our bylaws

BY-LAWS

 AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION

 DIVISION OF PSYCHOANALYSIS

 SECTION III:  WOMEN, GENDER AND PSYCHOANALYSIS

 Article I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI

 

ARTICLE I

NAME AND PURPOSE

1. The name of this organization shall be Section III: Women, Gender and Psychoanalysis of Division 39 of the American Psychological Association.

1. The purpose of this Section shall be to promote research and theory concerning gender and women’s issues, to increase the participation of women in the roles and functions of the profession, to promote and maintain high standards of practice in the psychotherapeutic treatment of women, to advocate on behalf of woman’s issues, and to engage in collaboration with individuals, groups and organizations in the realization of these objectives.

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ARTICLE II

MEMBERSHIP

Membership in this section shall be open to all psychologists and affiliates who are members of the Division of Psychoanalysis of the American Psychological Association.  There shall be two classes of membership: Member and Student Member.

ARTICLE III

MEMBERSHIP RIGHTS AND PRIVILEGES:

1. Members of the section on Women, Gender and Psychoanalysis shall be entitled:

 

1. Student members of the Section are not entitled to hold office, vote, or serve on committees, but they shall be entitled:

 

1. Friends of the Section shall consist of people who are interested in the work of the Section but who are not qualified to be either members or student members of the APA and are therefore not qualified to be members of Division 39 or Section III.  In exchange for the payment of dues to the Section, they shall be entitled to receive the publications of the Section, i.e. the Newsletter.

ARTICLE IV

OFFICERS

1. The officers of the Section shall be a President, a President Elect, a Past President, a Treasurer, a Recording Secretary, a Membership Secretary, Co-Editors of the Section Newsletter, and a Representative to Division 39.   Officers are elected.  Terms of office begin on January 1.  An officer who does not attend two consecutive Board meetings is understood to have resigned.

1. The President shall be the person who has just completed the term as President Elect and shall serve for a term of two years.  The President shall preside at all meetings of the Board of Directors and of the general membership.  In addition, the President shall serve as Chairperson of the Executive Committee and shall perform all the usual duties of a presiding officer, including setting the agenda for meetings, orienting new Officers and Board members to the functions and responsibilities of the Board and sending a copy of the By-Laws to each new Board member.

1. The President Elect shall be elected for a term of one year, and shall serve the function of the Vice President.  In the event that the President cannot serve out a full term, the President Elect shall succeed to the unexpired remainder thereof and shall continue to serve through his/her own term.  The President Elect shall also serve as Chairperson of the Program Committee, if he or she deems that one is necessary.  The job of the President Elect is to arrange the Section symposia for the spring and summer meetings for the following year at which point the President Elect will be President.  He or she will submit a written report on future programs semi-annually prior to the Section III Board Meeting and the Annual American Psychological Association meeting and the Spring Meeting of Division 39.

1. The Recording Secretary shall be elected for a term of three years.  Duties include safeguarding records of the Section, recording the minutes of meetings of both the Board of Directors and the general membership, and sending out the minutes of the Board Meetings to all Board Members within 4 weeks subsequent to the Board Meeting.

1. The Membership Secretary will be elected for a term of three years and will maintain a list of current Section members, addresses, and phone numbers and will mail out dues notices and collect annual dues.  He or she will make a written report on the membership semi-annually prior to the Board Meeting at the annual American Psychological Association meeting and at the Spring Meeting of Division 39.

 

1. The Treasurer shall be elected for a term of three years.  Duties include the receipt and custody of all funds, the disbursement of funds in accord with the needs of the organization, and the keeping of adequate financial records.  The Treasurer shall submit financial reports of the receipts and expenditures of the Section semi-annually prior to the Section III Board Meeting at the annual American Psychological Association meeting and at the Spring Meeting of Division 39.

 

1. The Past President shall be the most recently retired president and shall serve as Chair of the Committee on Nominations and Elections, if he or she deems that one is necessary.  Elections will be conducted following the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association and will be concluded in the fall in time to be reported in the winter issue of the Newsletter.  He or she will submit a written report on the nominations and the elections to be presented to the Board prior to the following spring meeting, even though at the time of the meeting the Past President will no longer be on the Board.

1. Representatives to Division 39 shall serve for a term of three years.  The duties are to serve as liaison between the Section and the Division.  He or she will submit a report of the Division activities of relevance to the Section semi-annually prior to the annual American Psychological Association meeting and at the Spring meeting of Division 39.

 

1. The Co-editors of the Newsletter will serve for a term of three years.  They will put out two issues of the newsletter per year, one prior to the Division 39 Spring Meeting and one prior to the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association.  They will submit a report semi-annually prior to the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association meeting and the Spring Meeting of Division 39.  It is understood that the Newsletter is a provisional commitment of the Section and can be abandoned by the Board if it is no longer deemed useful.

 

1. Each officer shall serve on the Executive Committee and also on the Board of Directors where they will each have one vote.

 

1. In the case of death, incapacity, or resignation of any officer, except the President or the Past President, the vacant office shall be awarded to the defeated candidate for the position who was, at the time of the most recent election, the runner-up for the office in question.  If the runner-up declines to serve or is for any other reason unavailable, the Board of Directors shall, by majority vote, elect a successor to serve until the next scheduled election.  At the next scheduled election the vacated position will be filled for the remainder of the term.

1. The means for filling a vacancy in the office of President is specified in Article IV, Section 3 of these by-laws.  In the case of death, incapacity or resignation of the Past President, such vacancy shall remain through the balance of the year in which it occurs.

 

ARTICLE V

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

1. The Board of Directors shall be made up of:

 

1. The Board of Directors shall exercise general supervision over the affairs of the Section and the transaction of the necessary business of the Section, provided that they don’t conflict with these By-laws or with those of the Division or with the recorded vote of the membership.  The Board shall be responsible for the adoption of the budget and for approving the dispersal of funds.  The duties of the Board shall also include advising the officers of the Section on the performance of their duties.

1. Meetings of the Board of Directors shall be open to all Section members who want to attend, though only Board members will have voting privileges.  A majority of board members need to be present to constitute a quorum.

 

ARTICLE VI

COMMITTEES

1. The Section shall have provisions for four standing committees (Executive, Nominations and Election, and Program and Recruitment) and the President with the approval of the Board of Directors shall establish ad hoc committees as.

 

1. The Executive Committee shall consist of the officers of the Section and shall be responsible for the coordination of various activities of the Section.  The President can convene this committee at his or her discretion

1. The Nominations and Elections Committee shall exist at the discretion of the Past President.  If the Past President decides he or she needs help conducting the election, he or she can appoint a committee of the three members chaired by the Past President.  The committee shall be responsible for the conduct of elections as outlined in Article IV.

 

1. The Program Committee shall exist at the discretion of the President Elect.  If the President Elect decides he or she needs help organizing the following year’s program, he or she can appoint a committee of three members chaired by the President Elect.  The committee shall be responsible for the planning of programs at the annual American Psychological Association convention and the Division 39 Spring Meeting.

1. The Recruitment Committee will be appointed by the President and will consist of three members of the Board.  The job of the Recruitment Committee is to recruit new members to the Section from Division 39.  At least two mailings will be sent out annually, one to all members of Division 39 who joined in the preceding year and one to all presenters at the most recent spring and summer meetings informing them of the objectives of the Section and inviting them to join.  The Recruitment Committee will submit reports to the Board prior to the Section III Board Meeting at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association and at the Spring Meeting of Division 39.

1. The chairperson of the respective committees shall appoint members of the Nominations and Program Committee.

 

1. Ad hoc committees shall have a chair appointed by the President and approved by the Board of Directors.  Additional members may be appointed by the President or may be volunteers from the general membership.

ARTICLE VII

MEETINGS

 

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1. Two annual meetings of the Section shall be held: one at the annual American Psychological Association Convention, and one at the Division 39 Spring Meeting. A member of the Section shall have the right to place any matter on the agenda of the business meeting by directing the matter to the president at least forty-eight hours before the scheduled meeting time.

 

1. Other general membership meetings or Board of Directors meetings may be called by the President of the Executive Committee in conjunction with the Executive Committee.

ARTICLE VIII

DUES

 

Membership dues, special membership fees, and assessments of any nature shall be set by a majority vote of the Board of Directors.  Dues shall be payable annually and shall become due one month after the day of the billing.  Members in arrears for a period of one year may be dropped from the membership.  The Membership Secretary shall send out the annual request for dues in January of each year.

ARTICLE IX

LOCAL CHAPTERS

The Section may establish local chapters at the discretion of the Board of Directors.  Such local chapters shall be subject to all regulations as established by the Board.

ARTICLE X

AMENDMENTS

 

Amendments to these by-laws may be proposed by a majority vote of the Board of Directors or by a petition of 10% of the members.  After an amendment has been reviewed by the Board of Directors, it shall be mailed to the last known post office address of each member with statements which specify the arguments for and against the proposed change.  Ballots shall be counted sixty days after mailing, and the voting period shall then be considered closed.  An affirmative vote of 2/3 of the Members returning their ballots shall be required to ratify the amendment.

ARTICLE XI

PARLIAMENTARY PROCEDURE

Keesey’s Modern Parliamentarian Procedure, when not in conflict with these by-laws, shall govern the proceedings of this organization.

These By-laws are the amended version of the 1984 Section By-Laws.  They were passed in accordance with Article X of the 1984 Section By-Laws at the Board of Director’s Meeting on April 29, 1995.  These Bylaws were amended by vote of the Board and vote of the Membership in December, 2003.