The Hanover Institute - Constitution: The Alumni Association

The Hanover Institute
Non-Profit Organization of Dartmouth Alumni, by Dartmouth Alumni and for Dartmouth Alumni

CONSTITUTION
of the
ASSOCIATION OF ALUMNI of DARTMOUTH COLLEGE
(back to Alumni Association page)

ARTICLE I.
NAME

This Association shall be called THE ASSOCIATION OF ALUMNI OF DARTMOUTH COLLEGE.

ARTICLE II
MEMBERSHIP

1. Every person who has ever matriculated as a full-time student in pursuit of a Dartmouth degree at the undergraduate College or at the Medical School, the Thayer School of Engineering or the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration shall become a member for life on the normal Commencement date for his or her class.

2. Every other person who has enrolled as a Dartmouth student in pursuit of a Bachelor's, Master's, or Doctorate degree shall become a voting member of the Association for life on the date such degree is received.

3. Any other person shall be an honorary member of the Association if he or she has received an honorary degree from Dartmouth College, been officially adopted by a Dartmouth class, or been voted honorary membership at an annual meeting of the Association. Such an honorary member shall be a non-voting member of the Association and shall not be eligible to serve as an alumni trustee.

ARTICLE III.
MEETINGS

1. The annual meeting shall be held at the College on the Tuesday following Commencement Day unless otherwise scheduled by the executive committee of the Association.

2. Special meetings of the Association may be called by the executive committee of the Association, with notice of any such special meeting to be given to the voting members of the Association in the Alumni Magazine or by such other means as the executive committee shall deem appropriate.

ARTICLE IV.
OFFICERS

1. The officers of the Association shall be a president, two vice-presidents, secretary-treasurer, and an executive committee of seven members, all to be elected at each annual meeting upon the nomination of a committee on nominations appointed by the president.

2. The president, or in the president's absence, the senior vice-president present, shall preside at each meeting, shall appoint committees as herein provided, and shall, in the name of the Association, receive its guests.

3. The executive committee shall:
(i) have charge of the general interests of the Association, including the raising and expending of money to meet current expenses,
(ii) appoint a presiding officer in the absence of the president and vice-presidents, and a secretary pro tem, in the absence of the secretary,
(iii) nominate all candidates for honorary membership,
(iv) at its discretion secure an orator to address the Association at any annual meeting,
(v) adopt and maintain written nomination guidelines for the alumni trustee nomination process,
(vi) act as a board of final decision upon all questions arising in relation to the votes cast for an alumni trustee, and
(vii) fill all vacancies in offices of the Association, except that in case of a vacancy in the presidency, the senior vice-president shall succeed to that position.

4. A balloting committee of the Association shall be established in each year in which balloting among the voting members of the Association for the nomination of a candidate for trustee of the College is to occur. Such balloting committee shall consist of the President of the Association, who shall serve as Chair of the Committee, and three other members appointed by the President from among the officers and executive committee of the Association. In any such year, the executive committee of the Association shall also appoint for the duration of the balloting process a Secretary pro tem of the Association who will also serve as Executive Secretary of the Association.

5. The secretary shall keep all records and attend to the correspondence of the Association. Any member of this Association shall be entitled to vote for the nomination of any trustee or the election of any Councilor. The balloting committee shall oversee the opening, counting and recording of all votes, and the secretary shall publish the result of the balloting and certify the record in respect to trustees to the Board of Trustees before their meeting at Commencement.

ARTICLE V.
NOMINATION OF ALUMNI TRUSTEES

1. Alumni trustees shall serve for a term of five years from the first Monday following Commencement, except that vacancies occurring within such term shall be filled for the balance of the term only.

2. Alumni trustees shall normally serve for no more than two consecutive full terms of five years each and shall in no event serve more than fifteen years. The Board of Trustees may, without further alumni action, reelect for a second term a trustee originally nominated by the alumni and in exceptional circumstances extend such trustee's service one year or more beyond ten years.

3. A vacancy shall exist in an alumni trustee seat on the Board of Trustees on the expiration of the final term of service of an alumni trustee nominated by the alumni. The Council of the Alumni of Dartmouth College shall upon notification from the Board of Trustees that a vacancy will arise on the Monday after the next following Commencement in a trustee seat for which alumni nominate, select three (3) candidates for nomination for such vacancy. The Nominating Committee of the Council shall give advance notice to the alumni, by publication in the Alumni Magazine or other form of written notice approved by the executive committee of the Association, that the Council will be selecting three candidates for each such position. Any alumnus eligible to vote may propose a name of an eligible alumnus for consideration for selection as a candidate by the Council of the Alumni by submitting the name of the alumnus in writing to the Nominating Committee of the Council at least thirty (30) days prior to the meeting of the Council at which such selection will be considered. Members of the Council may also submit names of possible candidates to the Council of the Alumni at its meeting.

4. The secretary of the Association shall arrange for the prompt notification of the alumni, by publication in the Alumni Magazine or other form of written notice approved by the balloting committee of the Association, of the names of the three persons selected by the Council of the Alumni as candidates for an alumni trustee position. Such notice shall include a brief statement of the petition procedure set forth in paragraph 5 below.

5. Within two (2) months after the mailing of such notice, any five hundred (500) members qualified to vote may, pursuant to procedures set forth in nomination guidelines of the Association, file with the secretary of the Association a petition over their own signatures selecting an eligible member of the Association as a candidate for nomination as alumni trustee.

6. Said secretary shall as soon as practicable after expiry of the period for petition send to each alumnus eligible to vote an official ballot and related materials containing the names of the three alumni nominated by the Council for the office of trustee and the name or names of candidates nominated by petition as aforesaid, and such other information as shall be required by the nomination guidelines and the balloting committee. No vote by proxy shall be allowed in voting for alumni trustees, and the polls shall close on the April 7th before Commencement unless another date is specified by the balloting committee of this Association.

7. Each eligible voter may cast votes for one or more candidates on the ballot, and the candidate receiving the most total votes pursuant to the balloting process shall be the nominee of the alumni for the office of trustee.

8. Should two or more vacancies exist in alumni trusteeships at the same time, the process for filling one vacancy shall be followed except that (i) a single balloting contest involving all candidates selected by the Council and any petition candidates shall be held to nominate for all such vacancies, (ii) the total number of candidates selected by the Council for such contest shall be at least two, but not more than three, for each vacancy to be filled, and (iii) the nominees of the alumni shall be the two or more persons (being the number of vacancies to be filled) who receive the highest number of total votes among all the candidates on the ballot.

9. If vacancies occur in the office of alumni trustee otherwise than by the expiration of a stated term, the Council shall be forthwith informed, and are empowered to make nomination for the vacancy or vacancies for the unexpired term or terms at any regular meeting of the Council or any special meeting thereof called by a majority of the executive committee of the Council.

10. All ballots shall be preserved by the secretary and delivered by the secretary to the executive committee for such disposition as they shall see fit to make. The secretary shall in no case communicate the state of the ballot to any person before its announcement to the trustees, and shall refer to the balloting committee all matters respecting votes of doubtful validity.

ARTICLE VI.
ORDER OF BUSINESS

The order of business at the annual meeting shall be:

1.Secretary's minutes.
2.Remarks by the president.
3.Appointment by the president of the regular committees.
4.Treasurer's report and any matter of business from the executive committee.
5.Communications, if any, from the President or Board of Trustees of the College.
6.Election of honorary members.
7.Report of the committee on nominations, and reports of special committees.
8.Miscellaneous business.

ARTICLE VII.
AMENDMENT

The executive committee or any one percent of the voting members of the Association may, in accordance with a schedule and procedures adopted by the executive committee, file with the Secretary a proposed amendment to this constitution. The Secretary shall, pursuant to procedures adopted by the balloting committee, send to each voting member of the Association, by mail or other appropriate means, an official ballot and related material containing the proposed amendment and such other information as shall be required by the balloting committee. The proposed amendment shall be adopted if it is approved by a two-thirds vote of all Association members who cast votes.