1. ARTICLE I - NAME

The name of this organization shall be the Black Data Processing Associates, Dallas Chapter (hereinafter referred to as the Association).

2. ARTICLE II - OBJECTIVE AND BUSINESS AREAS

2.1. SECTION 1 - OBJECTIVE

The objective of the Association is to accumulate a pool of information technology (IT) knowledge and business experience with the intention of utilizing these resources to strengthen the expertise of minority members of the information technology community; offer this expertise to those minorities evaluating information technology for future career/business potential; broaden the information technology knowledge of the minority community as a whole; and participate in all activities directly related thereto.

2.2. SECTION II – BUSINESS AREAS

The objective of the Association will be carried out through five (6) business areas:

2.2.1. Business Management

2.2.2. Membership Management

2.2.3. Finance

2.2.4. Member Services

2.2.5. Strategy & Planning

2.2.6. Education and Professional Development

3. ARTICLE III - EXECUTIVE BOARD

Shall consist of the President, Vice President of Business Management, and Vice President of Finance.

4. ARTICLE IV - MEMBERSHIP

4.1. SECTION 1 - FULL MEMBERSHIP

Shall be available to persons directly employed by or interested in the information technology industry, including, but not limited to; database management; computer programming and data communications. A Full Member shall be eligible to Vote and hold any Office.

4.2. SECTION 2 - OTHER MEMBERSHIPS

4.2.1. Honorary membership shall be granted at the discretion of the Executive Committee. An Honorary

4.2.2. Member shall be entitled to attend all functions of the Association. An Honorary Member shall have no voting privileges.

4.2.3. Student Membership shall be available to high school students and college students who are majoring in an Information Technology (IT) related field (i.e., Computer Science, Telecommunications, etc.) or have expressed an intention to enter the IT profession

4.2.4. A Student Member shall have no voting privileges.

4.3. SECTION 3 - DUES

4.3.1. Shall be paid by all Full and Student Members.

4.3.2. Shall be determined by the Executive Committee and approved by the voting membership.

4.3.3. Must be paid in one annual payment. Delinquency of dues by one (1) month shall result in the loss of voting privileges. Delinquency of dues by two months shall result in termination of membership.

4.3.4. Must be paid in full, to be eligible to run for office and to participate in the elections of Officers.

4.4. SECTION 4 - APPLICATIONS

4.4.1. Shall be made to the VP of Membership Management by submission of a completed official application form and the appropriate amount of Dues.

4.4.2. Shall be accepted for Full and Student Memberships.

4.4.3. Shall not be accepted from former members who have been terminated as a result of conduct deemed detrimental to the best interest of the Association.

4.4.4. Information provided on the application will not be made available without consent of the Executive Committee.

4.5. SECTION 5 - TERMINATION

Shall occur due to membership expiration, or for conduct deemed by the Executive Committee to be detrimental to the best interest of the Association.

5. ARTICLE V - NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS

5.1. SECTION 1 - ELIGIBILITY

5.1.1. All offices shall be restricted to full members.

5.1.2. All nominees for positions on the Executive Board must be Members of the Association for Six (6) Months and financially current through the Nominating, Elections and turnover processes. (ARTICLE IV - SECTION 4.4)

5.2. SECTION 2 - NOMINATIONS

5.2.1. Shall be accepted by the Nominations and Elections Committee from Full Members who are financially current. (ARTICLE IV - SECTION 4.4)

5.2.2. Shall be received in WRITING by the Nominations and Elections Committee no later than September Business Meeting.

5.2.3. Shall be approved for, one office per nominee.

5.2.4. Shall be presented to the voting membership no later than the September Business Meeting.

5.3. SECTION 3 - ELECTIONS

5.3.1. Shall be conducted and supervised by the Nominations and Elections Committee.

5.3.2. Shall conclude at least one (1) month prior to the beginning of fiscal year (ARTICLE VIII – SECTION 1) .

5.3.3. The Nominations and Elections Committee should distribute a request for an "Intent to Vote” correspondence to all eligible voting members at least one (1) month prior to the beginning of the election.

5.3.4. The voting membership shall include all individual who submit an "Intent to Vote” correspondence to the Nominations and Elections Committee.

5.3.5. The mechanism for balloting shall be determined by the Nominations and Elections Committee.

5.3.6. Special provisions will be made for absentee ballot by the Nominations and Elections Committee.

5.4. SECTION 4 - SPECIAL ELECTIONS

Shall be held in accordance with the requirements of Article V.

6. ARTICLE VI - OFFICERS

6.1. SECTION 1 - EXECUTIVE OFFICERS

6.1.1. Shall consist of the President, , Vice President of Business Management, Vice President of Finance, and Immediate Past President.

6.1.2. Shall be elected in accordance with the provisions of Article V.

6.2. SECTION 2 - TERM OF OFFICE

Shall be defined as two (2) years running concurrent with the fiscal year of the Association.

6.3. SECTION 3 - RESPONSIBILITIES OF OFFICERS

6.3.1. The President

6.3.1.1. Shall serve as the official spokesperson of the Association.

6.3.1.2. Shall preside over all meetings of the General Membership and Executive Committee.

6.3.1.3. Shall have responsibility of the Membership Management, Member Services, Finance and Strategy & Planning areas with the exception of the Business Management area, which is the responsibility of the Vice President of Business Management.

6.3.1.4. Shall be responsible for the seeing that the decisions of the general membership are carried out.

6.3.1.5. Shall be an ex officio member of all business areas.

6.3.1.6. Shall have the power to appoint specific business area positions with the approval of the Executive Board.

6.3.1.7. Shall have the power to remove business area members (i.e. VP of said business area) with the approval of the Executive Board.

6.3.2. The Vice President of Business Management

6.3.2.1. Shall serve as President in the absence of the President.

6.3.2.2. Shall fulfill the duties of Vice President of Finance in absence of Vice President of Finance..

6.3.2.3. Shall have responsibility of the Business Management and Finance business areas.

6.3.2.4. Shall participate in all major fund raising activities.

6.3.2.5. Shall declare when a quorum has been reached.

6.3.2.6. Shall read significant correspondence of the Association at all meetings as directed by the President or the Executive Committee.

6.3.3. The Vice President of Finance

6.3.3.1. Shall have the responsibility of maintaining complete financial records of all moneys received and disbursed by the Association in accordance with ARTICLE VIII SECTION 3.

6.3.3.2. Shall issue periodic financial reports in accordance with the provisions of ARTICLE VIII - Section 2.

6.3.3.3. Shall determine which members of the Association are financially current.

6.3.3.4. Shall actively oversee the collection of fees and dues.

6.3.3.5. Issue periodic financial reports in writing as required by the Executive Board

6.3.3.6. Disburse funds as directed by the Executive Board

6.3.3.7. Shall be responsible for the annual audit in accordance with Article VIII SECTION 6.

6.3.4. The Vice President of Membership Management shall manage all activities of the Membership Management Business Area.

6.3.5. 3.5 The Vice President of Members Services shall manage all activities of the Membership Services Business Area.

6.3.6. The Vice President of Strategy & Planning shall manage all activities of the Strategy & Planning Business Area.

6.3.7. The Vice President of Education and Professional Development shall manage all curriculum development, obtaining teachers for developmental training, career fairs and career development coaching.

6.3.8. The Immediate Past President

6.3.8.1. Shall serve as an Advisor to the President.

6.3.8.2. Provide continuity of BDPA strategies, objectives and goals

6.4. SECTION 4 - VACANCIES IN THE OFFICE OF:

6.4.1. The Presidency shall be filled by succession by the President-Elect.

6.4.2. The Vice President of Business Management shall be filled by special election.

6.4.3. All elected offices with more than half of the term remaining, shall be filled by a special election.

6.4.4. All elected offices except Vice President of Business Management with less than half the term remaining shall be filled by Presidential appointment with the approval of the Executive Committee.

6.5. SECTION 5 - RECALL OF OFFICERS

6.5.1. Shall be initiated by the presentation of a recall petition containing specific charges and the signatures of one-third of the financial members. Said petition shall be presented at a business meeting.

6.5.2. Shall occur when two-thirds of the voting membership has approved the recall petition.

6.5.3. Any Elected officer missing three (3) consecutive Business Meetings, (refer to ARTICLE VII - SECTION 5) shall be subject recall.

6.5.4. Any VP of Membership Management, VP of Member Services and VP of Strategy & Planning

missing three (3) Business Meetings, in their term of office shall be removed. Item 5.4 does not apply to the VP of Business Management and the VP of Finance. These two business areas are addressed in item 5.3 which pertains to elected officers

6.5.5. Item 5.3 and 5.4 will be enacted at the discretion of the Executive Committee

6.6. SECTION 6 - APPOINTED POSITIONS

6.6.1. Shall consist of the Parliamentarian and Sergeant-at-Arms, and the chairpersons of Ad-hoc Committees.

6.6.2. 6.2 Shall be appointed by the President for a term that shall not exceed that of the appointing President.

7. ARTICLE VII - MEETINGS

7.1. SECTION 1 - QUORUM

7.1.1. Shall consist of two-thirds of the voting membership.

7.1.2. Shall be binding once declared.

7.1.3. Shall be declared by the President.

7.1.4. Shall in the absence of the President, be declared by the Vice President of Business Management, or the President's delegate, respectively.

7.2. SECTION 2 - VOTING

7.2.1. Shall be limited to Financial Members in accordance with Article IV.

7.2.2. Shall not be accepted by proxy.

7.3. SECTION 3 - GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING

7.3.1. Shall be held at least ten (10) times during the fiscal year at a time and place determined by the Executive Committee.

7.3.2. Shall be official when a quorum is declared.

7.4. SECTION 4 - EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING

7.4.1. Shall be held at least ten (10) times during the fiscal year at a time and place determined by the President.

7.4.2. Shall be official when a majority of the Executive Committee Membership is present.

7.5. SECTION 5 - BUSINESS MEETINGS

7.5.1. Shall consist of: Executive Committee, General Membership, Business or Committee Meeting

8. ARTICLE VIII - FISCAL AND FINANCIAL POLICIES

8.1. SECTION 1 - FISCAL YEAR

8.1.1. Shall begin January 1st of each year and end December 31st of the same year.

8.2. SECTION 2 - FINANCIAL REPORTS

8.2.1. Shall be presented by the Vice President of Finance at each meeting of the Executive Committee.

8.2.2. Shall be presented by the Vice President of Finance on a quarterly basis to the general membership.

8.3. SECTION 3 - DISBURSEMENTS AND FINANCIAL COMMITMENTS

8.3.1. Exceeding $100.00 must be approved by the majority of the Executive Board if not in accordance with a previously approved budget.

8.3.2. Exceeding $500.00 must be approved by a majority of the voting members presented at a scheduled General Membership Meeting if not in accordance with a previously approved budget.

8.3.3. Must be issued by check with the signatures of two (2) of the following officers: President,

8.3.4. Vice President of Business Management or Vice President of Finance.

8.4. SECTION 4 - FUND RAISING EVENTS and APPROVAL

8.4.1. All FUND RAISING EVENTS must be sent to the VP of Finance for preliminary approval.

8.4.2. All FUND RAISING EVENTS must be presented to the Executive Committee by the VP of Finance for final approval.

8.4.3. An Ad-hoc Committee or PROJECT LEADER shall be appointed for each FUND RAISING EVENT and report to the VP of Finance.

8.5. SECTION 5 - LOANS

8.5.1. No Loans shall be granted by the Association.

8.5.2. No Officer of the Association shall enter into a Loan to be received in behalf of the Association without the authorization of two-thirds of the Members.

8.6. SECTION 6 - ANNUAL AUDIT of CHAPTER'S FINANCIAL REPORTS

8.6.1. Shall occur by the May general membership meeting for the previous fiscal year's financial reports.

8.6.2. Shall be forwarded to the National BDPA Vice President of Finance by June 30th of each year.

9. ARTICLE IX - COMMITTEES

9.1. SECTION 1 - EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

9.1.1. Shall consist of the Present and Immediate Past President, Vice President of Business Management, Vice President of Finance, Vice President of Membership Management, Vice President of Membership Services and Vice President of Strategy and Planning,

9.1.2. Shall provide direction and control of the association.

9.1.3. Shall propose and establish written procedural policy for the operation of the Association.

9.1.4. Shall evaluate any issues unresolved at the general membership meeting.

9.1.5. Shall report its recommendations in writing at the General Membership Meeting.

9.1.6. Shall have its written recommendations accepted as the policy of the Association, unless overridden by a majority of the voting membership.

9.2. SECTION 2 - AD-HOC COMMITTEES

9.2.1. Shall be established as deemed necessary by the President or a majority of the Executive Committee.

9.2.2. Shall have their chairperson appointed by the President in accordance with ARTICLE VI - SECTION 6.2.

10. ARTICLE X - AMENDMENT OF BY-LAWS

10.1. SECTION 1 - PROPOSALS FOR AMENDMENT

10.1.1. Shall be presented in writing at any General membership meeting.

10.1.2. Shall be approved as an agenda item by majority of the voting membership present at an official General membership meeting.

10.1.3. Shall be included on the published agenda of the next General membership meeting.

10.1.4. Shall be adopted as an amendment to the BY-LAWS by a two-thirds majority of the voting membership. Voting can take place via any mechanism deemed suitable by the Board.

10.1.5. Any bylaws amendment properly adopted by the BDPA Dallas Chapter shall not become binding and effective until such amendment has been approved by the Board of Directors of the National Black Data Processing Associates.

11. ARTICLE XI - AFFILIATIONS

11.1. This local chapter is affiliated with and governed by National Black Data Processing Associates and hereby accepts all tenants included in the constitution and bylaws of the National. This local chapter hereby acknowledges that all provisions herein are intended to be in conformance with the provisions of the constitution and bylaws of the National Black Data Processing Associates' constitution and bylaws shall govern.

12. ARTICLE XII - PARLIAMENTARY

12.1. The rules contained in the current edition of Robert's Rules of Order shall govern the Association and all cases to which they are not inconsistent with these Bylaws and any special rules of order for the Association.