BYLAWS OF THE FAMILY AND HEALTH SECTION OF THE
NATIONAL COUNCIL ON FAMILY RELATIONS
Changes 3/29/05

Family and Health Section Mission Statement

The mission of the Family and Health Section is to promote the health of diverse families and their members across the life span through interdisciplinary activities that facilitate excellence in family health practice, research, education, and policy development.

Article I. NAME
The name of this organization shall be the Family and Health Section of the National Council on Family Relations (NCFR).

Article II. GOVERNMENT
The Constitution of the National Council on Family Relations shall govern the Family and Health Section in all of its practices. The Bylaws of this Section shall not conflict with the Constitution of NCFR. Every amendment to the Constitution of NCFR shall become effective and binding on this Section.

Article III. PURPOSE
The purposes of the Family and Health Section are to:
1. facilitate excellence in family health research, practice, education, theory and policy development
2. promote dialogue between and among practitioners, educators, and researchers interested in families and health.
3. plan and sponsor family and health section activities for the NCFR annual conference meetings.
4. promote advocacy for family health policies and programs at the local, state, national and international levels
5. encourage/promote dialogue and collaboration with other sections within NCFR.

Article IV. MEMBERSHIP AND FINANCES  

• Section 1. Eligibility. Any person holding membership in NCFR shall be entitled to and shall receive admission to membership in the Family and Health Section on certification of current paid membership in NCFR and upon payment of the Family and Health Section dues. Section members are defined as those who have paid their current NCFR and Section dues.
   
• Section 2. Termination of Membership. A member whose dues remain unpaid for one year shall be dropped from membership in accordance with NCFR policies.
   
• Section 3. Amount and Payment of Dues. The annual Section dues are set by NCFR Board of Directors and are collected by the NCFR national office at the same time as general membership dues. 
  
• Section 4. Finances. The primary funding of the Section and its activities will come from membership dues, gifts and contributions. Decisions on the expenditure of funds will be made by the Executive Committee of the section. However, expenditures of over 25% of the Section’s annual budget must be approved by a majority of all Section members at the Annual Business Meeting or via email. All Section bills shall have prior approval and be signed by the Section Chair or Secretary-Treasurer before they are submitted to the NCFR office. A Section budget will be submitted to the NCFR (headquarters) annually (with the Annual Meeting Report).

Article V. OFFICERS

• Section 1. Officers. The officers of the Family and Health Section shall be the following: (1) Chair, (2) Chair-elect, (3) Secretary-Treasurer, and (4) Student/new professional representative.
• Section 2. Duties of Officers. The officers shall carry out all of the necessary operations and functions of the section in accordance with the by-laws of NCFR and with the consent of the membership.
  • Chair. The Chair shall:
    1. report to the NCFR Board of Directors.
    2. be the official representative of the Section in the activities of NCFR.
    3. submit a written semi-annual report of the Sections’ activities to the NCFR Board.
    4. convene and preside at all meetings of the Family and Health Section and the Section Executive Committee.
    5. call special meetings when necessary.
    6. as a member of the NCFR program committee, be responsible for the preparation of the Section program for the Annual Conference, or appoint a section member in consultation with the Section Executive Committee and the NCFR Annual Program Chair to assume this responsibility.
    7. ensure that the Section is represented in the NCFR Report.
    8. appoint the editor or editors of the Family and Health Section newsletter.
    9. bring to the attention of the NCFR Board of Directors any position papers of the Section and any proposals requested by the Executive Committee or at least 25 members of the Section.
    10. serve on the Public Policy Committee and attend the Public Policy Spring Conference.
    11. become the Chair of the Nominating Committee at the end of their term of office.
    12. orient the chair-elect to the chair position.
  • Chair-elect. The Chair-elect shall:
    1. preside at meetings and act on behalf of the Chair in the event of the absence, death, or disability of the Chair.
    2. perform all such duties as requested by the Chair that are within the Chair’s realm of authority to delegate.
    3. chair the sub-committee to select the winner of the Student/new professional award for best paper given at the annual conference.
    4. be come the Chair at the end of the two-year term, and hold the office of Chair for two years.
    5. serve on the Executive Committee of the Section.
  • Secretary-Treasurer.  The Secretary-Treasurer shall:
    1. be responsible for keeping minutes of all meetings and forwarding copies of all minutes to the Section’s Executive Committee for approval prior to sending to the NCFR national office and distributing to the FH Section membership. 
    2. contact the NCFR national office and report the most current record of section membership in the annual minutes.
    3. monitor all records of Section assets, liabilities, and financial transactions
    4. share the most current information about the Section’s finances at the Section’s Annual Business Meeting at the NCFR Annual Conference.
    5. serve on the Executive Committee of the Section.
  • Student/new professional representative. The Student/new professional representative shall:
    1. work with Section Officers to a address the needs and interests of student and new professional members.
    2. serve on the Executive Committee of the Section.
• Section 3. Elections of Officers  

• Nominations - The Nominations Committee of the Section (see Article VIII, Section 2. Nominations Committee) will submit a slate of nominees for Section officers at the Annual Section Business Meeting in the odd-numbered years, with at least two nominees for each office of Chair-elect, Secretary-Treasurer, and Student/new professional representative. Nominees must be current Section members and give their consent to serve before their names may be placed on the ballot. Candidates for section office shall have been members of the section for at least two years and are current dues paying members of the section. The final slate of candidates must be sent to NCFR office personnel who will handle the election.  
• Elections - Voting for Section Officers shall be by ballot mailed to current Section members by the NCFR office in the Spring of even years. A runoff election will be held in the event of a tie.
   
• Section 4. Terms of Office. All Section Officers will serve two - year terms which will begin and end in the even years at the time of the Annual Section Business Meeting at the NCFR Annual Conference. No person shall serve two consecutive elected terms in the same office. 
• Section 5. Vacancies. In the event of a vacancy in the Chair, the Chair-elect shall assume the duties of the Chair. In the event of a vacancy in the Chair-elect or Secretary-Treasurer, the Chair shall appoint a member to fill the office for the unexpired term.

Article VI. MEETINGS  

• Section 1. Annual Business Meetings. The Section shall hold its Annual Business Meeting during the NCFR Annual Conference. At that time, projects and concerns of the membership will be openly discussed and debated. A written Secretary-Treasurer’s report will be given at this meeting.
•  Section 2. Executive Committee Meetings. The Executive Committee shall meet during the NCFR Annual Conference and at other times throughout the year as needed. 

Article VII. COMMITTEES 

• Section 1. Executive Committee. The Executive Committee shall consist of the following: Chair, Chair-elect, Secretary-Treasurer, and Student/new professional. The Committee shall have the responsibility for implementing policies and programs established by the membership of the Section. The Executive Committee shall act on behalf of the membership when the membership cannot be consulted. The Committee shall meet at least once during the NCFR Annual Conference.
•  Section 2. Nominating Committee. The Nominating Committee shall consist of three current Section members and a chair who is the outgoing Section Chair. The other two members will be chosen at the annual meeting of the even numbered years. The function of the Committee is to prepare a slate of nominees for Section officers to be presented to the Section Annual Business Meeting during odd-numbered years. (See Article IV, Section 3a. Nominations.)
•  Section 3. Student/new professional Award Committee. This committee will consist of the Chair-elect, the Chair, and one other section member appointed by the Chair-elect. Papers will be judged prior to the conference. The Student/new professional Award shall go to the student/new professional who is judged to have the best paper accepted for presentation at the annual conference. The award is $200.
•  Section 4. Other Committees. Other committees will be established as deemed necessary by the Executive Committee. The Chair, in consultation with the Executive Committee, shall appoint these other committees. 

Article VII. FOCUS GROUPS
Any NCFR Focus Group whose purpose is compatible with the Family and Health Section Mission may join the Section if a majority of the Focus Group votes to do so. All members of the Focus Group must become members of the Family and Health Section and pay section dues. A Focus Group may join only one Section of NCFR. Any money collected by the Focus Group (e.g., from membership fees) will be included in both the Section and NCFR accounting system. Any costs incurred by a Focus Group must be pre-approved by the Section Chair in writing before being paid by the section.

Article IX. RULES OF ORDER
The rules contained in Robert’s Rules of Order, Revised shall govern the Family and Health Section in all parliamentary procedures in which they are applicable and in which they are not inconsistent with these aforementioned bylaws.

 Article X. AMENDMENTS

• Section 1. Proposal. The Executive Committee or a majority vote at the Annual Business Meeting may propose amendments to these by-laws. Amendments may also be proposed to the section through list serve activity/email.
• Section 2. Vote. Amendments to these Bylaws shall become effective if accepted by a two-thirds vote of the current Family and Health Section members voting by email, or by a two-thirds vote of the current Section members in attendance at the Annual Meeting. 

These By-Laws were prepared in October 1990 from the existing Section By-Laws and within the guidelines for Sections within the NCFR Constitutions. Changes were voted on at the Section meeting November 18, 1998. Updates were made between November 16, 2004 and April 2005 by the Executive Committee.