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BOA by-laws

By-Laws of the Board of Advisors

Adopted: April 15, 2011

Article 1 Preamble

1.1 The name of this organization is the Board of Advisors to the Texas Southern University College of Science and Technology (COST), hereafter referred to as the Board in this document.

1.2 The Purpose of the Board is to support and foster the achievement of excellence in all aspects of COST. This will be accomplished by a pro-active commitment to the following activities:
1. Advising and supporting the Dean of COST and Department Chairs as appropriate.
2. Establishing Committees and Sub-committees to support key initiatives of the Board of Advisors and COST.
3. Assisting in securing funds for important programs, scholarships, and other needs of COST.
4. Assisting in developing beneficial relationships with industry and governmental agencies.
5. Reviewing and supporting COST’s strategic and long-range plans.
6. Assisting in attracting outstanding students to COST and the University.

Article2 Membership

2.1 The members of the Board will consist of the Dean of COST, Department Chairs of COST and other COST staff as appointed by the Dean, a Liaison from the Office of the President of TSU, and not more than 25 regular, active members from industry and governmental agencies (external members).

2.2 A preference for external members will be given to TSU Alumni.

2.3 The criteria for industry and governmental agency members shall be as follows:

  1. Willingness and time to serve on the Board.
  2. Interest in helping COST raise money scholarships or other worthy needs of the College by recommending possible funding sources or by actively seeking funding from one’s own organization or other sources.
  3. Ability to either provide internships during college or full-time employment to COST graduates, or have close connections at organizations that do offer these opportunities.
  4. Optional: Interest in participating in COST student development through mentoring, classroom instruction, loaned executive programs, on-site training, etc.
  5. Optional: Interest in giving professional/industry insight into curriculum and faculty development.
  6. Interest in the success of TSU in general and COST in particular, and willingness to be an advocate in the community.

2.4 Appointments to the Board will be approved and made by the Dean of COST after formal nomination, review, and recommendation by the Board of Advisors. Nominations may be submitted at any time by a member of the Board, however, the Dean, at his/her discretion, may choose to delay the approval process to coincide with the start of a new semester or other date.

2.5 Members will be appointed to the Board for an initial three-year term, and may be reappointed for a second three-year term. No member may serve more than two consecutive terms without at least one year off from the Board. The requirement may be waived for the persons serving as Chair and Vice Chair if their term of office conflicts with the two 3-year terms.

2.6 Appointment to Emeritus, Friend, Honorary Member, and other special memberships to the Board may be granted to retiring members who have made special contributions to COST, or members that want to continue participating in Board activities but are unable to regularly attend Board meetings because of work schedule, they rotated off the Board, or other issues. Emeritus, Friend, Honorary Member, and other specially designated members will be invited to attend Board meetings and other Board events; however,these membership categories do not have voting privileges. The Board reserves the right to assign membership designations as it believes those designations to be in the best interests of the Board and COST.

Article 3 Meetings

3.1 The Board will meet, on average, six times during the calendar year, typically the last Friday of January, March, June, August, October, and November at noon. At the discretion of the Dean and Board Chair, meetings may be scheduled for other months and other days of the month.

3.2 Members are encouraged to participate in at least 50% of the meetings held during a calendar year. Members who are not able to attend regularly may: a.) Submit a letter requesting that their status be changed to Emeritus, Friend, Honorary or other designation; b.) Submit a letter of resignation to the Dean and Board Chair; c.) Submit a letter of explanation to the Dean and Board Chair asking that their regular membership to the Board be continued because work and/or personal circumstances have changed and they will be able to resume the full duties and attendance required of Board Members; or d.) In the case of no communication with the Dean or Board Chair, the Member will be placed on inactive status and his/her membership will considered as terminated at the end of the current calendar year. An active member may designate another person from his/her organization to serve as a proxy on a temporary basis.

3.3 A quorum is defined as fifty percent or more of the regular members of the Board being present at a meeting.
Article4 Officers

4.1 The officers of the Board shall be comprised of a Chair and a Vice Chair.

4.2 The Chair and Vice Chair will generally be elected concurrently and will both serve terms of two years. Election of officers will take place before the start of the fall semester, typically in June. A term of service starts at the beginning of the fall semester.

4.3 The Chair and Vice Chair will be nominated by the Nominating Committee, voted on by the Board, and then submitted to the Dean for approval.

4.4 The Officers shall have such authority and perform such duties as generally contemplated by such office. The Chair will preside at meetings of the Board. The Vice Chair will preside in the absence of the Chair. The Chair, with the assistance of the Dean and Vice Chair, will appoint Board Members to Standing and ad hoc Committees.

Article 5 Committees

5.1 Standing Committees of the Board shall be established. These Committees may include:

  1. The Development Committee and Sub-Committees as appropriate to fundraising activities.
  2. The Nominating Committee
  3. The Special Events Committee

5.2 The Dean and Chair may name other Committees or disband existing Committees as the need arises. Article6 Financial

6.1 The Board shall not maintain a separate bank account, nor will it raise money for its own use. All moneys raised on behalf of the COST will be received and deposited with the University in designated accounts for the purpose it was raised. All costs of the Board and its activities will be borne by COST.

6.2 Board members will not receive compensation or other types of remuneration for their service. Mileage to and from Board meetings will not be reimbursed. Coupons for parking while on the TSU campus to attend Board meetings will be distributed to Board Members during the Board meetings.

Article 7 Adoption and Amendment

7.1 These By-Laws will be adopted and may be amended by a two-thirds majority of regular members in attendance at any regular meeting of the Board at which a quorum is present.