CONSTITUTION OF THE VIRGINIA CHAPTER
OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF TEACHERS OF GERMAN

(NOTE: Throughout this document, the use of the masculine implies the inclusion of the feminine person.)

ARTICLE I. Name and Geographic Delineation
Section 1. The name of the organization shall be the Virginia Chapter of the American Association of Teachers of German, hereinafter referred to as the Chapter and National (Organization), respectively.

Section 2. The Chapter shall extend its membership to the entire State of Virginia.

Section 3. The name of the Chapter shall never be the object of amendment, unless, by the majority vote of the entire membership, the geographic delineation specified in Sec. 2 shall be redefined.

ARTICLE II. Purpose
The Chapter’s mission shall be to further and improve the teaching of German throughout its jurisdiction and to promote cultural ties between its citizenship and the various peoples of the German-speaking world. The Chapter may undertake its academic and cultural mission alone or in concert with the National Organization.

ARTICLE III. Membership; Rights and Fees
Section 1. All Virginia resident members in good standing with the National Organization are accordingly members of this Chapter.

Section 2. Chapter membership fees may be assessed from time to time by a majority vote of the members attending an annual meeting of the Chapter when such an assessment is deemed necessary by the Executive Council for continuance or normal Chapter functions, and as limited by the By-Laws: Article 2 on Finances.
Section 3. Provided that membership in the National Organization is maintained, an emeritus member shall be exempt from the payment of any Chapter fees assessed.

ARTICLE IV. Officers
Section 1. The offices of the Chapter shall be those of a President, two Vice-Presidents, a Secretary, and a Treasurer; the latter two offices may be combined.

Section 2. The President and two Vice-Presidents shall be elected at the Fall Annual Meeting of the even-numbered years, and the Secretary and the Treasurer (or Secretary/Treasurer) at the Fall Meeting of the odd-numbered years on the basis of nominations made by a nominating committee and/or from the floor. The term of office for the President and the Vice-Presidents shall be two years and none may succeed himself in the same office. Pursuant to Sec. 3b below, an Acting President or Vice-President shall, however, be eligible for a full term of office. The term for the Secretary or the Treasurer (or Secretary/Treasurer) shall also be two years and may be renewed twice.

Section 3. (Duties)
(a)The President shall preside over all Executive Council meetings and all Chapter meetings; he shall appoint committees as needed and oversee the programs of the Chapter; he shall fill any vacancies arising on the Executive Council, except his own, by appointment of some member in good standing for the remainder of the vacated term, whereafter that vacancy shall be billed by election as prescribed herein and in the By-Laws. The President shall report once a year, at the Fall Meeting, to the members on the status and progress of the Chapter, and he/she shall be encouraged to attend the Annual Meeting of the National Organization or to have one of the Vice-Presidents substitute for him/her.

(b) The two Vice-Presidents, the First to represent the elementary and secondary education levels and the Second the higher education levels, shall be equal in office and either may represent the President at his request on any occasion or at any meeting on the national level as the President’s alternate; either may be asked by the Executive Council to become Acting President should the President be unable to fulfill the duties of that office for whatever reason, and the respective Vice-President’s office would be filled by the Executive Council by appointment from the general membership for the balance of the term.

(c) The Secretary shall keep Minutes of all Chapter and Executive Council meetings; in the event of absence, the President shall appoint a Secretary pro tem. The Secretary shall also send a report of the Chapter proceedings to the National Organization as directed (either to GQ or Newsletter) for publication.

(d) The Treasurer shall receive all monies due the Chapter; pay all proper debts (verified by receipts, whenever feasible) levied against the Chapter as incurred by its officers or committees in performance of their duties; keep a financial record of all such income and expenditures and report same to the membership at its annual meetings. The Treasurer (or Secretary/Treasurer) shall be empowered to maintain a checking account to facilitate handling of finances and to have the President as alternate co-signer for the purpose of facility in transacting the Chapter’s business in the event the Treasurer is unable to do so.

ARTICLE V. Administration
Section 1. The chapter shall be administered by an Executive Council comprised of the officers provided for in Article IV, the immediate Past President (for one year following his term of office, two members-at-large elected from the membership at the Fall Annual Meeting for a term of 1 year, which shall be renewable for one more term, the Chairmen of any current committees, the Coordinator of VOGS,  and the Chair of the National Testing Program.

Section 2. The Executive Council shall determine the general policy of the Chapter and all matters not within the purview of the Constitution. It shall be the responsibility of the Executive Council to establish ways of implementing the aims of the Chapter. In instances when a special meeting of the Chapter is deemed not necessary or feasible, the President may call a meeting of the Executive Council to deal with pressing matters affecting the Chapter. Any decisions are to be duly reported to the membership before or at the next meeting of the Chapter.
Section 3. The President and the Executive Council have the final decision in determining the content of the Newsletter.

ARTICLE VI. Meetings
Section. 1. The Chapter shall strive to have at least two annual meetings, one in the Fall and one in the Spring; one of these is to be held at the same time and at the same place as that of the other state chapters of the AAT’s and/ or the Foreign Language Association of Virginia (FLAVA)

Section 2. Special meetings may be called by the President at the request of the Executive Council or at the written request of at least 12 members previously submitted to and acted upon by the Executive Council.

Section 3. The Executive Council should meet at least one  time each year. It shall prepare a budget for proposal and ratification by the membership at the business portion of the Fall meeting.

 

Section 4. All meetings of the Chapter shall be conducted in accordance with Robert’s Rules of Order.

ARTICLE VIII. Amendments This Constitution may be amended by a 3/4ths vote of the members present and voting at any annual meeting. Such amendment(s) may be proposed by the Executive Council or in report from a Constitutional Committee or by written notice to the Executive Council by at least four members of the Chapter no later than 10 weeks in advance of the annual meeting at which action is to be taken, provided that such proposed amendment(s) be submitted to the membership via the Newsletter not later than three weeks before the time of the final action.

ARTICLE IX. RATIFICATION
Section 1. Ratification of this revised amended CONSTITUTION by a 2/3rds vote of the members present at the meeting at which it is presented shall put it into effect.

Section 2. Ratification of the Constitution implies acceptance and recognition that all Articles of the Constitution of the National Organization shall also apply to the Chapter.

BY-LAWS
Article 1. Elections
(a) Nominations shall be made by response of the membership to an email announcement of the president. In addition, nominations can be sought at the Spring Meeting. Nominations made shall constitute the slate, to which further nominations may be made from the floor at the Fall Annual Meeting at which elections are being held. The committee shall be encouraged to propose nominees who have not previously held office in the Chapter.

(b)Nominations for the two members -at-large on the Executive Council shall be solicited from the membership in the same way  prior to the Fall Meeting, nominations to be made from the floor at that meeting.

(c) Election shall be by ballot when there are two or more names nominated for any one office on the slate; otherwise election may be by voice or standing vote requested from the floor either for each individual office or for the entire slate. Election of the president shall precede that of the Vice-Presidents when done by individual offices, and further nominations shall be permitted to precede each election to individual office.

(d) Officers elected shall assume office at the conclusion of the Fall Meeting at which they were elected.

Article 2. Finances
(a) The Chapter shall be principally financed by the fees reimbursed it per member in the Chapter area by the National Organization; should any need arise that would require additional funds, the Chapter is empowered by the National Organization and by Sec. 3, Article II of the Constitution to levy an assessment fee, not to exceed $5.00; notice of such proposed assessment to be announced by email prior to the Meeting at which action is to be taken. The chapter shall seek outside funding for projects it wants to undertake.

(b) The financial records and books of the Treasurer (Secretary/Treasurer) shall be audited by a committee of three appointed by the President at the end of the term of the Treasurer and before these are turned over to the succeeding Treasurer (or Secretary/Treasurer).

(c) The annual budget, to be prepared by the Executive Council according to Sec. 3, Article VI of this Constitution, shall include an item for reimbursement in part of the expenses incurred by the President or his representative alternate in attending meetings of the National Organization not reimbursed by other sources; the budget shall also include items to defray the copying and postage expenditures required to manage the affairs of the Chapter incurred by any member of the Executive Council.

(d) To allow for the lapse between the dues notice by the National Organization and the actual reimbursement of the membership fee due the Chapter per member, the first of the month of the Fall Meeting shall be considered the beginning of the fiscal year.

Article 3. Standing Rules

Standing rules proposals may be submitted by any member in writing to the Executive Council or by the Executive Council itself for adoption by a majority of the members present and voting at the next meeting; upon adoption such standing rule shall be in force from said meeting until deemed no longer applicable. The Executive Council or a chapter member may propose cancellation of a standing rule, whereupon it may be cancelled by a majority vote of the members present at the meeting.

Article 4. Quorum
A quorum for Chapter meetings shall be constituted by the members present and participating at any particular meeting, provided that at least two officers and two other members of the Executive Council are also in attendance, and that notice of the meeting had been sent at least ten days in advance to the membership. The quorum for the Executive Council meetings shall be constituted by three members of the Council, including the President or his appointed representative.

Article 5. Parliamentary Referee
(a) A Parliamentary referee may be appointed by the President to counsel him during the annual meetings or the President may act as his own parliamentarian.

Article 6. Amendments

(a) These by-laws may be amended by a 2/3rds vote of the members present and voting at any annual meeting, provided amendment has been proposed in accordance with Article VIII of the Constitution.

(b) Every ten years, following adoption of the 1994-95 Revised Constitution and By-Laws, a Constitutional Review Committee of three members not of the Executive Council shall be appointed by the Executive Council, said committee to submit a report to the Executive Council and the membership as per Sec. (a) of this Article, so that said report may in effect be considered an amendment, if so desired.

STANDING RULES (from 1975-76 on)
1. Minutes of previous meetings of the membership, when sent by email before the current annual meeting, shall be considered “accepted and read” unless there is a challenge indicated by any member, whereupon the Secretary shall be directed to read these minutes or any part thereof as challenged, before such minutes can be accepted for filing.

2.When the Minutes of the previous meeting do not appear in the Newsletter before the current annual meeting, these shall be either presented at the meeting or presented in written form to each member attending the meeting for pursuance of acceptance or challenge as in Rule #1.

3.Whenever possible, a “GEMÜTLICHKEITSSTUNDE” shall be included in the program of the annual meetings, and a part or all of the hospitality costs shall be paid from Chapter Funds.

(Reviewed, amended and revised : October, 2010).