Bylaws of the Economics Department Leaders Board University of Missouri

Approved November 16, 2012
Revised April 25, 2014
Revised October 31, 2014

Article I: Name

This organization shall be known as the Economics Department Leaders Board.

Article II: Purposes

The purpose of the Board is to support the teaching and research mission of the Economics Department at the University of Missouri. The objectives include, but are not limited to:

1. Assisting the Chair, faculty and students of the Department in strengthening the educational and research missions of the Department;
2. Supporting the Department's fundraising efforts;
3. Providing leadership in promoting the Department, its faculty and students, to alumni, University administration and the public.

Article III: Membership

The Board shall consist of a minimum of ten to a maximum of fifteen voting members, each of whom will serve renewable three-year terms on the academic calendar except that one-third of the inaugural members shall serve two-year terms.  Attempts shall be made to represent a broad cross-section of the alumni age distribution on the Board. The Department Chair shall be a nonvoting member of the Board. There shall be one-three other nonvoting tenured faculty member(s) of the Board whose term(s) shall be from one to three years. Each year, the Board Chair and Vice Chair shall solicit names of potential new members from the Board and shall make a recommendation to the Board about the selection of such members.

Article IV: Duties of Members

Board members shall actively participate in and contribute to the success of activities as agreed to by a consensus of the Board. All Board members shall be expected to attend meetings and leverage their unique knowledge and experience on behalf of the Board’s work.

Article V: Officers

The officers of the Board shall be a Chair and a Vice Chair. Selection of officers shall be done at the spring meeting by majority vote of the Board from among Board members, with terms to begin the subsequent August. Officers shall serve two-year terms on the academic calendar. The Board Chair and Vice Chair shall work with the Department Chair to establish agendas for each meeting, to monitor the efforts of Board committees, and to be the primary representative of the Board at Department and Campus functions. The Vice Chair shall represent the Board when the Board Chair is unavailable.

Article VI: Meetings

The full Board shall meet semi-annually, in late fall (target date one of the first two Fridays in November) and late spring (target date Friday before the Black & Gold game). A quorum shall consist of 50% or more of Board members. Votes shall be decided by simple majority of those present and voting when a quorum is present. In the absence of consensus, the current edition of Robert’s Rules shall rule.

Article VII: Activities

All activities of the Board shall be for the overall benefit of the Economics Department of the University of Missouri and its students. Activities may be focused on matters of educational, informational, cultural, social, or financial importance as they relate to or affect the strategic direction of the Department, but shall be purposeful and shall be approved by a majority of those present and voting.

Article VIII: Opportunity Fund

100% annual calendar year participation in the Economics Leaders Board Opportunity Fund is a stated objective of the Board. The Department Chair or his/her designee at each Board meeting shall present a report on fund usage.

Article IX: Amendments

Amendments to these by-laws shall be proposed in writing, with written explanation of the reasons for such changes. The proposal should be distributed to all Board members at least one week before the meeting at which it will be presented and voted upon.