Bylaws for the Region V Professional Development Council (PDC)
Article I
NAME
1.1 NAME: The name of this Council shall be the Region Five
Professional Development Council (PDC), herein referred to as the Council.
Article
II
PURPOSE
2.1 PURPOSE: The purpose of this Council shall be to increase the
capacity of
2.2 SCOPE OF AUTHORITY: The Council is a voluntary, advisory body constituted to
employ a regionally-driven, participatory approach to needs assessment,
planning and implementation of the professional development system for adult,
vocational, and community education instructors in Region Five.
Article
III
COUNCIL DUTIES AND
RESPONSIBILITIES
3.1 RESPONSIBILITY: The Council shall strengthen regional capacity to identify
and meet adult, vocational, and community educators' professional development
needs by establishing a regional planning system made up of key stakeholders,
including business and community representatives in the planning process, and
uses and cultivates training resources within the region itself, as well as those
resources available via inter-regional exchange.
Article
IV
COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION
4.1 CATEGORIES:
Participation
in the Council shall be empowered through two bodies:
The Region Five PDC: a decision making board consisting of no more than
20 members representing diverse categories of stakeholders as outlined in 5.2
below.
Region Five PDC Associate
Members: an advisory group to the PDC consisting of no more than 20
members, or a number equivalent to the number of PDC members, whichever is smaller,
representing any groups determined to be under-represented by the current PDC.
Citizen volunteers: an
advisory category that is open to all interested citizens and organizations who
wish to support this effort through their participation in Council activities.
Article V
COUNCIL COMPOSITION
5.1 POWERS AND DUTIES: All powers and responsibilities of the Council are vested therein.
5.2 MEMBERSHIP: The Council shall consist of no more than 20 members
representing diverse categories of stakeholders. Efforts will be made to
choose members who represent more than one category. Categories of
stakeholder groups include, but are not limited to: adult education
teachers and administrators; vocational education teachers and
administrators, community education teachers and administrators, Area Centers
for Educational Enhancement; Indian tribes; community based organizations (literacy
groups); libraries; Workforce Development Boards; migrant communities; businesses;
community colleges; Departments of Corrections; universities; Adult Basic
Education programs; GED programs; Adult Secondary programs; Family Literacy programs;
ESOL programs; and Vocational Education programs. Effort will be made to
include all levels of staff from deans/directors to teachers across programs,
including mid-level staff/coordinators and staff development professionals.
5.3 NOMINATION OF MEMBERS: The members of the Council shall be as representative as
possible of the demographics of the region at large. To help achieve such
balanced representation, nominations for members shall be made as follows:
a) Initial nominations
will be solicited by a blanket canvas of stakeholder groups asking individuals
to indicate their interest and availability in participating with the Council
and to indicate how they can provide representation for their particular
stakeholder group(s).
b) A Nominations
Committee, appointed by the Chairperson or named by the entire Council, will
work to maintain and expand the diversity of the Council members by selecting
members who can represent more than one stakeholder group.
5.4 TERM OF OFFICE: Council members shall serve two-year terms. All
Council members may serve succeeding terms.
5.5 RESIGNATION: Any Council member may resign at any time by giving
written notice to the Chair. Any such resignation shall take effect at
the time specified in the notice, or if no time is specified, upon acceptance
of the resignation by the Chair.
5.6 REPLACEMENT: Upon written notice of resignation, a Council member will
abdicate his or her seat on the Council, effective with the next Council
meeting. Recommendations to fill a permanent vacancy shall be presented
by the Nominations Committee within four weeks of notification to the Chair.
5.7 REMOVAL: Any Council member may be removed by two-thirds vote of the
Council or upon a finding by the Nominations Committee that he or she has
failed to comply with the attendance requirements and subsequently does not
indicate an interest in continuing as a Council member.
Article
VI
COUNCIL OFFICERS
6.1 COUNCIL
CHAIRPERSON AND CO-CHAIRPERSON: The Nominating Committee will prepare a slate of candidates
for the position of Council Chairperson and Co-Chairperson.
6.2 QUALIFICATIONS: Those Council
members selected as candidates must be regular members of the Council in good
standing and have been on the Council for at least one year. DOE advisors and Technical Support Assistants
are not eligible.
6.3 ELECTION: Members of the
Council, by simple majority, will elect a Chairperson and Co-Chairperson from
the slate prepared by the Nominating Committee at the last meeting scheduled
prior to July first. The election will
take place at a regularly scheduled meeting of the Council at which a quorum is
established. (This may be an in-person
or phone conference meeting.)
6.4 TERM OF
OFFICE: The Chairperson and Co-Chairperson will serve a term of one
year and may be re-elected for up to three terms.
6.5 DUTIES:
CHAIRPERSON: The duties of the Chairperson will be to
establish meeting agendas, schedule meetings, conduct meetings, name Council
members to standing committees, coordinate the Council’s efforts with DOE and
the Technical Support Assistants, and generally facilitate the operations of
the Council.
6.6 DUTIES: CO-CHAIRPERSON: The duties of the CO-Chairperson will be
to assist the Chairperson as directed and to assume the duties of the
Chairperson when that officer is unavailable or unable to carry out the duties
assigned to that office.
6.7 REMOVAL: The
Chairperson and Co-Chairperson may be removed from office by
a
two-thirds vote of the Council at a regularly scheduled meeting at which a quorum
is
evident. The meeting may be either
in-person or in the form of a phone
conference. In the event the officer in question does not
call a meeting, twelve
members of the
council may call a meeting by contacting a DOE advisor.
6.8 VACANCIES: In the event the
Chairperson resigns from the Council, the Co-
Chairperson will assume the duties of that office for the
remainder of the term. The
Nominating Committee will prepare a
slate of officers for Co-Chairperson and that
election will
be held as soon as possible after the Chairperson resigns.
6.9 EXECUTIVE
COMMITTEE: An Executive Committee may
be appointed by the
Chairperson to meet
the special needs of the Council as necessary. The Executive
Committee will be composed of the
Council Chairperson, one DOE advisor, one
Technical Support Assistant,
and two other Council members in good standing
appointed by
the Chairperson. The Executive Committee
will meet at the discretion
of the
Chairperson during that Chairperson’s term of office.
Article
VII
COUNCIL MEETINGS
7.1 FREQUENCY: The Council shall meet six times per year at designated
sites or through conference calls. These meetings will be scheduled by
the Chair in consultation with a DOE advisor.
7.2 QUORUM: A quorum shall consist of a majority of the Council
members and will include at least one officer. Proxy representatives of
Council members, designated in writing to attend Council meetings on their
behalf, shall be included in the count of Council members present to establish
a quorum.
7.3 VOTING: Every member of the Council in good standing shall have
one vote upon every motion properly submitted to vote at any meeting of the
Council, in accordance with the provisions of Robert's Rules of Order, Newly
Revised. Proxy representatives of Council members, designated to
attend Council meetings on their behalf, may cast votes for absent Council
members.
7.4 MINUTES: Minutes shall be recorded at each meeting and approved by a
majority vote at the next regularly scheduled meeting. A TSI staff person will be assigned by the
Chairperson to record and disseminate minutes.
7.5 PARLIAMENTARY AUTHORITY: The rules contained in the current edition of Robert's
Rules of Order, Newly Revised shall govern the Council in all cases in
which they are applicable and in which they are not inconsistent with these
bylaws and any special rules of order the Council may adopt.
7.6 ATTENDANCE: A member of the Council who is absent more than two
regularly scheduled meetings within any 12 month period, without requesting
excusal or providing a proxy representative is deemed to have resigned, and the
Council shall immediately declare the seat vacant unless the Council, by a
majority, votes to retain that member.
Article
VIII
COMMITTEES
8.1 STANDING COMMITTEES: Standing Committees of the Council will be composed of
Council Members, Associate Members, and Citizen Volunteers as appointed or
determined by the Council Chair. The Council Chair shall designate one of
those appointees to each committee to serve as Committee Chair. These
standing committees shall include the following:
a) Bylaws
b) Nominations
8.2 OTHER COMMITTEES: The Council Chairperson may appoint special committees
from time to time to meet the needs of the Council.
Article
IX
COUNCIL SUPPORT
9.1
INTENT: The Council members, Associate members, and Citizen volunteers shall be constituted with volunteers from
stakeholder groups involved with adult education and the professional
development of adult educators. It is the intent of this Council that
these volunteers, and the existing cadre of regional resources that they
mobilize, will carry out the needs assessment, planning, and training delivery
duties of Council activities. The Council members shall collaborate with
volunteers from stakeholders groups as appropriate.
9.2
TECHNICAL
SUPPORT INSTITUTES: One staff member from one or more Technical
Support Institutes will be appointed by the Council to coordinate and implement
the Council directives and initiatives.
Article X
AMENDMENTS
10.1 PROCEDURE: These bylaws may be amended by a two-thirds affirmative
vote of the full Council.
Article
XI
COMPENSATION
11.1 Council
members shall receive no remuneration for service.
Article
XII
FISCAL YEAR
12.1: The
fiscal year of the Council shall be from July 1 through June 30.