LAST REVISED: January 2007

Article 1. Name
The name of this organization shall be the Feminism and Family Studies Section (FSS) of the National Council on Family Relations (NCFR).

Article II. Government
The Bylaws of the NCFR shall govern the Feminism and Family Studies section in all of its practices. The Bylaws of this Section shall not conflict with the Bylaws of the NCFR. Every amendment to the Bylaws of the NCFR shall become effective and binding on this section.

Article III. Purpose and Functions
The Purpose of this Section is to integrate feminist scholarship and perspectives into theory, research, and applied work with families.

The functions of the FFS section shall include the election of officers, planning and conducting programs at the Annual Conference, communication with members and with the Board. When appropriate, the FFS section shall establish committees for special activities, submit proposals for special projects to NCFR, provide representation and input into the Board, and oversee the activities of Focus groups.

Article IV. Membership and Finances

Section 1 - Eligibility. Any person holding membership in the NCFR shall be entitled to and shall receive admission to membership in the FFS Section on certification of current paid membership dues in NCFR and upon payment of FFS Section dues.

Section 2 - Termination of Membership. A members whose dues remain unpaid shall be dropped from membership in accordance with the NCFR policies.

Section 3 - Amount of Dues. Annual Dues for NCFR members shall be established by the Executive Committee, but not exceed 5% of NCFR dues. Annual dues for student members of the NCFR shall be established by the Executive Committee, but not to exceed 5% of NCFR student dues.

Section 4 - Payment of Dues. Dues of all members are payable concurrently with NCFR dues and are paid to NCFR.

Section 5 - Finances. Requests for expenditures shall be referred to the Executive Committee prior to preparation of the annual budget. The Secretary-Treasurer, in consultation with the Executive Committee, shall prepare an Annual Budget to be presented for approval by the Section membership at the annual business meeting. All expenditures shall be approved in advance by the Secretary-Treasurer prior to payment by NCFR headquarters. Any expenditures that deviate from the annual budget shall be approved in advance by a majority of the Executive Committee. The FFS section shall not be responsible for any debts except as authorized by the Executive Committee of the Section. The annual budget and report shall be filed with NCFR headquarters.

Article V. Officers

Section 1 - Officers. The officers of this section shall be a chair, a vice chair, a secretary/treasurer, a newsletter editor, and two student/new professional representatives. They shall be elected by the members of the FFS section for a two-year term in accordance with established Board procedures. Each candidate will have been a section member for at least two years and a dues-paying NCFR member for the same duration.

Section 2 - Duties of Officers.
A. The Chair - The chair shall be the official representative of the Section in the activities of the NCFR. The chair shall preside at all meetings of the Section and the Executive Committee, and shall call special meetings with when necessary. The chair shall be an ex-officio member of all committees, except the Nominating committee, and shall perform all other duties pertaining to the office, including those outlined by NCFR Board of Directors’ policies and procedures. These include submission of a Board Monitoring Report, oversight of a section nominating committee, review of quarterly financial reports, call for abstracts for the annual conference, and various annual conference responsibilities. The Chair serves on the Annual Program Committee for NCFR, and is expected to attend program planning meetings in the spring as designated by NCFR. The Chair shall be responsible for maintaining communication with NCFR Headquarters and Board of Directors. This includes sending a copy of all minutes and newsletters to NCFR Headquarters, and attending the Board orientation and program planning meetings as directed by NCFR. Additionally, the Chair may submit a column to the NCFR Report on a quarterly basis, to be distributed to all NCFR members. Section chairs shall not be eligible for re-election until at least one year has lapsed since prior service.

B. The Vice Chair - The vice chair shall act for the chair in the chair’s absence or disability and perform other duties as are requested by the chair. The vice chair shall chair the Awards committee.

C. The Secretary/Treasurer - The secretary/treasurer shall be responsible for keeping minutes of meetings, taking care of all correspondence and publicity, and monitoring the Section’s budget. The secretary/treasurer will prepare a written report for distribution at the annual business meeting. The secretary/treasurer shall chair the Endowment Committee.

D. The Newsletter Editor - The newsletter editor shall be responsible for development and circulation of the Section newsletter.

E. The Student/New Professional Representatives - The two student/new professional representatives shall co-chair the Hospitality Committee. The student/new professional representatives shall also serve as the historians of the section.

Section 3. Election of Officers

A. Nominations - The Nominating Committee shall present a slate of nominees (who must be section members) to the FFS Section membership biannually (even years) through the NCFR newsletter. At least two individuals shall be proposed for all positions and nominations shall be accepted from the floor at the annual meeting. Members must give their consent to serve before their names may be placed on the ballot.

B. Election - Voting shall be by ballot and a majority of the votes cast shall be necessary for election. Elections shall be held biannually (odd years) by mail through the NCFR office. Each member, including students, shall have one vote. Write-in votes are accepted.

Section 4. Terms of Office. Each term of office shall be for two years. Officers shall assume office at the close of the annual meeting. No person shall serve two consecutive terms in the same office.

Section 5. Vacancies. In the event of a vacancy in office, the Executive Committee shall appoint a member to fill the office for the unexpired term.

Section 6. Rotation. Any officer who fails to perform duties adequately may be relieved of office by a majority vote of the Executive Committee.

Article VI. The Executive Committee
The Executive Committee shall be composed of the officers and the chairs of the standing and ad hoc committees of the Feminism and Family Studies Section. The immediate past chair is an ex-officio member of the Executive Committee. Its meetings shall be called at the request of the chair. The Executive Committee is empowered to act for the membership on occasions other than during the annual meeting.

Section 1. Program Committee. The Program Committee shall include the chair and other committee members as appointed by the chair. This committee shall be responsible for the planning and implementation of the annual meeting program, with input from Feminism and Family Studies Section members. The Section Chair shall represent the section on the NCFR Program committee, and shall attend the spring conference planning committee meeting and during the Annual conference, as designated by NCFR. Sections are expected to pay the cost of a shared room for their Chair to attend the spring Board meeting. If a Section Chair requests a single room, the Chair is expected to pay the difference between a single and double room. Travel accommodations and food expenses will also be paid by the Section for attendance at the spring meeting to the extent that the section budget permits. No travel allowance is made for attendance at the annual conference.

Section 2. Nominating Committee. The Nominating Committee shall be chaired by the immediate past chair and composed of three members elected from the floor at the annual meeting the year before members are nominated for office. A student member shall be appointed by the chair as needed. The Nominating Committee shall prepare a slate of nominees to be voted on by the members through the NCFR office.

Section 3. Awards Committee. The Awards Committee shall be chaired by the vice chair ( a non-voting member) and shall include a past chair or a vice-chair of the section and at least four additional section members (at least one of whom shall be a past recipient of a Section awards). Two student/new professional awards shall be given: The “Outstanding Research Proposal from a Feminist Perspective” (a monetary award), and the “Outstanding Contribution to Feminist Scholarship Award” (a non-monetary award for a published or presented paper). Presentation of these awards should follow the procedures outlined by Section VIII of the NCFR Section Guidelines. Deadlines for publicity, submission requirements and deadlines, and committee review procedures should be established by the Committee Chair, and, when appropriate, advertised in various NCFR publications.

Section 4. Endowment Committee. The Endowment Committee shall be chaired by the secretary/treasurer and shall include other members appointed by the chair as needed. This committee shall organize fundraising for the endowment fund to support Section awards. All fund-raising other than solicitation from section members shall have the prior approval of the NCFR Board of Directors.

Section 5. Hospitality Committee. The Hospitality Committee shall be chaired by the two student/new professional representatives and shall include other members appointed by the chair as needed. This committee shall be responsible for arranging a hospitality reception or planning networking events for Section members. The Hospitality committee shall coordinate events with the NCFR Conference Coordinator.

Section 6. Other Committees. There shall be such other committees as shall be deemed advisable either by membership or by the Executive Committee. These special committees shall be appointed by the chair in consultation with the Executive Committee.

Section 7. Student Representative. A student representative to each committee shall be appointed by the chair when students are not already represented.

Article VIII. Activities of the Section
Examples of Section activities are sponsorship of workshops, meetings of its members organized around topics of common interest, publications concerned with feminist scholarship and family studies, and collaboration with other groups of scholars including NCFR affiliated councils and organizations of feminist scholars.

The Feminism and Family Studies Section may prepare and submit majority and minority position papers or statements to the NCFR Board of Directors for their action. A proposal requiring immediate action may be brought to the attention of the Section chair when at least 25 members of the Section request it. The Section chair shall bring the proposal to the attention of the NCFR Board.

Newsletter and mailings: The Newsletter Editor shall be responsible with distributing a newsletter to convey Section news and business to the members. All costs of distribution and postage shall come from Section funds. NCFR headquarters staff may be asked to aid in the distribution of the newsletter; these services shall be billed to Section funds. All items printed in Section newsletters are the editorial responsibility of the Newsletter editor, and all copies must bear the statement: “Items appearing in this newsletter do not necessarily imply endorsement by the National Council on Family Relations.” One copy should be on file at NCFR Headquarters; newsletters may be mailed to Board members and active section members only.

No section may keep a file or database of Section members’ names for use as a mailing list or directory, or to exchange with or sell to any other group or individual. NCFR’s registered logo may be used only with prior written permission.

Focus Groups: A focus group may be organized within the section by at least 15 members around a family life interest that is not central to any existing Section. All focus group members must be NCFR and Section members. Focus group chairs must send lists of members and minutes of business meeting to NCFR and to FFS Section Chair by February 1 annually. Focus groups are not meant to be permanent bodies of NCFR, but rather to raise the awareness of NCFR members of special family issues.

Article IX. Annual Business Meeting
The Section shall hold an annual business meeting at the annual meeting of the NCFR. At that time, projects and concerns of the membership shall be discussed and debated openly. A written secretary-treasurer’s report and proposed budget shall be available at annual meetings. Matters related to the development of new committees, workshops, and other functions shall be presented and issues related to expenditure of funds shall be discussed.

Article X. Rules of Order
Roberts’ Rules of Order, shall govern the Section in parliamentary procedures as necessary and when not inconsistent with these Bylaws.

Article XI. Amendments
Provisions of these Bylaws not governed by the Bylaws of the NCFR may be amended by a three-fourths vote of members in attendance at any annual business meeting of the Section.