Bylaws of the Multicultural Division of the BEA
ARTICLE I – Name: The name of this division shall be the Multicultural Research Division.
ARTICLE II – Purpose: The purpose of the division shall be: the improvement of teaching, the fostering of research in Multicultural issues in broadcasting and electronic media, and the networking of faculty and professionals interested in Diversity and Multicultural issues in broadcasting and electronic media. To this end, the Multicultural Research Division shall provide the following:
1) A forum for
a) the exchange of teaching techniques and materials,
b) The presentation of juried and non-juried scholarly research
2) A means of evaluation through juried competition of scholarly research.
ARTICLE III – Officers: The governing body of the Division shall be called the Executive Committee and shall consist of: a chair, a vice chair, and a co-chair for the paper competition. The chair shall be the senior coordinating officer on the Executive Committee with the vice chair and all co-chairs having an equal but subordinate rank.
Section 1 – Chair. The vice chair shall succeed the chair on even-numbered years to a two-year term. The duties of the chair shall include:
1) Representing the Multicultural Research Division in all BEA convention meetings,
2) Chairing the Business Meeting at the annual BEA convention,
3) Handling Multicultural Research Division business in the interim between BEA conventions,
4) Serving as panel coordinator, overseeing the Executive Committee’s evaluation and ranking of panel proposals, and
5) Authorizing expenditure of Multicultural Research Division funds.
Section 2 – Vice Chair. The vice chair shall be elected on even-numbered years to a two-year term. Duties of the vice chair shall include:
1) Representing the Multicultural Research Division in all BEA convention meetings in absence of the chair, or as designated by the chair,
2) Assisting the chair during the business meeting at the annual BEA convention,
3) Assisting the chair in handling Division business in the interim between BEA conventions,
4) Assisting the chair in serving as panel coordinator, overseeing the Executive Committee’s evaluation and ranking of panel proposals,
5) Handling Multicultural Research relations, and
6) Assuming the chair’s position at the end of the two-year term.
Section 3 – Co-Chair for the Paper Competition. The co-chair for the paper competition shall be elected on odd-numbered years to a two-year term. The duties of the office shall include:
1) Prior to the convention:
a) Disseminating information about the paper competition,
b) Selecting judges for the competition,
c) Coordinating the judging procedures including preparing judging forms, distributing tapes or papers to the judges, and tallying judging forms,
d) Notifying winners and losers of the competition and providing feedback, and
e) Review and evaluation of panel proposals for the Multicultural Research Division.
2) During the convention, chairing of the session in which the winners are presented.
Section 4 – Procedures for Election of Officers. Nominations will be taken from the floor for each vacant position at the business meeting at the annual BEA convention. Normally, the vice chair moves into the chair’s position at the end of the two-year term. Therefore, the chair’s position is generally not open for election. After nominations are closed, the candidate getting the most votes of the members who are present and voting will be elected to the office for each vacant position.
ARTICLE IV – Paper Competitions: The purpose of the paper competition shall be to provide a juried evaluation of faculty work. The competition shall be open to both members and nonmembers of the BEA. However, all competition winners shall be required to attend the convention or forfeit their award. The paper competition shall follow the BEA guidelines, and shall consist of both open and debut categories. The debut competition shall have a $200 award for first place and a $100 award for second place. The open competition shall be available to anyone who would like to submit a paper. There shall be first and second place winners, but no monetary awards. The responsibility for operating the competition shall fall to the co-chair for the paper competition, but funding for the awards shall come from the BEA. There shall be at least three judges for the competition with the co-chair making every effort to balance the judges by geographic area. The deadline for entry shall be January 15. Winners shall be notified by February 15.
ARTICLE V – Division Panels: Panel proposals shall be submitted to the chair by July 15. Both members and nonmembers of the BEA are eligible to submit panel proposals with the understanding that all panel members are planning to attend the BEA annual convention. The chair shall then forward copies of the proposals to the other members of the Executive Committee, and shall coordinate the rank ordering of the proposals. The chair shall then submit the final panels in rank order to the convention coordinator by September 1. Upon receipt of the final recommendation of the convention coordinator, the chair shall notify the panel conveners of the decision regarding their proposals.
Note: Bylaws of the Multicultural Division comply with the BEA Interest Division Policies and Guidelines
