IEEE  Bylaws – Student Branches

 

 

Student Branches

 

  1. A Student Branch is a basic operating entity of IEEE constituted by a minimum of twenty IEEE Student members at a particular college, university or technical institute and established with approval of the Regional Activities Board by petition to the Region concerned to represent and fulfil the needs of the members and the missions of IEEE.

 

  1. The establishment of an IEEE Student Branch may be authorized by the Regional Activities Board upon the approval of the Regional Director based on the recommendation of the Regional Student Activities Committee Chairman. A petition signed by 20 or more Student members and at least three IEEE members above Student grade who are faculty members teaching in IEEE designated fields shall be submitted to the Regional Director. In certain instances, where there is assurance that formation of the Branch will stimulate additional membership, the Regional Director may approve the petition with fewer than twenty signatures.

 

  1. At each Student Branch there shall be a Branch Counselor who shall be an IEEE member teaching in IEEE designated fields. The appropriate Section Chairman, based upon the recommendation of the Student members of the Branch, and in accordance with the practices for the establishment of other student organizations at the educational institution involved, shall appoint the Counselor. The appointment or reappointment shall normally be for two years. Each Branch Counselor is charged with promoting the welfare of the IEEE at the institution, particularly in matters relating to Student activities.

 

  1. Each IEEE Student Branch shall adopt and conform to a Student Branch Constitution with a copy submitted to IEEE Headquarters. The Branch Constitution shall provide for the management of the Branch affairs by an Executive Committee consisting of the elected officers and any other members as may be specified. The officers of the Branch shall be at least a Chairman, a vice Chairman, a Secretary, and a Treasurer or a Secretary-Treasurer. Each Student Branch Chapter Chairman shall serve as an ex-officio member of the Branch Executive Committee.

 

  1. The IEEE, by action of the Regional Activities Board, may join with another engineering or technical society to cosponsor a Joint Student Branch upon the recommendation of the Regional Student Activities Committee Chairmen with the approval of the Regional Director. The petition for the establishment of the Joint Branch must be signed by the IEEE Counselor, or a representative of the faculty (who must be an IEEE member) of the educational institution involved, in the event a Counselor has not been appointed, and by twenty or more Student members of the IEEE.

 

  1. Each Joint Student Branch shall adopt and conform to a Joint Student Branch Constitution which shall have been submitted to and approved by both the Regional Activities Board and the cosponsoring Society.

 

  1. The normal organizational unit for the conduct of IEEE Student activities is the Student Branch associated with an educational institution. However, when circumstances do not permit the normal organizational arrangements within the boundary of a Section, the Regional Activities Board may authorize the formation of a Section Student Branch open for membership to those Student members, attending institutions located within the Section having curricula which would normally qualify for Student member status, who are not members of an IEEE Student Branch. Such authorization shall be requested in a petition, signed by not fewer than 20 such Student members, endorsed by the Section Executive Committee, and approved by the Regional Director. Upon the establishment of the Section Student Branch, the Regional Director shall appoint a qualified Section Student Branch Advisor. The Section Executive Committee shall be responsible for the organization and activities of the Section Student Branch, in accordance with the applicable provisions of the Student Branch Constitution.

 

  1. IEEE Student Branches and Joint Student Branches shall have the right to obligate their funds for all purposes necessary to promote their objectives, except that no IEEE Student Branch, Joint Student Branch, or any officer or representative thereof, shall have any authority to contract debts for, pledge the credit of, or in any way bind the IEEE for those activities specifically prohibited in the Student Branch Constitution or in the Student Branch Operations Guide.

 

  1. Each IEEE Student Branch, IEEE Section Student Branch, and Joint Student Branch shall forward an Annual Report and Financial Statement by May 1 to the Manager of Student Services, the Regional Student Activities Committee Chairman, and Section Student Activities Committee Chairman. The next year’s Annual Branch Activity Plan should be submitted with the Annual Report but no later than November 1.

 

  1. An IEEE Student Branch, IEEE Section Student Branch, or Joint Student Branch may defray expenses by assessment of its members as provided in its Constitution and, in addition, may accept noncompulsory financial contributions. Nonmember students of the institution where a Student Branch is established may attend the Student Branch meetings under such conditions as may be prescribed by the Student Branch.

 

  1. Failure of an IEEE Student Branch or IEEE Section Student Branch to maintain a minimum of ten IEEE Student members and to hold at least three meetings each year shall place the Branch on probation. The Regional Director, the Regional Student Activities Committee Chairman, and the IEEE Student Counselor (or in the event a Counselor has not been appointed, a representative of the faculty of the educational institution or other institute involved) shall be informed of the probation by the General Manager who shall also call to their attention the requirements for maintaining the Branch. If the delinquency continues for a second year, the IEEE sponsorship shall be withdrawn automatically. The General Manager shall so report to the Executive Committee and the Regional Activities Board, the Regional Student Activities Committee Chairman, and the IEEE Counselor of the dissolved Branch.

 

  1. Failure of a Joint Branch to maintain a minimum of ten IEEE members and to hold at least three meetings each year shall be reported by the General Manager to the Executive Committee and the Regional Activities Board, and similar action as for delinquencies of IEEE Student Branches shall be taken following formal notification to the cosponsoring society.

 

  1. For maintenance of an IEEE Student Branch, IEEE Section Student Branch, or Joint Student Branch, upon timely receipt of an Annual Branch Activity Plan, endorsed by the IEEE Counselor, the IEEE shall issue to each such Branch, for one calendar year, $25.00 for Branches with fewer than 50 members and $50.00 for Branches with 50 or more members. Allotments for Annual Branch Activity Plans submitted with an Annual Report and Financial Statement are payable by September 1. All other allotments for Annual Branch Activity Plans are payable by December 15. Upon timely receipt of an Annual Report and Financial Statement, endorsed by the IEEE Counselor, the IEEE shall rebate to each such Branch, in good standing, $1.10 per Student member of the Branch and an additional $0.70 per Student Branch Chapter member based on membership count as of December 31 each year, this membership count to include those students who joined and upgraded during the calendar year. The rebate is payable by September 1. In case of a section Student Branch, these amounts shall be paid to the Section sponsoring the Branch.

 

  1. The Regional Activities Board may, after consultation with the Regional Director, dissolve an IEEE Student Branch or IEEE Section Student Branch or withdraw its sponsorship and support of a Joint Student Branch for any reason deemed sufficient. Any remaining funds in the custody of that Branch, or Joint Branch, attributable to IEEE sponsorship, shall revert to the IEEE.

 

  1. The Executive Committee shall be informed of the establishment or dissolution of a student Branch, Joint Student Branch, and Section Student Branch.

 

  1. Each Branch shall conduct its activities within the Constitution, Bylaws, and other rules externally imposed which by law affect the membership and activities of the IEEE.

 

  1. Within the budgetary conditions established by the Board of Directors, partial reimbursement of actual and necessary expenses may be authorized by the Regional Director for the Counselor of each Student Branch, for the Advisor of each Section Student Branch, for the Student Branch Chairman, and the Student paper first prize winner, if any, from any Branch to attend one meeting within his/her Region each year.

 

 

Student Branch Chapters

 

1.       A Student Branch Chapter is a technical subunit of a Student Branch constituted by a minimum of twelve Student members of a Society and established by petition to the parent Student Branch and Society concerned to represent and fulfil the needs of the members and the missions of IEEE. A Student Branch Chapter functions in a manner similar to a committee of the Student Branch.

 

2.       A petition to establish a Student Branch Chapter, in the required form supplied by IEEE, must contain at least:

 

(a)   Name of Student Branch, signatures of its Student Branch officers, and signature of the Counselor;

 

(b)   Name of the sponsoring Society;

 

(c)   The signatures of at least twelve Students who are members of the Student Branch and of the Society involved, the signature of the Faculty Advisor of the Student Branch Chapter selected by the petitioning Students, who shall be a member of the Society, the name of one Student petitioner who will serve as interim Chairman until establishment of the Student Branch Chapter is authorized.

 

3.       The petition for the Student Branch Chapter shall be submitted to the Manager of Student Services at IEEE Headquarters. The Student Branch Chapter shall be considered established following approval of the petition by the Regional Student Activities Committee Chairman, the Regional Director, and the Society President.

 

4.       The Student Branch Chapter membership shall elect a Student Branch Chapter Chairman and any other officers deemed necessary for its successful operation in accordance with the Branch Constitution.

 

5.       The responsibility for Student Branch Chapter management rests with the Executive Committee of the Branch. The Student Branch Chapter Chairman shall serve as an ex-officio member of the Branch Executive Committee in coordinating and planning activities and programs.

 

6.       All Student Branch members shall be advised of all meetings held under the auspices of the Branch including those organized by a Student Branch Chapter.

 

7.       A Student Branch Chapter is required to maintain a membership of not fewer than ten Student members, and to hold not less than two technical meetings per year, and maintain a level of activity acceptable to the Society President, the Regional Director, and the Regional Student Activities Committee Chairman.

 

8.       With the concurrence of the Counselor, the Society President, the Regional Director, and the Regional Student Activities Committee Chairman, a Student Branch Chapter may be dissolved.

 

 

January 1995


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