held between the first and fifteenth of September, to be determined by the Board of Directors. 

Section 2. Other meetings shall be called at the discretion of the Board of Directors, or by the President, or upon the written request of at least 20 Subscribing Members. 

Section 3. The regular meeting immediately preceding the Annual Meeting shall be known as the Elections Meeting. 

ARTICLE VI – SUBSIDIARY ORGANIZATIONS 

Section 1. Subsidiary organizations may be formed within the Maryland Section to facilitate the carrying out of the objectives of the Section, to promote interest in the Society and to provide to members of the Section a better opportunity for participation inlocal Section activities, in accordance with the provisions of the By-Laws. 

Section 2. The Chairperson of each subsidiary organization shall report to the President and Board of Directors of the Section. 

ARTICLE VII – BY-LAWS 

Section 1. The Section shall have By-Laws consistent with this Constitution and the regulations of the Board of Directors of the Society. 

Section 2. The Board of Directors may adopt or amend By-Laws by an affirmative vote of the total membership of the Board with the approval of the ASCE Board of Direction or a standing committee designated by the Board of Direction. 

ARTICLE VIII – AMENDMENTS

Section 1. This Constitution may be amended only by the following procedure: 

ARTICLE IX – MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 

Section 1. No part of the net earnings of the Section shall inure to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual and no substantial part of the activities of the Section shall be carrying on propaganda, and the Section shall not participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distributing of statement), any political campaign on behalf any candidate for public office. 

Section 2. Upon dissolution of the Section, the assets remaining after the payment of the debts of the Section shall be distributed to such corporation, community chest, fund or foundation, organized and operated exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific, testing for public safety, literary or educational purposed, or for the prevention of cruelty to children or animals, which would then qualify under the provisions of Section 501 (C)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, as they now exist or as they may hereafter be amended, as the Board of Directors shall have designated and in the absence of such designation they shall be conveyed to the American Society of Civil Engineers. 

BY-LAWS

ARTICLE I – DUES 

Section 1. The dues of each member shall be reviewed and determined on a yearly basis by the Board of Directors. The annual section dues shall be payable concurrently with the Society dues. 

Section 2. Changes to the dues amount or structure shall be by unanimous vote of the Board. All members residing in Baltimore City and in Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Howard and Harford Counties shall pay the “full” dues. All members of the Maryland Section residing beyond the aforementioned limits shall pay a “reduced” rate as determined by the Board of Directors. 

ARTICLE II – NOMINATION AND ELECTION OF OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS 

Section 1. A nominating committee composed of the immediate Past President and four Subscribing Members shall be appointed by the President not later than ninety days prior to the date of the Elections Meeting. The committee members shall not have served in this capacity in the preceding year. The immediate Past President shall act as Chairperson. 

Section 2. The functions of the Committee shall be the selection of one or more nominees for each office to be filled, as provided by the Constitution, the obtaining of the consent of the nominees to serve if elected, and the official counting of ballots received from the Secretary. It shall make its report of the selection of Nominees to the President not later than forty-five (45) days prior to the date of the Elections Meeting. It shall make its report of the official count of the ballots to the President not later than two days prior to the date of the Elections Meeting. 

Section 3. Nominations for any office may also be made by written petition of five Subscribing Members, provided that such nomination is accompanied by a letter of acceptance from the nominee, and mailed to the Secretary not later than sixty days before the date of the Elections Meeting. 

Section 4. The Secretary shall notify the membership in writing of the nominations made by the Committee and those received by written petition and shall provide a mail ballot for the use of the membership in voting. Such notification and ballot shall be mailed by the Secretary not later than thirty days prior to the date of the Elections Meeting and shall provide that ballots not returned by the membership prior to seven days before the date of the Elections Meeting will not be counted. The Secretary shall deliver to the Chairperson of the Nomination Committee all of the ballots received together with such Section records as are required by the Committee for it to tabulate the vote. 

ARTICLE III – DUTIES OF OFFICERS

Section 1. The President shall preside at all meetings and shall act as Chairperson of the Board of Directors. The President shall appoint committees as provided in Article IV of the By-Laws and shall announce such appointments at the Annual Meeting. At the conclusion of the Treasurer’s term, the President shall appoint an auditor who will thoroughly check the accounts and certify as to the correctness thereof. 

Section 2. The Vice President shall take over the duties of the President in the absence of that officer and shall serve on the Board of Directors of the Section. 

Section 3. The Secretary shall keep minutes of all meetings of the Section and of the Board of Directors, shall make an annual report of the meetings and activities of the Section and shall furnish copies thereof as directed. A record of the annual report, minutes of meetings, and correspondence shall be kept on file, and at the termination of the Secretary’s period of office, these records shall be transferred to permanent files of the Section. A current record of the membership of the Section shall be kept. Notices of all meetings shall be sent to all members of the Section. 

Section 4. The Treasurer shall collect all monies due the Section, pay all bills, and keep an accurate record of all such transactions. At the end of the fiscal year, a financial report shall be prepared for submission to the Section and tothe National Headquarters of the Society which shall be approved by an auditor appointed by the President. 

Section 5. The duties of the officers and chairperson shall be as described in the Section Operating Manual. 

ARTICLE IV – COMMITTEES

Section 1. Standing Committees shall be appointed to assist the management of the Section activities. The number of members appointed shall be at the discretion of the President. The Standing Committees and other objectives are as follows: 

Associate/Younger Member – To assist the associate members of the Section in obtaining the highest degree of professional standing and to encourage their participation in Section activities individually or as a group. 

Hospitality – To arrange for the social features of the meetings, to encourage intermingling among the members at meetings and to arrange for such other attractions, not connected with the technical purposes of the Society, as will tend to promote fellowship among the members. 

Membership – To promote and encourage qualified engineers to become members of ASCE and to assist members in advancing to higher membership status. 

Professional Objectives – To investigate and recommend a course of action for the Section in matters of ethics within the profession, violations of Maryland State Registration Laws for Engineers, and legislation affecting Engineering Practice. 

Program – To arrange the programs for meetings at such times as required or desirable. 

ARTICLE V – SUBSIDIARY ORGANIZATIONS 

Section 1. Formation of subsidiary organizations shall be subject to the approval of the Maryland Section Board of Directors and such other requirements as may be established by the Society. By-Laws of subsidiary organizations shall be approved by the Maryland Section Board before becoming effective. 

Section 2. Subsidiary organizations are limited to Associate/Younger Member forums and technical groups. 

Names of subsidiary organizations shall be as set forth in the Rules of Policy and Procedure of the Society. 

Section 3. Technical Groups shall be created in accordance with the following requirements: 

Section 4. Associate/Younger Member Forums and other subsidiary organizations shall be created under the procedure outlined in Section 3. 

Section 5. Each subsidiary organization shall submit an annual budget and financial statement to the Board of Directors for approval. 

Section 6. Each subsidiary organization Chairperson shall submit an annual written report to the Board of Directors on the activities and programs of the organization. 

Section 7. Each subsidiary organization shall hold a minimum of two (2) events per year. Any subsidiary organization that does not maintain the minimum activity level for two successive years, or does not have twelve (12) Subscribing Members on its rolls, shall be automatically disbanded. Assets of a disbanded subsidiary organization shall be assumed by the Maryland Section.