Section Compliance
To maintain its status a Section must comply with the MLA Bylaws and Standing Rules of Order. See Compliance Procedures for Sections for a full list of these requirements.
On an ongoing basis, MLA Headquarters staff, in conjunction with the Council’s Section/SIG Review Committee conducts a compliance audit of all sections. MLA Headquarters will collect the following compliance information regarding each Section:
- Number of members
- Verification that annual membership dues are less than MLA dues
- Timely submission of annual reports for the past three years
- Review of programs or business meetings held within the past three years to ensure they did not conflict with MLA General or Business sessions
- Bylaws and any proposed changes have been examined and approved by the MLA Bylaws Committee
- Officers and Section Council members are MLA voting members.
If the Section is in compliance with these basic criteria, no further action is taken. When a Section is not in compliance, MLA Headquarters notifies the Chair of Section Council and the Chair of the Section Council Section/SIG review committee. The Section/SIG Review Committee will review the MLA data and the other requirements governing sections to determine if other problems exist.
The Committee will contact the Section to determine whether:
- there is missing or inaccurate information;
- there are unusual problems preventing the Section from meeting the criteria;
- the Section should consider becoming a SIG;
- the Section should be placed on probationary status; or,
- the Section should be disbanded.
The Council’s Section/SIG Review Committee will make a report to the Section Council with a recommendation as to what actions need to be taken. The Council will make a final recommendation to the MLA Board of Directors for their discussion and approval. See a full description of the procedures used to review section compliance.