Officers
3.1 Election Criteria
The election of the Section Council Chair-Elect and Vice-Chair shall be from among those representatives who have previously agreed to be considered.
3.2 Election of Section Council Chair-Elect/Chair
Members of the Section Council elect one member to serve as Section Council Chair-Elect for one year and three years as Chair. Eligible candidates for Section Council Chair-Elect/Chair must be Section Council members serving as Chairs in the year of the election. The Section Council Chair-Elect will continue to serve as Past-Chair representing their section. During the Section Council meeting and before the election, candidates for Chair-Elect present brief oral summaries of their goals for the Section Council.
The Chair-Elect takes office at the close of the Association meeting at which s/he is elected and assumes the duties of Chair at the close of the following year’s Association meeting. The Chair does not represent any Section. If the elected Chair has been representing a Section as a Past Chair, that Section’s Chair will become the voting member. If s/he has been representing a Section as Section Chair, the Past Chair will complete his/her term without an additional Section Council representative.
The Chair may be removed from office for just cause after due process. The Council, by affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members, may recommend removal by the Board of Directors. The Board, by affirmative vote of two-thirds of its members, may approve the removal. If there is no Chair-Elect, the President of the Association shall appoint from the Section Council’s voting members a temporary Chair, who shall serve only until the next Annual Meeting, at which time a new Section Council Chair shall be elected. The person elected shall immediately assume office and shall serve for three years.
3.3 Duties of Section Council Chair
The Section Council Chair is the presiding member of the Section Council, which is defined in the MLA Bylaws, Article XII, Sections 1 and 3, and is responsible for organizing and directing the Council’s work. The Chair serves as an ex-officio, voting member of the MLA Board of Directors and performs all duties expected of a Board member. In addition, the Chair performs all other duties described in the Bylaws.
Responsibilities to the Section Council:
- To preside as Chair at all Section Council meetings.
- To appoint standing and ad hoc committee chairs and members.
- To establish all Council standing committees.
- To determine long range goals of the Council based on MLA’s Strategic Plan and Priorities, the decisions made at the Council meetings and recommendations made by Council committee chairs.
- To establish the Council’s annual objectives in collaboration with Council committee chairs.
- To direct the Council in formulating policies and programs which will further the goals and objectives of the Council based on MLA’s Strategic Plan and Priorities.
- To prepare and submit midyear and annual reports to MLA Headquarters describing Council activities.
- To forward Section recommendations approved by the Council to the MLA Board.
- To develop the agenda for the Council meetings.
- To serve as an ex-officio member of all Council committees.
- To report relevant action taken by the Board to the Council as soon as possible.
- To prepare an annual budget for Council activities.
- To orient the Council Chair-Elect in the conduct of duties of the Council Chair.
- To act as chief spokesperson for the Council.
- To allocate one, two, or three-year terms for representatives from provisional sections to ensure proper annual membership turnover.
- To assist in updating Section Council documents.
Responsibilities to the MLA Board of Directors:
- To perform all duties expected of a member of the MLA Board of Directors.
- To serve as a liaison to the Section Council.
- To serve as a liaison to the individual sections through the Section representatives.
- To perform other duties as assigned by the MLA President or prescribed by the Bylaws.
- To provide information to the MLA President-Elect to assist in appointment of liaisons to outside organizations.
Responsibilities to the Sections:
- To receive and review Section objectives.
- To ensure that all Sections’ midyear and annual reports are submitted to MLA Headquarters in a timely manner.
- To review annually the Section Chair’s Manual and revise when necessary.
- To serve as a resource and assist Sections as requested.
3.4 Duties of Section Council Chair-Elect
- To perform the duties of Council Chair in the absence of the Chair.
- To assist the Council Chair in conducting the business of the Council.
- To assist with updating the Section Council Procedure Manual.
- To perform special assignments as requested.
3.5 Election of Section Council Vice-Chair
For the first two years of a Chair’s term, the Council elects a Vice-Chair to assist the Chair. The Vice-Chair may be elected via e-mail (see Email and Voting) prior to the meeting at which the Chair assumes office. The candidates are nominated from among representatives having at least one year left to serve, and election is by a majority vote. Should the Vice-Chair be performing the duties of Chair, that person will serve until the Chair resumes the duties or until a new Chair-Elect is elected, even if this period exceeds the Vice-Chair’s term on the Council.
3.6 Duties of Section Council Vice-Chair
- To perform the duties of Council Chair in the absence of the Chair.
- To assist the Chair in conducting the business of the Council.
- To assist in updating the Section Council Procedure Manual.
- To perform special assignments as assigned by the Chair.