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Article I |
Name |
Section 1- |
The name of this organization shall be the
Washington Chaplains Association. |
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Article II |
Purpose |
Section 1- |
The purpose of this association shall be to
provide a forum for continuing education and training and bring together all
chaplains working in public institutions; to serve as a forum for the
discussion of chaplaincy issues; to act as a channel for the exchange of
information; and to create a network of peers for mutual support |
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Article III |
Membership |
Section 1- |
There shall be two categories of membership.
Professional Members: The
Professional Members shall consist of persons whose vocation is to provide
religious ministry in the field of corrections. This shall include the
following:
1. Full
time Chaplains, in public institutions.
2. Contract
chaplains, in public institutions.
3. Retired
Chaplains
4. Representatives of programs who provide volunteer services to public
institutions. Such as Prison Fellowship, Prisoners for Christ, M2-Job
Therapy, etc.
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Associate Member:
The Associate Membership shall be open to all persons volunteering
at-large (e.g. not a part of an established
organization) in an
institutional chaplaincy setting. Associate Members shall have voice but no
vote in matters that come before the association. |
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Article IV |
Officers |
Section 1- |
There shall be a Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary,
Treasurer, and two At-Large Positions. |
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Section 2- |
The officers of the association shall meet the
requirements for the category of Professional Member. There shall be a full
time DOC Chaplain on the executive committee. |
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Section 3- |
The officers of the association shall be elected
at the annual spring meeting. |
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Section 4- |
The officers of the association shall be the
Executive Committee. The Executive Committee shall act for the association
in the interval between meetings. |
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Section 5- |
All vacancies occurring in the Executive
Committee between annual meetings shall be filled temporarily by Executive
Committee appointment until the next annual meeting. |
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Section 6- |
The Chair shall be the official spokesperson for
the association. He/she shall preside over all meetings of the association
and the Executive Committee and shall convene the Executive Committee for
any meetings required by the Committee. |
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Section 7- |
The Vice Chair shall preside at any meeting in
the absence of the Chair and shall make the arrangements for the host venue
(date, location, meals) for the semi-annual meetings. |
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Section 8- |
The Secretary shall
maintain the WCA website, take and post to the
website the minutes of all
meetings, maintain
the mailing list, and notify the membership of pending meetings via mail
and/or email. He/she shall provide a report of the previous meetings minutes
to the membership at each meeting. |
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Section 9- |
The Treasurer shall handle all funds relating to
the association including mailing costs and conference expenses. He/she
shall provide a financial report to the membership at each meeting. |
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Section 10- |
The At-Large members on the
Executive Team shall support the roles of the Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary,
and Treasurer as requested. At-Large members should have skills and
abilities that complement the Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary, and Treasurer.
Often At-Large members are former Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary, or
Treasurer, though this is not required. The At-Large positions shall be
designated as Position 1 and Position 2. At-Large positions are not
honorary, but rather are participative. |
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Section 11- |
An accommodation is permitted
for co-roles, e.g. Co-Chair (two persons sharing the role), Co-Vice Chair,
etc. Often this can be used for training/transition purposes. Both persons
in the co-role have full executive committee privileges and
responsibilities. |
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Section 12- |
All of the officers shall participate in the
establishment of the meeting agenda for each meeting. The officers shall
meet either by conference call or in person at least once between the
semi-annual meetings for the establishment of the agenda. |
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Section 13- |
Time commitment for
any of the roles (except for being at the actual meeting) involves
infrequent email communication among the WCA Officers (nominally 2 hours
total per year) and team phone conference calls (estimate 3 hours per
year). The main effort between meetings is determining a meeting topic,
lining up speakers, helping with contacts, brainstorming, and some
logistics. Executive team members participate in any decision to change
a venue, reschedule a meeting, or even cancel a meeting.
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Article V |
Elections |
Section 1- |
The terms of
office shall be for two years. The terms of office in the initial year shall
be staggered, making two offices open to election every year.
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Section 2- |
Officers are not limited to the terms they may
serve. Any incumbent officer must be re-elected by the membership when the
normal term expires. |
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Section 3- |
The election shall be held annually at the
spring meeting. |
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Section 4- |
The election shall be by verbal majority agreement. |
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Article VI |
(Deleted) |
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Article VII |
Voting |
Section 1- |
Any number of voting members present shall
constitute a quorum. |
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Section 2- |
A majority vote passes business. |
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Article VIII |
Order of Business |
Section 1- |
Ongoing education and in-service training shall
be the major focus of the
semi-annual meetings. |
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Article IV |
Amendments |
Section 1- |
The By-Laws of the Association may be amended at
any regular meeting by a majority of the voting members present. |
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Section 2- |
Proposed changes must be distributed to the
membership at least two weeks prior to the meeting where they will be
discussed. This can be accomplished in the semi-annual
emailing notification. |