NCMA SPACE COAST CHAPTER

Download Chapter By-Laws

Document Date: September 1997 – Amended June 2021
Next Revision Date: April 2026 (5 years)

ARTICLE I - NAME, ORIGIN AND PLACE OF BUSINESS

A. These Chapter By-Laws are consistent with the Chapter Guide, hereinafter referred to as "CG", including the National By-Laws, which are incorporated into this document by this reference. In the case of any inconsistency between the National By-Laws and the Chapter By-Laws, the National By-Laws shall govern.

B. Name of Chapter:  Space Coast Chapter

   Address of Chapter: c/o NCMA Space Coast Chapter
21740 Beaumeade Circle, Suite 125
Ashburn, Virginia 20147

Date of Chapter Charter: October 1, 1963

Chapter Number: 11

C. The fiscal year of the Chapter shall be from July 1st through June 30th.

The Program Year shall be July 1st through June 30th of the following year.

D. In accordance with the CG, Chapter By-Laws and revisions to Chapter By-Laws shall be approved by a majority of the Chapter Executive Board and a two-thirds vote of the general membership of the Chapter who are either present at a regularly scheduled meeting or by voting through an electronic ballot distributed to the general Chapter Membership, and then sent to the National office for approval by the National Secretary, or the Executive Vice President as the designated representative.

E. Chapter By-Laws shall be revised when there are major changes to the CG that create an inconsistency between that document and these By-Laws, or no longer than every 5 years, but a failure to revise the Chapter By-Laws shall not make the By-Laws invalid. If at the 5th year, the By-Laws are still a valid rendition of Chapter operations, they shall be resubmitted to the National Office without revision.

F. If it is determined to be in the best interest of the Chapter Membership, the Chapter President may waive upon a two-thirds affirmative vote of the total Chapter Executive Board any provision in the following Paragraphs of the By-Laws. Chapter Executive Board members entitled to vote are the Elected Officers and the actively serving Chapter Committee Chairpersons.

Waivers may be made effective only during the Program Year that the President holds office.

Any provision of the following Articles may be waived pursuant to this Paragraph F:

Article I - Paragraph B -Address of Chapter.

Article IV - Paragraph B - The provision placing a 2-year limit on Chapter Officers holding the same position.

Article V - Paragraph B - The provision establishing the times for Chapter Executive Board Meetings.

ARTICLE II - CHAPTER OFFICERS

 A. Chapter Officers consist of the following positions:

- President

- Senior Vice President and President Elect (Senior VP / PE)

- Vice President Communications and Website

- Vice President Membership

- Vice President Programs and Education

- Secretary

- Treasurer

B. Chapter Committee Chairpersons are either selected by the Vice Presidents to which they will report and are subject to approval by the President, or the President may also directly select Chapter Committee Chairpersons reporting directly to him/her subject to approval of a majority of the Chapter Executive Board. Those individuals assuming Chapter Committee Chairperson positions are responsible for the oversight of these following committees:

Attendance Audit Awards
By-Laws Certification Employment
Fellows Golf Outing Hospitality & Outreach
NES/WEC Newsletter Nominations & Elections
Scholarship

At the discretion of the Chapter President, Chapter Committee Chairperson positions (and the Committees that they oversee) may be added, changed, combined, reassigned, or eliminated if not required for the current year operating plan.

C. The duties of the Chapter Officers and Chapter Committee Chairpersons are as stated in the CG. If there is no description in Section B of the CG for the Chapter Committee Chairperson, the instructions for "Other/Special Committees" shall be followed.

ARTICLE III - ELECTION OFFICERS

A. The Chairman and Committee for Nominations and Elections shall be responsible for filling the slate of officers and ensuring that elections are completed by the date established by the CG. The Senior Vice-President / President Elect may also be a member of this committee should that officer wish to serve in this capacity.

B. Nominations of Chapter Officers shall be in accordance with the CG. They shall be nominated from the general Chapter Membership and elected with an affirmative secret plurality vote of either the current chapter members attending the meeting during which the election takes place or the Chapter Election designated election voting period via members voting through an electronic ballot distributed to the general Chapter Membership, whichever election method is chosen by that Chapter Year’s Executive Board for that Chapter Election year.

C . Nominations shall be announced as open by no later than the March membership meeting. The announcement shall be made at a membership meeting or through other communication means including in a Chapter newsletter, website, or mass mailing to the general Chapter Membership.

D. Nominated candidates shall be announced at the membership meeting held in April. The Nominations & Election Committee will assure that at least one candidate is nominated for each office. Further nominations may be requested from the floor at the same meeting or through email notifications to the general Chapter Membership if electronic balloting is used. Nominations are considered closed after this meeting or by a designated deadline for elections that will be conducted electronically as conveyed via an email to the general Chapter Membership.

Notwithstanding Article III – Paragraph B, if, after the close of nominations, there are unopposed candidates for specific offices, the unopposed candidates may be declared elected to their respective offices; and, the names of the unopposed candidates would then not appear on the ballot for election of officers.

E. Election of Officers, whether opposed or unopposed, shall be held in the month of May each year. In accordance with Paragraph B above, printed ballots shall be provided to the members with the names of all candidates - except for unopposed candidates already declared elected per Paragraph D above – that are duly nominated at the April meeting of the Chapter. There shall be no provision for write-in Candidates. Votes shall be counted by the Chairman of the Nominations & Elections Committee and at least one other member of the Committee. Upon completion of the count, the Chairman of the Nominations & Elections Committee will introduce the elected Officers at the May meeting if conducted in person or otherwise at the last meeting of the program year, including those officers declared elected previously by virtue of being unopposed.

F. Elected officers shall be installed at the last meeting of the program year.

G. Chapter Officers may be removed from office for cause in accordance with the National By-Laws.

H. The President, upon learning of the resignation of an elected Officer, shall immediately notify the Nominations and Elections Chairperson and direct that the Nominations Committee shall immediately start a search for one or more replacement candidates.

The next regularly published Chapter Newsletter, the Chapter Website, or a mass email to the general Chapter Membership will announce that an Officer vacancy has occurred, and that nominations will be made for a replacement at the next Chapter meeting.

If, after the close of nominations, a candidate for the vacant office is unopposed, the unopposed candidate shall be declared elected.

If there is more than one candidate nominated to fill the vacant office, an election shall be held in the month following the nominations. Printed ballots shall be provided to the members with the names of the candidates. There shall be no provision for write-in candidates. Votes shall be counted by the Chairman of the Nominations & Elections Committee and at least one other member of the Committee. Upon completion of the count, the Chairman of the Nominations & Elections Committee will introduce the elected Officer.

Officers elected to fill a vacancy will be installed immediately following election.

Officers elected to fill a vacancy shall complete the term of office left open by resignation or otherwise and shall be subject to the term limits set forth in Article IV.

If a vacancy occurs while the Chapter is not holding regular monthly meetings, the President may appoint a Chapter Member to fill the vacancy until a replacement can be elected by the Chapter. The appointed member may be considered for nomination at the nominations meeting of the Chapter.

ARTICLE IV  - TERM OF OFFICE

A. Except for the Chapter Senior Vice President / President Elect, who automatically becomes President in accordance with the CG in his/her second year of office by virtue of initial election as Senior VP / PE, Chapter Officers shall be elected for one program year. If the Chapter President is at any time unable to serve or continue in office, the Senior Vice-President / President Elect shall become President and a special election shall be held to elect a replacement Senior Vice­ President/President Elect. If the Senior Vice-President / President Elect is unable to serve or continue in office, a special election shall be held to elect a replacement.

During temporary interruption of services by the President, or pending a special election for a replacement, the order of succession to the office of President shall be as follows:

- Senior Vice President and President Elect Vice President Membership

- Vice President Programs and Education

- Vice President Website and Communications

- Secretary

- Treasurer

B. Except where otherwise approved by the Chapter President and a special election, Chapter Officers shall not hold the same position for more than 2 consecutive program years.

ARTICLE V - CHAPTER EXECUTIVE BOARD

A. The elected Chapter Officers and the appointed Chapter Committee Chairpersons shall be called the Chapter Executive Board. The authority, duties, and responsibilities are stated in A- 01 of the CG.

B. The Chapter Executive Board shall normally convene one week prior to the regularly scheduled chapter meeting, except for the months of July and August, to conduct the business of the Chapter for the program year. The meetings in July and August shall be scheduled by the President and shall be for the purpose of organizing and planning the new program year. The President may unilaterally cancel or reschedule any Chapter Executive Board meeting by giving 7 days’ advance notice to all members of the Chapter Executive Board.

C. The Chapter President shall confirm the meeting dates and provide each member of the Chapter Executive Board with an Agenda for the meeting.

D. Each Chapter Executive Board member is responsible for reporting on the activities in their area of responsibility.

ARTICLE VI - CHAPTER MEETINGS

A. The Chapter shall have regularly scheduled membership meetings. The Chapter shall meet during the months of September through June of the program year, except that, at the discretion of the President, a meeting may not be held during the month that the Chapter sponsors a one day (or longer) Educational Seminar.

B. It has been the policy of the Space Coast Chapter to meet on the 2nd Wednesday of each month.

The time, day and place of Chapter Membership meetings shall be determined each year by the Chapter Executive Board and published in the September newsletter, on the Chapter Website, or via email to general Chapter Membership.

ARTICLE VII – CONTRACT MANAGEMENT CODE OF ETHICS & CONFLICT OF INTEREST ANNUAL OBLIGATION

A. The Chapter strongly supports integrity and ethics in the government contracting profession. Therefore, the chapter will start each program year off with a reminder to its members of the importance of complying with the Contract Management Code of Ethics, and NCMA Policy 5-11 Conflict of Interest (COI), by either identifying to members where they can be found on the NCMA website or providing copies at the beginning of the program year.

At the beginning of the program year all chapter officers, directors, and committee chairs shall be provided a written copy of the Code of Ethics and Conflict of Interest policy.  In accordance with the COI policy, Chapter officers, directors and committee chairs are required to sign and date the COI policy indicating they have read and understand the policy and agree to comply with it.  These signed copies will be retained by the chapter secretary along with the chapter By-Laws in accordance with NCMA’s records retention policy.

ARTICLE VIII - CHAPTER ASSETS

A. The Chapter Treasurer shall have the finances of the Chapter audited each year by the Auditor appointed by the President. Within 30 days after receiving the last bank statement for the program year, the Treasurer shall provide to the Auditor all books and records including receipts, canceled checks, deposit slips, financial reports, bank statements, and tax returns for the program year to be audited.

The Auditor shall complete the audit and submit a report to the Chapter Executive Board at the first Chapter Executive Board meeting in September.

B. Chapters shall manage their assets by formulating an estimate of program year expenditures and income. Prior year income and expenditures may be used as a guide in estimating income and expenditures for the current year. If planned expenditures exceed (or are projected to exceed) planned income, the Chapter Executive Board meeting minutes shall so reflect, and the Chapter Executive Board shall vote signifying approval with a simple majority of the members attending the Chapter Executive Board meeting when the vote is taken. The Chapter general Chapter Membership shall be duly informed at the next regular Chapter monthly meeting and shall also vote signifying their approval with a simple majority of those members in attendance.

C. Each Chapter Officer and Chapter Committee Chairperson shall submit a budget to the Chapter Treasurer at the beginning of the program year. The budget shall consist of intended program year expenditures and estimated income from planned Chapter activities for their area of responsibility.

D. The Chapter Treasurer shall collate the various budgets and submit the program year Chapter budget to be voted on and approved by the Chapter Executive Board at the beginning of the Chapter Program Year.