National Council on Family Relations
Family Policy Section Bylaws - January 2001

Article I - Name
The Family Policy Section shall be one of the designated sections of the National Council on Family Relations. The Family Policy Section shall exist as long as 5% of the membership of NCFR is affiliated with this section.

Article II - Purpose

Section 1. The primary purpose of the Family Policy Section is to promote effective social action, formulate statements of the organization’s position on important policy matters, and plan annual meeting sessions.

Article III - Membership

Section 1. Any person who is a member of the National Council on Family Relations shall be eligible for membership in the Family Policy Section.

Section 2. Family Policy Section dues shall be determined by the Executive Committee of the Section. Other fees shall be recommended by the Executive Committee of the Section to the membership of the Family Policy Section. Membership of the Family Policy Section shall vote on such recommendations at the Annual Meeting.

Section 3. Monies of the Family Policy Section shall be administered and approved by the Section’s Executive Committee or by the Family Policy Section Chairperson.

Section 4. Payment of membership dues shall be made annually, with memberships renewable upon expiration. Dues shall be a paid through the National office of the NCFR.

Section 5. A member whose dues remain unpaid shall be dropped from membership in accordance with the NCFR policies.

Article IV - Officers

Section 1. The Officers of the Family Policy Section shall be the following: (1) Chairperson (serving a one-year term), prior to which he/she had served as Vice-Chairperson and after which he/she becomes the Past Chairperson (for a total of three years); (2) Vice-Chairperson (serving a one-year term, after which he/she succeeds the Chairperson); (3) Past Chairperson (serving a one year term after he/she has served as Chairperson); (4) Secretary-Treasurer (serving a two-year term but not concurrently with the Student/New Professional); and (5) Student-New Professional (serving a two-year term but not concurrently with the Secretary-Treasurer).

Section 2. The Vice-Chairperson shall be elected each year. The Student/New Professional shall be elected in odd-numbered years. The Secretary-Treasurer shall be elected in even numbered years.

Section 3. The elected officers shall take office at the close of the annual meeting. If for any reason an annual meeting is not held, they will take office September 1 st.

Section 4. Officers shall not be elected to the same office for two consecutive terms.

Section 5. In case of vacancies in any office, the Executive Committee of the Family Policy Section shall be empowered to fill the vacancies.

Article V - Duties of the Officers

Section 1. The Chairperson of the Family Policy Section shall preside at the Section meeting at the Annual Meeting of the NCFR and serve as the Section representative on appropriate NCFR boards and committees. He or she shall be Chairperson of the Executive Committee for the Section; shall notify the National Office when to disburse Section funds; create ad hoc committees; create new Task Forces and dissolve existing Task Forces as needed; replace Chairpersons of Task Forces as needed; be responsible for the Section newsletter and/or mailings.

Section 2. In the event of the Chairperson’s absence, incapacitation, resignation, or death, his or her duties shall be assumed by the Vice-Chairperson.

Section 3. The Secretary-Treasurer shall keep the minutes of the meetings of the Family Policy Section. The Secretary-Treasurer shall consult with the Executive Officer of the National Council on Family Relations on matters concerning the monies of the council. The Secretary-Treasurer shall semi-annually update a list of the names and addresses of all members, which may be used as a mailing list, and keep the Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, Past-Chairperson, and Student/New Professional informed of any significant changes in membership patterns. The Secretary-Treasurer shall serve as Chair of the Nominating Committee for Section elections and provide names of nominees to the Executive Officer of NCFR for elections.

Section 4. The immediate Past-Chairperson shall continue to serve as a member of the Executive Committee for a one-year term. This person shall also be responsible for managing the reviews of submitted proposals to the Section for the annual conference. Recommendations from the reviews are to be submitted to the Chairperson for disposition at the meeting of the annual program committee for NCFR.

Section 5. The Student/New Professional shall coordinate the call for nominees and applications for the Student Internship Award and oversee the selection process. The Selection Committee shall consist of three members from the section’s Executive Committee.

Article VI - Meetings

Section 1. The Family Policy Section shall hold its annual business meeting during the National Council on Family Relations annual meeting.

Section 2. The Executive Committee of the section shall meet during the annual meeting. The Executive Committee shall meet at other times as the Chairperson deems necessary.

Article VII - Executive Committee

Section 1. The Executive Committee shall consist of the following; Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, Secretary-Treasurer, Student/New Professional, and Immediate Past-Chairperson. The terms of membership on the Executive Committee shall be for the periods stated in Article IV.

Section 2. The Executive Committee shall have the responsibility for implementing policies and programs established by the membership of the Family Policy Section. The Executive Committee shall act for the membership when the membership is not in session.

Article VIII - Task Forces

Section 1. Task Forces concerned with issues and need for social action in areas related to marriage and the family shall be formed and Chairpersons for these Task Forces appointed by the Section Chairperson. In addition, Task Forces may be formed by petition to the Chairperson of at least 15 members of the Family Policy Section.

Section 2. Each Task Force Chairperson shall submit, in writing, all proposed goals for the specific Task Force and all specific requests for expenditures included in the approved budget to the Chairperson of the Family Policy Section for approval before requesting the Executive Officer of the National Council on Family Relations to expend such funds. When such funds are approved, the Section Chairperson or the Secretary-Treasurer of the Family Policy Section shall notify the Executive Officer of the NCFR.

Section 3. Task Forces within the Family Policy Section may present pre-conference workshops at the annual NCFR meeting according to guidelines established by the Executive Committee of the NCFR, after the plans have been approved by the Section’s Executive Committee. Additional workshops may be included during the regular sessions of the sections at the annual meeting.

Section 4. A Task Force Chairperson shall be appointed by the Family Policy Section Chairperson for a two-year term and may be re-appointed for an additional one-year term.

Section 5. The Family Policy Section Executive Committee may terminate a Task Force upon completion of the established goals for the specific Task Force, when there is no further need for social action as related to a specific Task Force, or if there is no further interest expressed by the Family Policy Section members for a specific Task Force.

Article IX - Committees

Section 1. The Secretary-Treasurer shall chair the Section’s nominating committee every election year. It shall consist of five persons and include the Secretary-Treasurer, the Student/New Professional, and three others who are members of the Family Policy Section. The function of the nomination committee shall be to prepare the slate and other pertinent information for all officers. This information shall be received by the Executive Officer of NCFR no later than December 1 st of election years.

Section 2. The Family Policy Section shall have a representative to the annual meeting program committee who shall serve as the annual meeting program Chairperson. The Section Chairperson shall serve as program Chairperson or may appoint a member of the Section to serve in this capacity.

Section 3. The Family Policy Section shall have a representative to the Public Policy Committee of the NCFR. The Section Chairperson shall serve as the Section representative to the Public Policy Committee. The Section shall request a second representative to this Committee, that person being the Past-Chairperson.

Article X - Voting

Section 1. Each member of the Family Policy Section is entitled to one vote for the Section Officers. Elective officers of the Family Policy Section shall be elected by mail ballot by the members of that Section. A ballot shall be prepared in the NCFR office and mailed to the membership no later than April 1 st of election years, and in accordance with voting procedures as delineated by the Constitution of the National Council of Family Relations.

Article XI - Social Action

Section 1. Members of the Family Policy Section and the various Task Forces may prepare and submit position papers or statements to the Executive Committee of the Section for subsequent submission to the Board of the National Council on Family relations. The NCFR Board shall take action on any submission supported by signatures of at least twenty-five NCFR members, and shall act upon such proposals in accordance with the Constitution of the NCFR.

Section 2. In accordance with the Constitution of the NCFR, a proposal for urgent action in a position statement may be brought to the immediate attention of the NCFR Board by the Chairperson of the Family Policy Section when at least twenty-five members of the NCFR request it. The Board shall vote on the statement within two weeks; a three-fifths vote of the entire Board shall be required for approval. Such statements which are approved shall be promptly and widely disseminated at the National Office and published in the next NCFR Newsletter.

Article XII - Amendments

Section 1. Amendments to the Constitution of the Family Policy Section may be proposed by the Executive Committee, or by a petition of 5% of the members of the Section.

Section 2. Amendments to the Constitution of the Family Policy Section shall become effective if accepted by a three-fifths vote of the members of the Family Policy Section voting by mail.

Article XIII - Dissolution

Section 1. In the event that the membership of the Family Policy Section drops below five percent, the Section shall be dissolved and the funds shall revert to the NCFR treasury.

Article XIV
The rules contained in Robert’s Rules of Order, Revised, shall govern this Section in all parliamentary procedures in which they are applicable and in which they are not inconsistent with these by-laws.

According to the Constitution of the National Council on Family Relations, these by-laws must be confirmed by the Board of the NCFR.