Article I Name [top]

The name of this organization shall be the North East Association for Institutional Research, also referred to as NEAIR.

Article II Purpose [top]

The purposes of the Association shall be to: 1) promote Institutional Research in post-secondary education as a professional activity; 2) disseminate information about the methods and content of Institutional Research; 3) provide a forum in which Institutional Researchers can discuss and seek assistance in their common problems; 4) promote the professional development of NEAIR members; 5) conduct an annual conference.

Article III Membership [top]

Section 1.  Membership is open to individuals who are engaged in research leading to the improved understanding, planning and operation of institutions of post secondary education and to individuals who are interested in the methodology and results of institutional research. Such individuals become members by payment of annual dues. There shall be no discrimination in membership on the basis of sex, race, religion, handicap, sexual orientation or age. Emeritus members elected by the Association shall receive all rights and privileges of regular membership except the right to vote or hold elective office. Emeritus members shall not be assessed membership dues. Membership fees shall be determined by the Steering Committee.

Section 2.  The membership year shall be from Annual Conference to Annual Conference.

Article IV Officers [top]

Section 1.  The officers of the Association shall consist of the President, the President-Elect, the Treasurer, the Treasurer-Elect whenever there shall be one, and the Secretary.

Section 2.  The term for officers shall begin at the conclusion of the Annual Business Meeting following their election and terminate at the conclusion of the Annual Business Meeting appropriate for the length of term specified in Section 3, except that the term of the Treasurer shall coincide with the Association’s fiscal year.

Section 3.  The terms of the President and of the President-Elect shall be one year or until their successors are elected. The terms of the Secretary shall be three years or until a successor is elected.  The term of the Treasurer shall be three years or until a successors is elected.

Section 4.  Any officer may be removed at any time with cause by a majority vote of the Steering Committee then in office at any Special Meeting of the Steering Committee called for that purpose, provided that at least one week’s notice shall be given of the proposed action to the entire Steering Committee then in office.

Article V Duties of Officers [top]

Section 1.  President. The President shall chair the Steering Committee and preside at the Business Meeting of the Association. The President shall represent the Association in relations with other professional and educational organizations, foundations, and government agencies except where otherwise noted. The President shall be responsible on behalf of the Association for business meeting and Annual Conference site contracts.

Section 2.  Treasurer. The Treasurer shall be responsible for the receipt and disbursement of all funds of the Association and for the establishment and maintenance of appropriate records of all fiscal transactions. The Treasurer shall be responsible for preparing a budget to be submitted to the Steering Committee for approval and the annual fiscal report to be presented at the Annual Meeting for vote of acceptance. The Treasurer shall ensure that all expenditures are within the approved budget and have been properly incurred under the policies of the Association.

Section 3.  Secretary. The Secretary shall be responsible for the minutes of the Steering Committee and of the Annual and any Special Business Meetings. The Secretary, or appropriate designee, shall maintain an historical record of the activities of the Association. The Secretary, or appropriate designee, shall be responsible for all mailings to the general membership and others on the current mailing list.

Section 4.  President-Elect. The President-Elect will have such duties as the President shall designate. During his/her term, the President-Elect shall, except for the Nominating Committee, appoint the chairs of all Standing Committees to serve for the period during which the President-Elect serves as President.  The President-elect (or his/her designee) shall chair the Site Selection Committee and is also responsible for pre-conference workshops and other professional development activities for the year in which they serve as President-Elect.

Article VI Fiscal Year [top]

The fiscal year of the Association shall be July 1 to June 30.

Article VII Steering Committee [top]

Section 1.  The Steering Committee shall consist of the President, the President-Elect, the Treasurer, the Secretary, the Membership Secretary (ex-officio), the immediate Past-President, Chairs of each Standing Committee, and six Members-at-Large, three to be elected each year. Terms of office for Members-at-Large shall be for three years, beginning at the conclusion of the meeting following their election and terminating with the conclusion of the Annual Business Meeting three years later. To provide an orderly transition of financial responsibility, the Treasurer whose successor has been elected shall continue to serve on the Steering Committee during the balance of his/her term in office, and the Treasurer-Elect shall also serve on the Steering Committee from the time of the election until his/her term commences.

Section 2. The Steering Committee shall, acting in concert, have full authority to act for and on behalf of the Association, except as otherwise specified in this Constitution. The Steering Committee shall be responsible for such duties as are required for the management of the Association’s affairs.

Section 3.  Three at large Steering Committee positions shall be designated as sector representatives to ensure that our Steering Committee contains representation across these sectors.  The three sectors should be broadly defined as:  Two-Year (all two year institutions, inclusive of community colleges, proprietary institutions and technical colleges); Public Institutions (all public institutions, excluding any two-year institutions); and Private Institutions (all private institutions, excluding any private or proprietary two-year institutions).  The nominating committee should use the public and private sector representatives for candidates who represent smaller institutions or institutions that are not traditionally represented in the leadership of NEAIR. Each year the ballot will contain one slot that is designated as a sector slot and the sectors will rotate across a three-year cycle.  Each year the entire membership will vote for the sector representative, in addition to voting for one undesignated Member-at-Large slot.  Should an individual be voted in as a sector representative and then change to employment outside of that sector, the person shall still be eligible to complete his or her term.

Article VIII Vacancies [top]

Vacancies in any office or on the Steering Committee or the Nominating Committee shall be filled by appointment by the Steering Committee for the unexpired term.

Article IX Meetings [top]

The Annual Business Meeting of the Association shall be held in conjunction with the Annual Conference and shall be announced to the membership in writing at least thirty (30) days prior to the scheduled date of the meeting. Steering Committee meetings will be called by the President. Special Business Meetings may be called by the Steering Committee, provided written notice of the date, time and location for such a meeting is mailed to all current members at least fourteen (14) days prior to the meeting being held.

Article X Quorum [top]

Section 1.  A quorum at any business meeting of the Association shall consist of at least one quarter of the Association membership.

Section 2.  A quorum at any officially called and announced meeting of the Steering Committee shall consist of a simple majority of the Steering Committee members.

Article XI Committees [top]

Section 1.  Standing Committees. There shall be four (4) Standing Committees: Program, Local Arrangements, Publications, Nominations, Professional Development and Site Selection. The Chairs of the Program, Local Arrangements, and Publications committees shall recruit and select members for their committees.

Section 2.  The terms of appointment of the Chairs of the Program, Local Arrangements and Publications Committees shall be one year, beginning with appointment by the newly-elected President and terminating at the conclusion of the following business meeting.

Section 3.  The Program Committee shall be responsible for developing and implementing the programmatic offerings of the Annual Conference.

Section 4.  The Local Arrangements Committee shall be responsible for all the logistical arrangements for the Annual Conference.

Section 5.  The Publications Committee shall be responsible for preparing and publishing the Conference Proceedings and any other formal publications of the Association.

Section 6.  The President, with the approval of the Steering Committee, shall establish Special Committees as necessary to carry on activities of the Association.  The President shall appoint Chairs of these Special Committees from among the Steering Committee Members-at-Large.

Section 7.  The President, with the approval of the Steering Committee, shall establish Ad Hoc Committees as necessary to carry on special activities of the Association.  The President will appoint Chairs of Ad Hoc Committees.

Section 8.  The Nominating Committee shall consist of the immediate Past President as Chair and six persons elected by the membership of the Association and shall be responsible for conducting the election of officers, members at large of the Steering Committee and members of the next Nominating Committee of the Association in accordance with the election procedures set forth in this constitution.  The term of office of elected members of the Nominating Committee shall be for one year beginning at the conclusion of the Annual Business Meeting following their election and terminating at the conclusion of the following Annual Business Meeting.  Each year, the nominating committee shall contain one sector representative.  The sector representative shall rotate, anticipating the rotation system for the sector representatives for the Members-at-Large on the Steering Committee (e.g., if the nominating committee for the next year will propose a ballot including a two-year college representative, then the ballot for the current year should have one slot that would be reserved for a two-year college representative).

Section 9.  The Site Selection Committee shall be responsible for recommending future conference sites to the Steering Committee. The chair of the Site Selection Committee will be the President-Elect or another Steering Committee member appointed by the President-Elect and approved by the Steering Committee.  The committee shall consist of five members:  the chair, the treasurer, and three additional members from the membership. One member shall be a former program chair and one member shall be a past local arrangements chair.  An additional member should be a member of the Steering Committee.

Section 10.  The Professional Development Committee shall be chaired by the President-elect.  The committee shall be responsible for scheduling the pre-conference workshops at the annual meeting, and also Drive-in or one-day workshops.  In addition, the committee shall investigate other professional development opportunities.

Article XII Nominations and Elections [top]

Section 1.  At least twelve (12) weeks prior to the annual conference, the Nominating Committee shall issue a call to the members of record for nominations for officers, members at large of the Steering Committee and members of the next nominating committee.

Section 2.  At least six (6) weeks prior to the annual conference the Nominating Committee shall mail to all members of record a ballot offering two candidates for every open position.

Section 3.  The Nominating Committee shall present the newly-elected officers and committee members to the Steering Committee at least two (2) weeks prior to the conference and to the general membership at the Annual Business Meeting.

Section 4.  In the event of a tie for a specific office or committee seat resulting from the mailed ballots cast by the membership at large, a majority vote of the full membership of the out-going Steering Committee on a special ballot taken prior to the Annual Business Meeting shall be used to determine a winner between the tied candidates.

Section 5.  No voting member of the Steering Committee shall be considered for any position on the NEAIR ballot during his or her term of service.

Section 6.  No member of the nominating committee shall be considered for any position on the NEAIR ballot during his or her term of service for the committee.

Section 7.  For any elected position on the Steering Committee, a member must wait for at least five years to run for election to a second or successive term in the same position.

Article XIII Amendments [top]

This constitution may be amended by vote of two-thirds of the members present at the Annual Business Meeting. To be considered at the Annual Business Meeting, proposed amendments must be mailed to the address of record of all current members at least four (4) weeks before such meeting.

Constitution as amended, November 7, 2005.