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GCSSEPM Bylaws

ARTICLE 1. OBJECTIVE

1.01 The mission of the Gulf Coast Section of the Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists (GCSSEPM), a section of the Society for Sedimentary Geology (SEPM), is to promote the science of stratigraphy in the Gulf Coast states through research in paleontology, sedimentology, and sedimentary petrology, especially as it relates to petroleum geology. The Corporation, herein referred to as the “Section,” will be closely associated with the Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies (GCAGS) as practically possible and will cooperate with GCAGS, its member societies, and other geological societies for the furtherance of mutual objectives.

ARTICLE 2. MEMBERS

2.01 The Section shall have members, lifetime members, and honorary members.

2.02 Members shall be persons engaged in or who have interest in paleontologic, petrographic, or stratigraphic, geophysical, or reservoir studies that have application to the geology of petroleum, especially as they relate to the Gulf Coast province of the states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, or Florida, as well as the Gulf of Mexico. Membership does not depend on residence in the Gulf Coast states.

2.03 Anyone who qualifies for membership in the Section can become a lifetime member by paying a one-time lifetime membership fee and shall not be required to pay annual dues. The lifetime membership fee shall be decided by the Executive Council and may be changed by the Council as it deems appropriate.

2.04 The Council may bestow the Distinguished Service Award to a member of the Section who has distinguished themselves in beneficial major singular or long-term service to the Section. Any Section member may submit nominees for this award to the Council. To make this award, a majority vote of the Council present is required. The awardee(s) once approved shall be notified by the President and must submit a digital photo and biography written by a close colleague, preferably with the awardees’ input.

2.05 The Council may elect as Honorary Members persons who have distinguished themselves by their service and devotion to the GCSSEPM as well as to the science and profession of geology in industry or academia especially as it relates to the Gulf Coast Basin. Any Section member may submit nominees for this award to the Council. To bestow this award, a majority vote of the Council present is required. The awardee(s) once approved shall be notified by the President and must submit a digital photo and biography written by a close colleague, preferably with the awardees' input.

2.06 Each candidate for membership shall submit to the Section an application on a form authorized by the Council for this purpose.

2.07 New members enrolled after December 1 shall be considered as having paid their dues for the next calendar year.

ARTICLE 3. COUNCIL AND OFFICERS

3.01 Executive authority of the Section is vested in a board of directors known as the “Council” consisting of six members who are duly elected by the members, as follows: President, President-Elect, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and the most recently retired Past President.

3.02 The President will act as presiding officer at all meetings of the Section as well as discharge the usual duties of a president. A complete listing of these duties is given in the Officer Duty List. This list shall by reviewed annually by the Section and maintained by the Secretary.

3.03 The Vice President shall assume the duties of the President in the case of the absence or disability of the latter as well as discharge the usual duties of a Vice President. A complete listing of these duties is given in the Officer Duty List. In addition, the Vice President shall also be Chairman of the Membership Committee and as such shall keep a complete up-to-date list of members, which shall be maintained by the Treasurer.

3.04 The Secretary shall keep and maintain the records of the proceedings of the Section, attend to the preparation of materials necessary to the business of the section, solicit material for the Section Newsletter, and review the website for updates, as well as discharge other responsibilities defined in the Officer Duty List.

3.05 The Treasurer shall have custody of all funds of the Section. The Treasurer shall keep account of the receipts and disbursements, and submit an accounting to the membership at the end of each year. The Treasurer's disbursal authority will be defined by the Council as indicated in the Officer Duty List. The Treasurer shall keep a complete list of the membership and will supply the Vice President with the list for his duties. The Treasurer will work with the Webmaster to insure that the member database is up-to-date. In addition, the Treasurer will have other duties which are defined in the Officer Duty List.

3.06 The Council shall have control and management of the affairs and funds of the Section.

3.07 The President shall not serve for more than one (1) year. If the Vice President, succeeds to the position of Acting President, the Acting President may be elected to a full term as President.

3.08 In the event that neither the President nor Vice President is available to serve as presiding officer of the Section meeting, the immediate Past President shall assume the President's duties. If the Past President is not available, then the President-Elect will preside.

3.09 The President-Elect shall serve for one (1) year as such, and in the following year the President-Elect shall assume the office of President. The President-Elect's primary responsibility, besides being a member of the Council, is to be in charge of selecting candidates for the office for the year in which (s)he will serve as President. The President-Elect should be familiar with all the details of the office of President and generally prepare themselves to serve as President. The President-Elect shall be responsible for finding candidates to fulfill the Section's responsibilities for the GCAGS-GCSSEPM Convention of the year (s)he is President. Other responsibilities may be defined in the Officer Duty List.

3.10 If an elected candidate resigns before assuming the office of Vice President, Secretary, or Treasurer, the vacancy may be filled by (1) asking the runner up in the election to assume the position; (2) by council appointment; or (3) by special election. Once assuming the office, a vacancy occurring in the offices of Vice President, Secretary, or Treasurer shall be filled by Council appointment.

3.11 A vacancy occurring in the office of President-Elect either before the candidate succeeds to the position or during their term in office may be filled by: (1) asking the runner up in the election to assume the position; (2) by Council appointment; or (3) by a special election.

3.12 The Secretary, Treasurer, and Vice President shall serve for a term of two (2) years. There is no limit to the number of times that a candidate may run for these offices.

3.13 Other duties may be assigned to any officer at the discretion of the Council. This list shall be known as the Officer Duty List and will be maintained by the Secretary.

3.14 On an as needed basis, the Section may form committees to handle specific tasks and/or objectives, such as but not limited to membership, financial, website issues, and education. The Section shall seek someone to head up the committee and help them find committee members. It is expected that the committee chairman will provide a report for the Section Officers at each Section meeting.

ARTICLE 4. MEETINGS OF MEMBERS

4.01 The Section shall hold at least one stated meeting each year; and ideally at least three meetings. If needed, additional business meetings may be scheduled.

4.02 The Annual Business Meeting will be held in association with the GCSSEPM Foundation Perkins-Rosen Research Conference.

4.03 Out of town officers may attend business meetings by electronic means. The minutes will reflect that they are present and their vote will count the same as if they were physically present.

4.04 If a suitable time and place cannot be agreed upon by the Section officers, the President shall try to arrange an electronic meeting of Section officers. All business conducted thereby shall be as valid as an actual physical meeting.

ARTICLE 5. AMENDMENT OF BYLAWS

5.01 Any proposed amendments must have the approval of a majority of the Council before being submitted to the members. Once approved, the revisions and amendments become official by two-thirds positive vote of returned ballots received. Balloting may be done by electronic dissemination, postal mail, or a combination of methods at the discretion of the Council.

5.02 A petition containing the signatures of twenty (20) active members is considered sufficient to bring before the Council a proposed change in the Bylaws.

ARTICLE 6. DUES

6.01 The fiscal year of the Section shall commence on January 1 and end on December 31.

6.02 The annual dues of the members shall be set by a majority vote of the Executive Council.

6.03 A notice for dues shall be prepared by the Vice President, as Chairman of the Membership Committee, to all delinquent members by March 31 of each year. This notice may be done by electronic dissemination, postal mail, or a combination of methods at the discretion of the Vice President. Members who have not paid by June 1 shall be dropped from the membership rolls.

6.04 Members dropped for nonpayment of dues may be reinstated following their payment of all delinquent dues.

6.05 Membership plans may be established and revised at the discretion of the Council. The plans available will be posted on the Section/Foundation website.

ARTICLE 7. FINANCIAL PROCEDURE

7.01 The Treasurer's limit of authority to disburse funds will be determined by a majority vote of the Executive Council and will be defined in the Officer duty List. The Executive Council should review and, if necessary, change the Treasurer’s disbursement limit on an annual basis. No other officer or member shall enter into a contract or shall disburse any of the Section's funds without the explicit consent of a majority of the council.

ARTICLE 8. ELECTIONS

8.01 As noted in Article 3.09, the President-Elect shall seek nominations for President-Elect, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer. These nominations shall be in the Secretary's hands before the submission deadline for the Summer Newsletter. A candidate for office must be a member of the Section.

8.02 Announcements for those running for office shall be prepared by the Secretary, including biographies and photos, and will be posted on the Section’s Web site, as well as in the summer newsletter. The election shall be held electronically on the Web site and the results automatically tallied there. Receipt of a majority of the votes cast for any office shall constitute election. On the election deadline, the results will be made known to the Executive Council and Trustees immediately. Once approved by the Council, membership will be notified of the results by electronic dissemination and in the Fall Newsletter. In case of a tie vote, either members of the current Council shall cast one additional deciding vote, or the election deadline will be extended by a number of days decided by the Council to allow members additional time to break the tie.

8.03 New officers shall assume duty on January 1 of the next calendar year. New officers will be invited to the Council Business meeting before their assumption of duties, in order to prepare themselves for their elected responsibilities.

ARTICLE 9. BUSINESS REPRESENTATIVES

Business representatives shall consist of three types of representatives: regional representatives, corporate representatives, and student representatives. Regional representatives will be responsible for members based on geographic area. Corporate representatives will be responsible for members in their company or corporation. Student representatives will represent their academic institution. The GCSSEPM Executive Committee will provide guidelines on the duties of each type of representative. The GCSSEPM Executive Committee will also provide guidelines on how representatives are chosen.

9.01 Regional Representative: The Vice President shall appoint one representative from each group of members in a state or region and in other localities as needed. Each representative shall be provided with an up-to-date list of the members residing in the representative's vicinity. The Vice President will notify these regional representatives concerning any matter of Section policy that may be relayed to him by the President and may be asked to contact those members by electronic mail to determine their views concerning Section affairs. The representative will report the results of such meetings to the Vice President of the Section. The representative will cooperate with the Section Editor in the soliciting of papers to be presented at the Annual Meeting and with the Chairman of the Membership Committee in recruiting new members for the Section. At least eight weeks before the deadline for submitting material for publication in the GCSSEPM Newsletter, the Vice President will canvas the representative for information on news briefs and/or technical notes that may be contributed to the Newsletter.

9.02 Student Representative: Student representatives shall be selected by the Council in consultation with faculty members at various colleges and universities in the Gulf Coast region and at other schools with an interest in Gulf Coast geology. Only one student representative shall be selected from each school. Student representatives must be (1) members of the Section, (2) full-time graduate or undergraduate students, and (3) majoring in geosciences. Student representatives shall serve a 1-year term, renewable on an annual basis, and shall have recruiting and reporting duties similar to those of the regional and corporate representatives. At least eight weeks before the deadline for submitting material for publication in the GCSSEPM Newsletter, the Vice President will canvas the representative for information on news briefs and/or technical notes that may be contributed to the Newsletter.

9.03 Corporate Representative: The Vice President, with input from the Executive Council, shall appoint one representative from groups of members employed at various companies. The Vice President will notify these representatives concerning any matter of Section policy that may be relayed to him by the President and may be asked to contact those members by electronic mail to determine their views concerning Section affairs. The representative will report the results of such meetings to the President of the Section. The representative will cooperate with the Section Editor in the soliciting of papers to be presented at the Annual Meeting and with the Chairman of the Membership Committee in recruiting new members for the Section. At least eight weeks before the deadline for submitting material for publication in the GCSSEPM Newsletter, the Vice President will canvas the representative for information on news briefs and/or technical notes that may be contributed to the Newsletter.

ARTICLE 10. AUDIT

10.1 The President shall appoint an Auditing Committee that shall review the accounts presented by the Treasurer. The approval of the Treasurer's books by the committee shall be required before the final report will be accepted.

The Constitution of the GCSSEPM was originally adopted in 1954 and was amended in 1960, 1962, 1966, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1974, and 1981. The Section was incorporated under the laws of the State of Texas in 1981, and these Bylaws were adopted at that time in place of the original Constitution and its amendments. They were amended in 1984, 1990, 1991, 1996, 1997, 2002, 2004, 2005 and 2008. These Bylaws embody all of the provisions of the original Constitution and its amendments.

 

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